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Jonathan Frakes
I'll tell you a story about the MGM lot.
Kelsey Grammer
Okay. Was Rod Steiger in it?
Jonathan Frakes
No.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, okay.
Jonathan Frakes
I was doing a short lived series called Paper Dolls.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, I remember that.
Jonathan Frakes
I played Morgan Fairchild's bisexual male secretary. His name was Sandy Paris.
Kelsey Grammer
Okay.
Jonathan Frakes
He talked a little like that and wore very flamboyant sweaters. And Morgan and I had lunch together at the commissary and she said to me two things. She said, when you're smiling for a photograph, think about your smile, but try to push your mouth down instead of up.
Kelsey Grammer
Huh?
Jonathan Frakes
Then she said, if you want to stay at your current weight, only eat half the food on your plate.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, that I've heard is very effective. Yeah, Even more effective, I'm, I'm told is eating a quarter of the food on your plate.
Jonathan Frakes
Well, that's, that's just physics.
Kelsey Grammer
Dropping names and other things. Where the whiskey flows and the laughing sings. Pull up a seat joint. The game of bread and Johnny Potash.
Jonathan Frakes
Jane leaves is with us.
Kelsey Grammer
Jane leaves who? I don't know if you remember Jane from the little show called Frasier.
Jonathan Frakes
I loved Daphne was my favorite character on the show.
Jane Leeves
Oh, you're joking.
Jonathan Frakes
Really, without any, any remorse. I say that honestly and fairly. And I liked what's his name, the grumpy father.
Jane Leeves
Oh, John Mahoney.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, he was fabulous.
Jonathan Frakes
And David Hyde Pierce. We have mutual.
Jane Leeves
Mutual.
Jonathan Frakes
But I want to start with the resident, which I went to when I ran out of the pit because I was so involved with the thing I said. And we had just had dinner with Bruce Greenwood.
Jane Leeves
I love Bruce.
Kelsey Grammer
Who doesn't?
Jonathan Frakes
Bruce Greenwood and Brent and Denise Crosby were at a table with me and I was the only person at the table who hadn't lost their house in the fire. So it was very intriguing and painful and so I fell in love with the show. And then I remembered having gotten to know Malcolm, may he rest in peace. Malcolm Jamal Warner, who went to the same dentist I went to, who was spectacular on the show.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, magnificent.
Jonathan Frakes
And then when you came on the show, it sort of filled in what was missing because the other women left. And it was much fun, much more fun to see you with Bruce. That relationship was spectacular.
Jane Leeves
We just, we hit it off immediately.
Jonathan Frakes
We'd never known before.
Jane Leeves
No, I'd never met him. And we became instant friends. In fact, after the fire, he and his lovely wife Susan lost their house.
Jonathan Frakes
Yes.
Jane Leeves
And they would come and stay with us for a few days just to do laundry and yeah, we're really, really good friends with them now.
Jonathan Frakes
He's Spectacular.
Jane Leeves
He's a wonderful guy.
Kelsey Grammer
We want to have him on the show. I think Bruce would be a great guy. I've worked with Bruce.
Jane Leeves
Pain in the butt. Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
You know how I met Jane? Do you know this?
Jonathan Frakes
I'd love to.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. I've known Jane longer than I've known you.
Jonathan Frakes
No way.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, I. I met Jane. Very bizarre. I have a cousin who is my second cousin. My. My father's brother's daughter. No, my father's brother's granddaughter. And she called me out of the blue in la and she said, would you like to have dinner? And I said, yeah. I don't think I'd seen her since she was like, three, but she was a grown woman now. And she said, would you mind if I bring my roommate? And I said, that's fine. And we meet, and her roommate happens to be Jane Leeves.
Jonathan Frakes
Moi?
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. Who at the time you were on Murphy Brown?
Jane Leeves
I've been doing. Yeah, I was doing sort of. I was the guest star du jour on every single sitcom at the time, I think.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, I. I know I have in my notes, actually. Is there a sitcom you have never been on?
Jane Leeves
I'm sure there are many. Yeah, I'm sure there are many.
Kelsey Grammer
It really reads like you've been on every single show ever, but. Because you were famously on Seinfeld.
Jane Leeves
Yes. There's Marla the Virgin.
Kelsey Grammer
Marla the Virgin, exactly.
Jane Leeves
Typecasting.
Jonathan Frakes
Typecasting.
Kelsey Grammer
Type casting.
Jane Leeves
You know what's really weird about that is I'm sure I get recognized for so many different things now that I've done, but in New York, it's Marla the Virgin.
Jonathan Frakes
Of course.
Jane Leeves
Hey, would the Virgin. You know, and I'm like, wow, yes, that's me.
Kelsey Grammer
Yes, I was.
Jane Leeves
Yes, I was. Not anymore.
Kelsey Grammer
I was. Yeah, yeah, but that. But my cousin Elizabeth.
Jonathan Frakes
Have you been friends ever since?
Jane Leeves
I think she was trying to set us up, don't you?
Kelsey Grammer
Do you think?
Jane Leeves
I think so.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. Maybe.
Jane Leeves
Maybe.
Kelsey Grammer
Who knows?
Jonathan Frakes
How'd that go?
Jane Leeves
Well, neither of us were sort of aware of it. But afterwards, didn't you think, oh, maybe that was.
Kelsey Grammer
Maybe I missed a bet. That's what I thought at the time. I was too shy. Too scared.
Jane Leeves
I'm shy.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Very shy.
Kelsey Grammer
And we. That you.
Jonathan Frakes
I believe you. I know you are not shy.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, yes. I, I. As a matter of fact, I. I feel uncomfortable even talking to you.
Jane Leeves
It shows.
Kelsey Grammer
But I had that night that we were at this restaurant, which is now a really cool restaurant. It's on. On La Brea. Yeah, it's a great restaurant on La Brea that. Well, anyway. Starts with that.
Jonathan Frakes
That's what happens. Yeah, right there, what we were talking
Jane Leeves
about, that you can't remember a thing the older you get.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, exactly. I've explained that to the people who are watching this. They come to expect it every episode. But when we were there, Warren Beatty and Madonna came in together. Yeah. That's another thing. Whenever a name is dropped, the bell rings. Just so people at home know that.
Jonathan Frakes
You let me know when it gets annoying.
Jane Leeves
I will.
Jonathan Frakes
Okay. Brent hates to.
