As much as the beloved sitcom “Frasier” lived and died by the chemistry between its main cast, it soared to even greater heights on the strength of its guest stars. There were a number of memorable guests over the years, from one offs like Sir Patrick Stewart and Michael Keaton, to recurring characters like Bebe Neuwirth as Lilith. But if there was one character who could rival Lilith in terms of evil, it was Frasier’s agent, Bebe Glazer. As the continuation of “Frasier” enters its second season, we know that Bebe is back!
Bebe was first introduced in Frasier’s first season as Bulldog’s agent. Looking for a more favorable contract renewal, Frasier goes to her and finds out she’s possibly the spawn of Satan himself. That, or Satan actually answers to her; It could go either way. The things that Bebe has done for her clients may have ranged on the unspeakable, considering that she would later kill a large whooping crane by feeding it a jawbreaker, because it ruined a photo shoot that Frasier had planned. Played by Harriet Sansom Harris, Bebe often appeared once a season, but made every appearance memorable.
While we don’t know yet exactly how Bebe is going to factor into Frasier’s life at this point, we do know that she’s bringing someone new to the table in the form of her daughter, Phoebe Glazer. Ardent fans will know that there was no mention of her having a daughter at any point in time before this, but she did pretend to have a niece whose parents were in a car accident. Of course the niece was just her assistant pretending to be a scared child on a conference call, but that part’s neither here nor there. Phoebe will be played by Emmy winner Rachel Bloom (“Crazy Ex Girlfriend“) and is described as having “magnetic charm.” If you combine that with her mother’s tenacity and borderline evilness, she has the potential to be an even more menacing figure.
The presence of Phoebe also seems to fit a recurring trend that we’re seeing as this season develops. Along with Frasier’s son Freddy already being a member of the cast, in addition to Niles and Daphne’s son David, we previously reported that Kelsey Grammer‘s own daughter Spencer Grammer will be joining the cast of season 2 in the role of Roz’s daughter, Alice. More and more, the cast is being filled out with characters who are the sons and daughters of the main cast or recurring characters. It’s an interesting choice for sure, and one that shows how large of an impact the loss of John Mahoney was as Martin Crane. The relationship between him and his boys was really at the heart of so many episodes, and that theme seems to be expanding here, even without him.
No release date has been set for the second season of the “Frasier” revival, but we’ll provide more updates as they become available. Until then, just remember if you need to summon Bebe, you can do what Niles suggested and draw a pentagram on the ground and chant, “I summon thee,” three times.
You can catch the original series and the revival on Paramount+.
