Martin was a big part of the moral heart of “Frasier.” His blue-collar manner might have the complete opposite of his sons’ pomposity, but he always came across as a wise and morally-centered character who would frequently bring Niles and Frasier down to earth when they needed it most. If it weren’t for John Mahoney’s talents, none of that would have been possible. With that in mind, you’d have thought the producers had Mahoney — who was 53 when he was hired on “Frasier” — in mind for years. In fact, they’d only seen him on a single episode of “Cheers,” and even that was somewhat of a fluke.
Speaking to Yahoo!, legendary director James Burrows, who not only co-created “Cheers” but directed multiple episodes of “Frasier,” “Friends,” “Will & Grace,” and numerous other sitcoms, revealed how Mahoney came to be cast on “Frasier.” The actor actually played a small part on “Cheers,” the show on which Frasier Crane himself debuted and became a central character. As Burrows remembered:
“We had a ‘Cheers’ episode [‘Do Not Forsake Me, O’ My Postman’] where Rebecca, Kirstie Alley, wants to hire a guy to write a jingle for the bar. So we had a B-story where he hires this guy, and he plays a jingle on the piano. It’s not very good, and so he’s let go.”
According to Burrows, things went well at the episode’s dress rehearsal, but when it came time to shoot, the actor playing the part of jingle writer Sy Flembeck “had driven off the lot” due to being “too scared.” The director recalled how the crew was forced to reshoot the subplot another day, this time with a different actor playing the songster in question. Enter: John Mahoney.