Kelsey Grammer
It won't stop. But just let him know anyway.
Jonathan Frakes
You want to drop some names? Hot in Cleveland.
Kelsey Grammer
Hot in Cleveland. Oh, yeah, yeah. Well. And you worked with a Lady White. What was Betty White?
Jane Leeves
Betty White. Valerie Bertinelli.
Jonathan Frakes
Valerie Bertinelli.
Jane Leeves
Wendy Malik.
Kelsey Grammer
Wendy Malick.
Jane Leeves
Wendy Malick. Also, we did an episode where we reunited the entire cast of, well, the women from the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, really?
Jane Leeves
Georgia Engel. Mary Tyler Moore. Cloris Le. Valerie Harper.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, my God.
Kelsey Grammer
Can I see that right now?
Jane Leeves
I know. We just. It was a. It was one of those experiences where we just, you know, we were all standing on the edge of the stage watching them, you know, just watching all these fabulous women rehearse together.
Kelsey Grammer
Unbelievable.
Jane Leeves
It was unbelievable.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, I mean, I could ask you something about every one of them.
Jonathan Frakes
I know. I felt the same way.
Jane Leeves
Oh, I had an experience with Mary Tyler Moore. What a lovely, lovely woman. We're sitting in the makeup room together. She's getting her makeup and hair done. And I'm sitting, and I have this pair of sneakers on. They're little French bins, Simone's sneakers. And we started talking. She was like, oh, I really like those shoes. Where are they from? And it's one of those moments where we're just sort of chatting, you know, and I just had to sort of go, oh, take a deep breath, and say, I'm sitting, chatting about shoes with Mary Tymore. It's just a remarkable.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, it's one of the great things about being in show business. I mean, if you get to play in the quote, unquote, big leagues, and, you know, you meet people like that,
Jonathan Frakes
especially when they're that kind, and you feel so. It's such a relief.
Jane Leeves
It's very rare that you meet someone who on that level that is not just because their soul is. Same thing with Carol Burnett did the show, and she was just, you know, thank you. There's something about their soul that just shines.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. And. And, well.
Jane Leeves
And kindness in their eyes, you know,
Kelsey Grammer
and what what about Betty?
Jane Leeves
Oh, well, you know.
Jonathan Frakes
Right.
Kelsey Grammer
I mean, Betty White. I mean, every.
Jane Leeves
Every day that I never heard her say an unkind word to anybody. She was full of. She was always such a positive force on the set, kind to everyone.
Jonathan Frakes
And blue.
Jane Leeves
Oh, yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Not blue.
Jane Leeves
Not blue. She was always, you know, sort of risque.
Jonathan Frakes
Yes. Suggestive.
Jane Leeves
Suggestive. But, you know, she was never vulgar.
Kelsey Grammer
There was always the double entendre.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, the double entendre. And she kept that up and. And the crew just loved her. Well, yeah, everybody treated her like, you
Kelsey Grammer
know, she was one of the great. I mean, she was like.
Jonathan Frakes
She's still working.
Kelsey Grammer
She's the original icon. I mean, the original icon, practically.
Jane Leeves
Well, she. She told us that she started basically when television first started. She went live for hours every day. She hosted a program. Live every day for hours and hours.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, I'm old enough to remember the Betty White show.
Jane Leeves
Oh, really?
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. And Betty White. Well, I was a little kid at the. But I do remember Betty White was this pretty young woman who had her own show, and I loved the Betty White show. She was also very good about inclusion on her show. I think she got in trouble back in the day.
Jane Leeves
Oh, really?
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. And just refused to cave. And so they let her have whoever they want. Her own show. Good for her.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, she was. She was. You know, because you always think elderly people as not being that way, but she was inclusive and, you know, she respected everyone.
Jonathan Frakes
She loved her husband.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah,
Jane Leeves
she loved him.
Jonathan Frakes
You could feel it every time she talked about it.
Jane Leeves
Yeah. And we went through a few anniversaries with her of his, you know, birthdays and when he died and. Oh, you could just feel that love
Kelsey Grammer
and the harmony that happened.
Jane Leeves
I wasn't here. But didn't the world see them fall in love on.
Kelsey Grammer
On Match Game?
Jane Leeves
Match Game, was it?
Kelsey Grammer
No, no. Password, password, password. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jane Leeves
Watch them fall in love, I think.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, I believe so.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
But she said it was sort of the spark they immediately had.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
I mean, and they weren't together very long before.
Kelsey Grammer
Not very long, no. But it. It lasted her the rest of her life, which was quite long.
Jane Leeves
Yes. Quite long.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Wow.
Jane Leeves
She has her own postage stamp.
Kelsey Grammer
There is a Betty White. I have. Have a sheet of Betty White postage stamps. Yeah, I. I had. I had a lot of postage stamps that no longer exist. But don't want to talk about my house burning down again.
Jonathan Frakes
How about the Monty Python stuff?
Kelsey Grammer
What about even pre Monty Python? Pre Monty Python is Benny Hill, Right.
Jane Leeves
Oh, this is really weird. Yeah. All right. Because I was like, I was really young, probably 18 or 19, and the phone rang in my flat in London that I was sharing with four other girls. It was a real dump, you know, but mattresses on the floor and we were all working as dancers and trying to make it, you know. And the phone rang and a voice in the other says, hello, could I speak to Jane Leeves? And I'm like, she's speaking. Who, who is this, please? And he said, my name's Benny Hill. And I was like, okay. I was just thinking, sure, sure, you know, it's my brother, because he's good at that sort of thing. And he said, you've been recommended to me by some of my, you know, some of the other dancers he's worked with that you might be good for some sketches. I' Would you mind coming over to my flat on Thursday at around 11 o' clock and we can read through some of the scenes together. And of course, I was 18 and I was like, oh, sure, okay. Well, he lived in like, Belgravia in one of those beautiful white stucco. And so I arrived there, you know, bit nervous, sort of. Was this okay alone?
Kelsey Grammer
Alone, of course.
Jane Leeves
Knock on the door. He opens the door and he's in his pajamas.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, shit.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, you know.
