more retro rewinds

“Cheers” (Decades, weeknights): Grammer made his first appearance as Dr. Crane in the Season 3 premiere of the Emmy-winning 1982-93 NBC sitcom in what was supposed to be a six-episode gig. But his deft performance as the alternately pompous and sympathetic Frasier earned him a full-time role as one of the Boston tavern’s regulars, one that would eventually lead to his starring role in the above spinoff. The rest is history.

“Boss” (Starz On Demand): Grammer demonstrated he had serious dramatic chops, too, in this acclaimed 2011-12 Starz series in which he stars as Tom Kane, an old-school Machiavellian mayor of Chicago in the mold of Richard Daley, who struggles to hold onto power after being diagnosed with a degenerative neurological disorder. Though ignored by Emmy voters, Grammer gained much acclaim from critics and fans for his performance, which was recognized with a best actor Golden Globe in 2012.

“The Simpsons” (new episodes Sundays on Fox; rebroadcasts on FXX and Freeform): Grammer also put his vocal talents to good use in the longrunning animated comedy as the voice of the recurring character Sideshow Bob, a well-educated champion of culture, bona fide sociopath and hater of Bart – a role for which he added a voice-over Emmy to his trophy case in 2006.

“X-Men: The Last Stand” (Disney+, streaming): Among Grammer’s 40plus movie credits is this Brett Ratner-directed 2006 actioner, which casts him as Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, a mutant former student of Xavier’s Institute for Gifted Mutants and Secretary of Mutant Affairs, a role that made him virtually unrecognizable under heavy makeup and prosthetics. Except, of course, for the voice.