Jane Leeves
But the place is. It looks spectacular, except it's a bit smelly. And he's got a can of air freshener. He said, oh, I'm sorry, I had some friends over last night and they were smoking cigars and he's walking around in his pajamas spraying air freshener everywhere. And he says, take a seat. And I said, well, this very lovely or flat? And he said, well, yes, the, the Radio Times, which is sort of the TV Guide of England. They said they wanted to take some pictures of it. So they did it up for me because, of course, he's a guy and he just had a couch and, you know. Anyway, he disappears. He says, I'm just going to get some scripts. And I thought, oh, he's gonna get dressed as well? No, in his pajamas still. But he, he just kept coming back with all these sketches for me to read. And I just, I mean, it was so much fun. He was brilliant, you know, And I read through these sketches and he said, lovely, come to Thames Television on Thursday and they'll put, you know, and we'll film these sketch that. It was the easiest.
Jonathan Frakes
You booked it?
Jane Leeves
Yeah, I booked it.
Kelsey Grammer
And how many heard of you?
Jane Leeves
I, you know, I'm trying to remember, but I think there was a dancer that I worked, maybe he Knew my cousin. Maybe it's your cousin again. It's your cousin. But I think he just had heard from. Because I was always a bit of a clown on, you know, on dance jobs, and he'd heard from one of these girls that I might be good for the show.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, well, I mean, he definitely saved on casting director.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
You know, but he cast himself small roles.
Jane Leeves
Yeah. But, you know, the funny thing about him was he was a very. Because people say, well, what was he like? And I didn't really ever get to know him, but there were a core group of people who worked with him on his shows, and I think that he was just a very lonely man. And so he had nobody in his life to say, you know, maybe don't wear your pajamas. Maybe don't have girls. Because he would literally show up to work in pajamas with a coat over.
Kelsey Grammer
Really?
Jane Leeves
Yeah. I just don't think he had that female influence.
Jonathan Frakes
No one told him it was creepy.
Kelsey Grammer
No, no, he could. He could. He could do that today. I don't know.
Jonathan Frakes
I don't think so.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
So then, okay, so Benny Hill kind of got you. Your. Your feet wet.
Jonathan Frakes
You get an equity card or whatever it was.
Jane Leeves
Oh, I had an equity card from dance jobs and things like that, but I just sort of started to get little bits and bobs here and there because I was a dancer still in England, but, oh, she can say the line, you know, on. She can do that. And it just started that way. And then I eventually did a couple of. I did an American. The Mike Douglas show.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
I don't know if you remember that. Oh, yes, they filmed that. They were filming that on board the QE2 traveling from, you know, Southampton to New York. And so they hired some of us English dancers to do some, you know, dancing and modeling of clothes for the series of shows he was going to be shooting on the ship.
Jonathan Frakes
Great gig.
Jane Leeves
And all the people there kept saying, oh, you do great in the States, honey. And they just kept saying, you should. And so that sort of planted the seed in my head, I think.
Kelsey Grammer
Wow. And I've seen a picture of you posed with Benny Hill and some other. Oh, you have some other ladies. Yeah, yeah. You know, it's funny, they pop that in right here, they'll find a picture of you.
Jonathan Frakes
But it was funny because I really
Jane Leeves
only did that one show, but I did a bunch of sketches that he sort of inserted into different shows throughout the season that he did, you know. Wow.
Jonathan Frakes
Did that lead to the Monty Python stuff?
Jane Leeves
No, I just auditioned for the Meaning of Life and was one of the dancers in that. And then, funnily enough, cool credit. I know.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
It was the Graham Chapman Christmas in Heaven.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, yes.
Jane Leeves
Yeah. And I. I was actually. You can see me. I'm sort of front and center coming down the stairs. We've got those big fake plastic boobs on and it's Christmas. It's Christmas in heaven. Hip hip, hip, hip, hip, hooray.
Kelsey Grammer
So you never forget.
Jane Leeves
No, you never do. But it. Terry Jones directed it.
Jonathan Frakes
Wow.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, it was so much fun. And then, of course, later I started working with Eric Idle. I remember some of the plays that he's done.
Kelsey Grammer
I saw you in a play of Eric Idols.
Jane Leeves
What about Dick?
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. Is that what it was? Yeah. The one in Hollywood.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, we did it. I did it twice. We did it in Hollywood. But the. What's that one on Vine?
Kelsey Grammer
The Ricardo Montalban.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, that's. We did it first there and then we did it.
Kelsey Grammer
Don't he get Ricardo Dungeon? Of course, yes.
Jane Leeves
And then we did it again somewhere else. But it was a mad cast of English comedians who.
Kelsey Grammer
Who was.
Jane Leeves
Do you remember Eddie Izzard?
Kelsey Grammer
Eddie Izzard, Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Oh, Billy Connolly.
Kelsey Grammer
Billy Connolly.
Jane Leeves
Tracy Ullman.
Kelsey Grammer
Tracy, I want to see that show again.
Jane Leeves
Who's. The guy who's not. He's not allowed to say his name anymore. Are you.
Kelsey Grammer
You're not. Is it. Was it Matt Lauer?
Jane Leeves
No, no. But it's. It's along those lines. Oh, Russell Brand.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, Russell Brand.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
All those people, they weren't here on the. At the Montalban when I saw it. Really?
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Because I, I. You were the only famous person I knew.
Jane Leeves
Eddie is out. Was there.
Kelsey Grammer
Eddie was there.
Jane Leeves
And Tracy. Russell came in later. Billy was there in the first time we did it. Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
He's brilliant.
Jane Leeves
Mortimer.
Kelsey Grammer
Emily Mortimer. Yeah. Oh, my God. He's producing something now. Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
Emily Mortimer. Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
I mean, how. Oh, Emily Mortimer wrote the George Clooney movie.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, the Jay Kelly.
Kelsey Grammer
Jay Kelly, Yeah. And she's in it. But she wrote it with Noah Bombach. Is that who directed the movie? I think so. Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
He gets one.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, for sure.
Jane Leeves
He should, too.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. Give Greta Gerwig one while you're at it. Wow, that's fascinating. So, but how was sailing on the QE2? Was that.
Jane Leeves
It was tricky because it was just before Christmas, so it was really good. It was like that Titanic crossing, if you think about it.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, yeah.
Jane Leeves
So they had to take the stabilizers off at a certain point because we were, you know, we were in storms all the way.
Kelsey Grammer
Right. Oh, Jesus.
Jane Leeves
And they just had to make up time so they had to take the stabilizers off. But it was interesting.
Kelsey Grammer
And you were at the bottom of the ship the way Leo was in Titanic, right?
Jane Leeves
Yeah, they put the dancers, performers.
Jonathan Frakes
Those are.
Kelsey Grammer
They're tractors. Yeah. Have you ever seen them eat? Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Oh, they feed you non stop on cruises.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, yeah, we. We've been on cruises, so we've done Star Trek cruises. You know about that. You've been on one, haven't you?
Jane Leeves
No, I haven't.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, no, you haven't.
Jonathan Frakes
It's ridiculous.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, but they, they. The food, it's. It's like.
Jane Leeves
It's insane, Right?
Kelsey Grammer
You get a menu. If you go into the main dining room, you get a menu this long and it's different every night and it's just anything you can think of. And yeah, people just graze the entire time.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, well, they say elevens is now being served only and the whole ship tips that way.
Kelsey Grammer
Exactly. Okay. So then you came over and you started doing.
Jane Leeves
Before I came over, though, I started doing a lot of things, but I did a movie with Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie.
Kelsey Grammer
Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie.
Jane Leeves
But I was cut out of it and Susan Sarandon was in it, but I didn't really.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, I know. The hunger.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, that's right.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
I was cut out of it, but, you know, they were vampires and we. I was hired to play a sort of flapper from the 1920s, part of a couple that they were eyeing up in a nightclub for dinner, you know.
Kelsey Grammer
Yes, yes, exactly.
Jane Leeves
I got to spend time with David Bowie and he was fascinating, you know, he was learning to play the violin because he was supposed to play the violin in the movie. And we were all sort of like hunkered down in a house somewhere else just outside of London, filming stuff. And I just remember he was such a curious man. He went through the entire contents of my purse.
Kelsey Grammer
Really?
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
With your permission.
Kelsey Grammer
Did he steal anything?
Jane Leeves
Yeah, no. He was just sitting there and he's like, so what's in here? What is this? And what is that? You know? And I had a sort of magnifying magnifying mirror, you know, to sort of look at myself. Very. And he was fascinated with that.
Jonathan Frakes
Was he flirting with you?
Jane Leeves
I don't think so.
Jonathan Frakes
I do.
Jane Leeves
I don't think so. But he was a really, really sweet, sweet man. Catherine Deneuve, I think she was nice. But she did have a conversation about my face with her makeup artist in French. So I don't know what she was saying. I didn't hear Kelshien or anything.
Kelsey Grammer
But I wonder what the, the subtext was like, make her look ugly.
Jane Leeves
No, hardly.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, who directed that movie?
Jane Leeves
Oh, it was Tony Scott.
Kelsey Grammer
Tony Scott?
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Wow.
Jane Leeves
Thing. Wow.
Kelsey Grammer
That's Oliver.
Jonathan Frakes
Shalom.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, but I got cut out of it. Yeah, there were many flashbacks that got cut out because they'd sort of flashback to the Egyptian times, you know, they'd lived a long time, the vampires.
Kelsey Grammer
I've been cut out of a number of films. Yeah, I have been.
Jonathan Frakes
Not Master of Disguise.
Kelsey Grammer
No, I'm still in Master of Disguise and proud of it, to be honest. I don't know if I've mentioned it before. Well, Alticea, certainly I'm in that, but. But I'm more proud. I mean, I, I aviator. Yeah, I'm still an aviator. Okay, but you could, they could have cut me out of Master of Disguise and I've been okay with it. But now I feel like it's one of the all time classics. I don't know if you've ever seen it, Jane. Master of Disguise. But my opinion, it goes.
Jane Leeves
I'm definitely watching that.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, it goes. Citizen Kane, Schindler's List, Master of Disguise, Casablanca and something like that. Master of Disguise may be second. I don't know. Anyway, I'm intrigued. Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Who else is in it?
Kelsey Grammer
Master of Disguise, Dana Carvey, James Brolin, Jennifer Esposito.
Jane Leeves
Wait. Come on.
Kelsey Grammer
Kevin Nealon.
Jane Leeves
Oh, wow. Oh, Kevin Nealon. I love Kevin.
Kelsey Grammer
Don't you love Kevin Nealon?
Jane Leeves
Well, I did. He did a Hot in Cleveland.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, he did.
Jane Leeves
The two of us just spent the whole time absolutely laughing. I mean, doubled over with laughter.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, he's a good guy too.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, he's very funny.
Jonathan Frakes
Was Kirstie Alley on that show too?
Jane Leeves
Yeah, dear Kirsty Alley.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah, I loved her.
Jane Leeves
Oh, wasn't she great?
Kelsey Grammer
She was great.
Jane Leeves
She. Did you work with her on.
Jonathan Frakes
She was. I was in north and South.
Jane Leeves
Oh, north and South. Right.
Jonathan Frakes
She was the matchmaker for my wife Jeannie and I, I was flirting with Jeannie Francis, who I had worked with prior, but when I. She was too young for me. But we're on location in Charleston, South Carolina and Natchez, Mississippi. And Patrick Swayze and Kirstew are like the leaders of the, the troops. When we go to the club, it's the 80s, right. Say no more.
Jane Leeves
Say no more.
Jonathan Frakes
Kirsty says, you know, Frakes, you should really ask Jeanie Francis out. I said, what are you Talking about she's. No, she's number five in the call. She'd have number 30. She said, no, no. Then she said to Jeanne, apparently, I think Frakes really likes you. I think. So she made this.
Kelsey Grammer
She.
Jonathan Frakes
And we had a little date at 82 Queen in Charleston. And then we broke for the Memorial Day weekend and we all got on a bus in Natchez, Mississippi, to go to New Orleans. And everybody had hotel rooms in New Orleans. And it was Jeannie's birthday. It was Memorial Day weekend, she was turning 23. And the producer took us to a strip club. And the guys are shaking their dicks at her. And the people. Oh, God. And she's got a sweater and pearls, and she. So she leaves the club and I follow her out of the club and it's about two in the morning on Bourbon Street. Have I told this story on the show, Rick?
Kelsey Grammer
I've never heard this.
Jonathan Frakes
And I said, I'm sorry. She said, yeah. I said, can I get you anything? She said, I really love a grilled cheese sandwich. And I said, so I found a grilled cheese sandwich for Jeannie at 2 in the morning. And then we went back to the hotel and I sat on the couch in her hotel room and I said, good night. And we've been together for 40 years.
Kelsey Grammer
The rest is history.
Jane Leeves
And the rest is history.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. I was at your wedding.
Jonathan Frakes
Kirsty Alley.
Jane Leeves
Kirsty Alley.
Jonathan Frakes
She rest in peace.
Jane Leeves
Yeah. Oh, wow. Oh, my God. I kind of. I met my husband at Paramount and.
Kelsey Grammer
Paramount. Yeah, I remember.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
Was he our boss? Was he. Oh, he was. The TV movies.
Jane Leeves
He. No, he actually did oversee the Star Trek franchise. He did, yeah, he oversaw the whole thing. I, you know, I don't know what these executives do, but he was. He was the keeper of the book. You know, the, the, the, the whole.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah, the Bible.
Jane Leeves
The Bible. The Bible.
Kelsey Grammer
I didn't know that.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
He never introduced himself to us.
Jane Leeves
He didn't.
Kelsey Grammer
But I've subsequently met him a number of times.
Jane Leeves
A number of times. Well, I don't think he did that for long because I think they transferred him over to something else. But he was. He was originally on Wings. You know, the.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, yeah, I was on Wings.
Kelsey Grammer
Stephen Weber, tv.
Jonathan Frakes
Stephen Weber, as he calls himself.
Jane Leeves
Yes. Ding.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, of course.
Jane Leeves
And yeah, we met at the Christmas party because we had. We shared a Christmas party with Wings. Ah, yeah. And he was the sort of executive on that show, looking after that show.
Jonathan Frakes
It was a great show.
Kelsey Grammer
Was my cousin at that party. That's new I didn't think.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
And you've been together ever since?
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
I love that. Yeah. And so that's how.
Jane Leeves
30 years.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, 30 years, yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
40 years.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
That's how. You guys know Rick Berman, right? Because he handled the Star Trek stuff.
Jane Leeves
Exactly. Yeah. Wow.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah, he was the cheese.
Kelsey Grammer
What about. Did you ever play a character called Blue?
Jane Leeves
Oh, yes.
Kelsey Grammer
What was that? Was that Throb?
Jane Leeves
Throb? Yeah, everyone said Throb. What was that about?
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, it was.
Jane Leeves
It was the first actual sitcom made purely for syndication.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, is that right? That's what our show was.
Jonathan Frakes
First syndicated drama made directly for syndication.
Jane Leeves
Wow. Wow.
Jonathan Frakes
You know why they did that to both of us?
Jane Leeves
Why?
Jonathan Frakes
They had. Could pay 40 of SAG minimum for residuals.
Jane Leeves
Oh, well, that. That show didn't last very long, so I'm glad about that. Yours ran forever, though.
Kelsey Grammer
Our first residuals were like $600, something like that.
Jonathan Frakes
We're still getting $7 an episode.
Kelsey Grammer
About that.
Jonathan Frakes
Seven, maybe a lot of years ago.
Jane Leeves
I know.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Don't you love when you get those SAG residuals? It's like 23.
Jonathan Frakes
Well, they used to have that bar in Studio City called Residuals. If you brought your check in for under a dollar, I guess they give you a drink.
Jane Leeves
They give you a free drink.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, we've all got them.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
God bless them.
Kelsey Grammer
So Throb, that was. That was the first syndicated half hour.
Jane Leeves
Yes. Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
But now you have been nominated how many times?
Jane Leeves
Not very many.
Jonathan Frakes
No. Oh, come on. More than once.
Jane Leeves
I've had a.
Kelsey Grammer
You've been nominated for Emmys.
Jane Leeves
A Golden Globe.
Kelsey Grammer
Golden Globes.
Jane Leeves
SAG Awards. We won a SAG Award. As a cast.
Kelsey Grammer
Right, As a cast, but. But yourself to get a Golden Globe nomination. Because that category, it's.
Jane Leeves
It's like everyone but Spanish explorers in that category, Right? They've done all the. It's best supporting actress in a miniseries, you know, half El comedy, you know, it's best supporting actress in telev.
Kelsey Grammer
So it was pretty impressive that you were in there.
Jane Leeves
Oh, well.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. And who'd you sit with? Do you remember?
Jane Leeves
Oh, well, you all sat with the Frasier cast. Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
But I'll tell you one Golden Globes was the. Here comes a really.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah. I knew it. I felt it.
Jane Leeves
I got to present an award to Gregory Peck.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, wow. Wow. I almost left to you.
Jonathan Frakes
Are they lovely?
Kelsey Grammer
Train is grand. I love your work. Train.
Jane Leeves
Yes. Oh, what? And still. I mean, he had a cane and he was just wandered up to the. Oh, it was just.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, yeah. I want to Know, is this hotel restricted or not?
Jonathan Frakes
Very nice, Paul.
Kelsey Grammer
Mr. Green, please. That's very. I want. Is it because I'm a Jew? You know.
Jonathan Frakes
Nice, Paul.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, thank you. I. I haven't seen it recently. That gentleman's agreement for everyone who's watching.
Jane Leeves
The one with it was tied. He. Oh, sorry, I hit that. That gonna make a noise.
Kelsey Grammer
I know what he won for.
Jane Leeves
I'm sure you do. And Don Cheadle, and I can't remember what either of them were.
Kelsey Grammer
I know what Gregory Peck won for. He won for Moby Dick.
Jonathan Frakes
Yes.
Kelsey Grammer
Because that's Sir Patrick Stewart, our friend Sir Patrick Stewart, as Ahab.
Jane Leeves
Right.
Kelsey Grammer
And the irony was that Gregory Peck had played Ahab in the John Huston movie of Moby Dick. And so they went and asked him, would you be in this? He had one scene as the preacher and he gave a sermon, and he won the Golden Globe for that. But Patrick told me that when they went to his house, he had them come in, come downstairs, and he had a kind of a bar, you know, party room downstairs. And there was a plaque on the wall in his house that said, this is the last place that Fred and Adele Astaire ever danced together. And then they broke up. But they danced. They had broken up for years, but they were both at the party and they did a dance together, and he put a plaque on his wall to say they'd been there.
Jonathan Frakes
Gregory Peck allegedly was strapped to the fake whale which preceded the fake Jaws.
Kelsey Grammer
That's right.
Jonathan Frakes
Shark.
Jane Leeves
Oh, really?
Jonathan Frakes
And spun upside down in the tank. I think it's pinewood.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
And was kept underwater too long. Dangerously too long.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. John Huston, he was like, keep rolling. Yes. He's fine.
Jonathan Frakes
The other Star Trek connection is Gregory Peck. He's not dead yet. Gregory Peck is the father. Grandfather, grandfather of Ethan Peck, who plays Spock on new Star Trek. Starfleet Academy.
Kelsey Grammer
He's a terrific guy.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Just like his grandfather.
Kelsey Grammer
Just like his grandfather. You know, I go every Boxing Day, my family goes to Jane's house for soup. For soup.
Jane Leeves
I don't know why we serve soup,
Kelsey Grammer
but the soup is so good. I remember one year. Well, like, we just made it one
Jane Leeves
year, and everybody just loved it, so.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. Well, she makes this. Great. Your sister Katie makes this make it, too. Well, you make the.
Jane Leeves
I make the cauliflower soup and I make the carrot.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, you made the carrot. Well, this year you made the carrots, too.
Jane Leeves
And the cauliflower.
Kelsey Grammer
Carrot soup. Cauliflower soup. I'm not a big carrot fan, but I must have Eaten a gallon of it.
Jane Leeves
It's carrot and caraway. It's not, you know, it's different. And it's got that sort of rye bread taste to it, doesn't it?
Kelsey Grammer
It does. It does two kinds of soup.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
I make sure cauliflower soup's awesome, too, that she makes.
Jane Leeves
And that's like. I got that New York Times recipe, but it's like literally three ingredients. Onion, water, and cauliflower. And it's just the cooking time is long and slow, but it is unbelievable.
Kelsey Grammer
You know, if you send in folks, Jane will send you that recipe, and
Jonathan Frakes
maybe the New York Times cooking app would be a good sponsor.
Jane Leeves
There you go.
Kelsey Grammer
There you. Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Last year you have that.
Kelsey Grammer
Jane was saying, oh, I don't know if we're gonna do it this year. And I said, what?
Jane Leeves
What?
Kelsey Grammer
No soup? Where's my soup? So she did it.
Jane Leeves
Yeah. And, well, if you remember, the fires and the rain, not a good combination. And so a lot of people couldn't, because we live in, you know, sort of an area where the mudslides and it sort of was difficult for people to get to. But you live just down the road, so.
Kelsey Grammer
Right. Some people didn't get there.
Jane Leeves
Yeah. Katie, my sister.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. Katie didn't get there, but fortunately, I did.
Jane Leeves
You did you.
Jonathan Frakes
You sing. Beautiful soup so rich and green Waiting in a hot terrine I did not for such dainties would not stoop Soup of the evening Beautiful soup What is that from Alice in Wonderland? Oh, soup of the evening.
Kelsey Grammer
Is that from the Disney.
Jonathan Frakes
My high school production? No, it's an old. It might be.
Jane Leeves
Who did you play in your.
Kelsey Grammer
As best he could.
Jane Leeves
As best he could.
Jonathan Frakes
As well as could be expected.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, God in heaven. You don't remember bad reviews. You must not have gotten them, because
Jane Leeves
I remember one that said I was out of my depth and I can't remember what that was for.
Jonathan Frakes
It's easy to live with.
Jane Leeves
Yeah. I mean, I'm sure it wasn't for anything.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, the fact of the matter is they're never good enough. When they're good, that's what.
Jane Leeves
You know. Typically, you don't read them.
Kelsey Grammer
Right. You try not to read them.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Because you always blows it.
Jane Leeves
Because you want to believe. If you. If you believe the good reviews, then you have to believe the bad.
Jonathan Frakes
Yes, but I think that's the truth. I believe in that, but I almost always doubt what people say. I don't read my reviews.
Kelsey Grammer
I'm too vain.
Jane Leeves
First of all, I don't. I honestly don't well, I've made decisions
Kelsey Grammer
not to read them. And then someone walks in and goes, I'm so sorry, I know. And you go, oh, I thought it was going to be good. Don't tell me that.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, don't listen to them. They don't know what they're talking about. You were lovely.
Jonathan Frakes
It's like the comments now, now in the, on the interwebs. You have to, if you read the
Jane Leeves
good ones, you have to read the bad ones too.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, yeah. You don't have to believe them.
Jonathan Frakes
No.
Jane Leeves
You don't have to believe anything you read on that.
Kelsey Grammer
No. Yeah. So is that the truth? You have a book, you're writing a book?
Jonathan Frakes
Yes. Oh my God, you buried the lead. Go ahead.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, no, yeah, I'm still, I mean it. We handed in a draft, we're just addressing notes now. And I actually wrote it myself with my daughter. They did offer me a, you know, a writer. Yeah, A ghostwriter, A ghost writer. But I, I, it was going to be too personal and I thought, well, I'll just, I was sort of, my arm was twisted into doing it by my husband and daughter and she's a brilliant writer and so she has, and she's actually working on it right now as we speak. She's in the car, right? No, she, yeah, just helped her in this. And you get to work. But she, yeah, we've, it's, it's called Daphne and Me.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
And they approached me to write it about the Frazier years. And a lot happened during the Fraser years. You know, I met my husband, I had my kids, and so it's full of wonderful stories. I didn't want to write anything. I said, I, when they approached me, I said, I'm not going to write a tell all. It's just funny stuff. So much funny stuff happened on that show and so much heartbreaking stuff as well. We lost our executive producer and co creator of the show, David angel and his wife in, in the 911 attacks. They were in the first plane that hit the towers, which was just one of those out of body experiences because the whole, you know, the day starts with you like staring at the TV like you whole heart is just like you cannot believe what's going on. And then to realize that somebody, you know, was, it just sent us into, all into a tailspin, you know.
Kelsey Grammer
Sure.
Jane Leeves
So there are some tough chapters, but mostly it's uplifting and lots of funny stories about the green room. Were you ever in our green room?
Kelsey Grammer
Yes, I was. I sat there.
Jane Leeves
Speaking of dropping names, we had a Green room. Oh, boy, Frasier. And it was the shabbiest. You know, it looked like, you know, in need of modernization would be a. It was really.
Jonathan Frakes
This is. At Paramount.
Jane Leeves
At paramount. On stage 25. It was really crappy, but the people that we had in there were just. I don't know, it just had this way of bringing us all together and. And any guest star who came in, we just have the best time from James Earl Jones, you know, would sit there and hold court, and we'd just ask him, so what happened? You know?
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah, yeah.
Jane Leeves
Donald o'. Connor.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Even people like Elvis Costello, who was fantastic, you know, so great on the show. He played like an annoying busker who started showing up at Cafe Nevosa. Frasier was like, oh, get him out of here. You know, but he was. He was great.
Kelsey Grammer
Patrick did your show.
Jane Leeves
Patrick did our show. Yeah. And he fell in love with the wardrobe. And I said, take it home. Yeah. They were really.
Jonathan Frakes
We weren't allowed to take ours.
Kelsey Grammer
We just stole ours.
Jane Leeves
But would you want to take your little jumper, your spacesuits home?
Kelsey Grammer
Well, you know, we tried to go for a pretty penny on the open market.
Jane Leeves
Do you remember when we did that 30th anniversary? It was the 30th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, in the parking lot.
Jane Leeves
And we did a skit in it. The Frasier cast.
Kelsey Grammer
Yes.
Jane Leeves
With Kate Mulgrew.
Kelsey Grammer
Right. Yeah.
Jane Leeves
I think it wasn't. It was.
Kelsey Grammer
Stiller hosted it or something.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, it was Ted. Ted Danson. But it was. Was set up as we were part the carts that were rejected. Only one. You know, we all auditioned and these were our auditions, but it was. Yeah, that was really fun.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, I remember. It was a TV special.
Jane Leeves
It was a TV special. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
I sat in that green room with John Mahoney, his chair.
Jane Leeves
Did I say Bill Gates was.
Kelsey Grammer
No, you didn't mention Bill Gates. Perhaps it's better not to.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, really? No, no, no, I'm kidding.
Jane Leeves
I don't know anymore.
Jonathan Frakes
Who can. It's hard to say, isn't it?
Jane Leeves
It is, it is. It's like a minefield out there.
Kelsey Grammer
It really is.
Jane Leeves
I mean, am I all right saying, you know, I said Russell Brand before.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, of course.
Jonathan Frakes
Opened with a disclaimer.
Jane Leeves
Yes. I mean, you just don't know anymore. I'm trying to think. Who else? Oh, John Glenn, the astronaut.
Kelsey Grammer
Wow.
Jane Leeves
He came in and did an episode. I mean, just some extraordinary people, but in this shabby, shabby little room, but perfectly willing to sit and talk and you know, but also there were lines out the door, especially with Elvis Costello and James Earl Jones, because they wanted them to sign, you know, albums and guitars. James Earl Jones had to sign everybody's Star wars thing.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, sure.
Jane Leeves
But he was always very. He'd write James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader. He was absolutely adamant that, you know, because David Prowse was the guy, the
Kelsey Grammer
body in the suit. That's true.
Jane Leeves
But I thought that was so sweet that he was just so like protective of that, that, you know.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
Protective of.
Kelsey Grammer
You had some. Did Emma Thompson do the show?
Jane Leeves
No, she did a. She did a Cheers episode.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, yeah.
Jane Leeves
Nanny McPhee.
Kelsey Grammer
Right.
Jane Leeves
And then she got pregnant. They wanted her to come and do Frasier, but she was pregnant, heavily pregnant at the time and couldn't come. So. Laurie Metcalfe.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, Lori, great actress.
Jane Leeves
Fantastic. And just so unhinged and brilliant.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, good.
Jane Leeves
She's just so exciting to watch.
Kelsey Grammer
It's nice, really nice to be on a long running series with people you like to be with. There's nothing like it because you really do become family.
Jane Leeves
You do.
Kelsey Grammer
And I mean, that happened with us. It doesn't happen every time.
Jane Leeves
No. And it's very, very rare. But it's very rare as actors that we get to spend that length of time together on anything, usually do a
Jonathan Frakes
job and then you say. And you're used to saying goodbye and that family is gone.
Jane Leeves
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
There's the long series is something else
Kelsey Grammer
that Kurt Vonnegut wrote called something Wanda June.
Jonathan Frakes
Oh, it's a long title.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. I don't know what, I can't remember the title.
Jonathan Frakes
Where'd you go? Where are you now? I don't know.
Kelsey Grammer
Anyway, Kurt Vonnegut wrote a play. Yeah. Anybody's looking at the play again, that might be worth looking at. Certainly his books are worth looking at all the time. But he wrote a preface to it where he talked about how close he got to the cast while they were rehearsing and previews and working. He said, I thought everybody, when we finished, when the show closed, everybody said, I'll call you next week or, you know, let's get together, let's have dinner, let's blah, blah. And he said, I thought I was under the assumption that we had actually all become friends, like real friends, and they meant it, that we were really going to have dinner. But he said, I didn't realize that in the theater that's just what you say at the end of the show. And you never see those people again unless you do Another show with them,
Jane Leeves
for the most part. But it's not the case. When you're on something that long, you become such a part of that person's life. I mean, we went through births, deaths, marriages.
Jonathan Frakes
We all stood at each other.
Jane Leeves
How long was the.
Jonathan Frakes
We did 182 episodes, seven seasons and four movies.
Jane Leeves
All movies.
Kelsey Grammer
Y. And then we came back together again.
Jonathan Frakes
Picard. Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. And. And we have all maintained really good friendships.
Jane Leeves
Yeah, we did 11 years and 260 something episodes, I think.
Jonathan Frakes
Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
It just. It boggles the mind. I mean, it's a gift. Yeah, it is. It's an absolute gift.
Kelsey Grammer
It really is.
Jane Leeves
To have stability as an actor.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
Unheard of. So what's the deal with the book? Is your daughter editing?
Jane Leeves
She's. We're. Yeah, we're. We're fine tuning because they, you know, we handed in the first draft. They've sent it back to us, and we're sort of fine tuning things.
Jonathan Frakes
Did the publisher give you notes?
Jane Leeves
Yeah, publisher, editor, you know, everybody's got a note, of course. But no, it's. They're good notes and.
Jonathan Frakes
So do you have a hard release date planned?
Jane Leeves
It's October, I think. October this year? Yeah.
Jonathan Frakes
Perfect.
Kelsey Grammer
So is that the. Is that before or after the book tour?
Jane Leeves
Gosh, do I have fun? Yeah.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
It's a really interesting experience, though, because it forces you back to look at things that were good and. Forces you to look at things were bad and. And, you know, when you. You. I felt like after I'd written it, I was just sort of coming out of this fog of. Because you're living in the past for
Jonathan Frakes
days and days of pictures in the book.
Jane Leeves
There are pictures. Yeah. Backstage stuff that happened and stories and Benny Hill picture.
Kelsey Grammer
Is that in the book?
Jane Leeves
I think there might be, actually.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah.
Jane Leeves
There's some scary pictures of me as a child and. But, you know, it's. It's mostly sort of around those Frasier years.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. I. I don't know if you know this. I wrote a book and.
Jane Leeves
Yes, I do. I have it.
Kelsey Grammer
Fan fiction.
Jonathan Frakes
Have you not listened to it?
Jane Leeves
I haven't listened to it, no.
Kelsey Grammer
It's pretty fun. He does his own voice on.
Jane Leeves
Oh, really?
Kelsey Grammer
As we all do. All of the cast.
Jonathan Frakes
He wrote To Satisfaction, but I've got
Jane Leeves
to listen to it.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah. It's fun, but I. It took place in the third season of Next Generation, so it was, you know, 25 when I wrote it. 25 or so years after experiencing that. What's in the book?
Jane Leeves
Right.
Jonathan Frakes
You know, you know the basis of the book.
Kelsey Grammer
Well, it.
Jonathan Frakes
No, no, you'll read it.
Kelsey Grammer
It's a surprise. Yeah. But anyway, the. But I got to that thing that you're talking about, actually. I got into my head of my young head. It was like I got to be young again while I was writing the book because my character was the age I was back then.
Jane Leeves
But did you find it hard at some points, like revisiting stuff?
Kelsey Grammer
Well, yes. Yes, there is some stuff in there. You know what? In the preface to the book, I say that none of it's true because the legal department at macmillan asked me to say that because they didn't want to get sued and neither did I, for that matter. But some of it is true and some of it is not.
Jane Leeves
Right.
Kelsey Grammer
And when you read it, just have this in mind. What seems like it's true is not. What doesn't seem like it's true is
Jonathan Frakes
very, very well put accurately. So thank you.
Jane Leeves
That's a disclaimer.
Jonathan Frakes
That's a disclaimer.
Kelsey Grammer
Oh, I want to ask Jane one last question. There was something you were in where you were. Jane Leaves. L E A V E S. Your credit is Jane Leaves, L E A V E S. I'll tell you what it is. Just a minute. See if I can find Leaves. Jane Leaves in To Live and Die in la.
Jane Leeves
Yes, yes, yes.
Kelsey Grammer
Great movie.
Jane Leeves
Dancer in that. But I was toying with the idea of changing it to that.
Kelsey Grammer
So L E A V E S. But you thought better of it.
Jane Leeves
I thought better of it. I thought, my dad's worked all his life with that name. I'm keeping it.
Kelsey Grammer
Yeah, Well, I thought, when I read it, I thought, well, maybe her name really is L E A V E S. But. But that was Willem Dafoe and William Peterson.
Jane Leeves
William Peterson.
Kelsey Grammer
That's a great movie. A really good director, too.
Jane Leeves
Oh, God.
Kelsey Grammer
To Live and Die in la.
Jane Leeves
French Connection.
Jonathan Frakes
Friedkin.
Kelsey Grammer
Friedkin. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Great movie. All right, enough of this, enough of that. Thank you so much, my dear. I appreciate you being here so much.
Jane Leeves
It's been lovely. Thank you for having me.
Kelsey Grammer
Delighted.
Jane Leeves
I'll go and put the soup on.
Kelsey Grammer
When I found out I was going to be a parent, I immediately felt a lot of anxiety and worry. So I went on to betterhelp to try to look for a therapist to help me with that.
Jane Leeves
My relationship with my family and with my boyfriend and with myself were suffering. I really needed help. I was ruminating a lot. Really getting those thoughts out to a therapist and getting feedback was just life changing.
Jonathan Frakes
Discover what BetterHelp online therapy can do for you. Visit betterhelp.com today.
Hosts: Brent Spiner & Jonathan Frakes
Guest: Jane Leeves (with guest co-host Kelsey Grammer)
Episode: “Jane Leeves Reveals What Betty White Was REALLY Like On Set”
Release Date: June 17, 2026
In this rich, playful episode, Jane Leeves—beloved for her roles on Frasier and Hot in Cleveland—joins Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, and guest co-host Kelsey Grammer for a vibrant, story-filled conversation. The trio goes deep into Hollywood memories, sitcom legend lore, and behind-the-scenes tales with classic British wit and effervescent banter. Special focus is given to Leeves’s time with Betty White, her unique path to stardom, and the art of sustaining meaningful friendships—and marriages—in show business.
Quote:
"You know, it's funny, they pop that in right here, they'll find a picture of you." — Jonathan Frakes (14:38)
Quote:
"He opens the door and he's in his pajamas... I just don't think he had that female influence. No one told him it was creepy." — Jane Leeves (11:35, 13:34)
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"We were all standing on the edge of the stage watching them... just watching all these fabulous women rehearse together." — Jane Leeves (06:16)
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"Every day, I never heard her say an unkind word... She was always such a positive force on the set, kind to everyone." — Jane Leeves (07:41)
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"I make the cauliflower soup and I make the carrot." — Jane Leeves, on Boxing Day traditions (29:45)
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"It's very rare as actors that we get to spend that length of time together... usually you do a job and you're used to saying goodbye." — Jane Leeves (38:06)
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"There are some tough chapters, but mostly it's uplifting and lots of funny stories about the green room." — Jane Leeves (34:26)
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"James Earl Jones had to sign everybody's Star Wars thing... he was absolutely adamant that... because David Prowse was the guy, the body in the suit." — Jane Leeves (37:15)
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"Well, they used to have that bar in Studio City called Residuals. If you brought your check in for under a dollar, they'd give you a drink." — Jonathan Frakes (25:47)
The episode is casual, warm, and jovial—filled with banter, friendly teasing, and a clear sense of camaraderie between co-stars and friends. Name-dropping is both a running joke and a genuine window into decades of entertainment history. Jane Leeves is candid, funny, and heartfelt, especially when discussing her mentors, collaborators, and personal turning points.
This episode is a must for sitcom fans, Frasier devotees, Betty White admirers, or anyone curious about the private side of celebrity. Jane Leeves’s stories are a reminder of the talent, humility, and humor that keep showbiz both magical and human.
[End of Summary]