Here’s Frasier’s first wife Nanette – AKA Nanny G – explained. Frasier Crane made his debut during the third season of Cheers, played by Kelsey Grammer. The character was the new love interest of Shelley Long’s Diane and was only supposed to appear for a few episodes. Producers were impressed by Grammer’s work, however, and Frasier eventually became part of the cast, remaining on the show for the rest of its run. He later received his very own spinoff with Frasier, which itself would end up running for eleven seasons.
Some tweaks had to be made to Frasier Crane when he became the focus, with the show revealing he had a brother Niles and a father named Marty – who Frasier claimed was deceased on Cheers. Frasier’s fantastic comic ensemble and comic writing made it a major success, and it’s now regarded as one of the best sitcoms of its era. Grammer is currently working on a revival series, though it’s unknown if any of the original cast will return too.
Frasier’s most famous marriage was to fellow psychiatrist Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth), though by the time Frasier begins, the two have divorced. Even fans of both Cheers and Frasier can forget that Frasier was actually married before Lilith to Nanette Guzman, who is played in her first appearance by Emma Thompson on Cheers season 10. It’s revealed that the two married while Frasier was still in medical school and she was a hippie, and while their union was a passionate, physical one, it quickly burnt out. By the time of their Cheers (where John Mahoney once played another character) reunion, it’s revealed she has become a beloved children’s entertainer named “Nanny G,” and she gets into a fight with Lilith as she’s not fully over Frasier.
That wasn’t the character’s last appearance either, and Nanette first reappeared as a hallucination in Frasier season 9. In the episode “Don Juan in Hell: Part 2”, Frasier remembers all of the key women in his life, including Lilith, Diane and Nanette (Dina Waters), and the episode expands on why their marriage failed. Nanette’s third and final appearance came with Frasier’s season 11 episode “Caught In The Act.” Now played by The Connors‘ Laurie Metcalf, the two reconnect when Roz asks him to get tickets to Nanny G’s sold-out show for her young daughter.
It soon turns out the intense attraction between Frasier and Nanette is very much alive, and even though she’s married she wants Frasier (whose original concept wouldn’t have worked) to sleep with her. “Caught In The Act” reveals Martin isn’t a fan of Nanny G as he feels he was left with the bill after they had a lavish wedding, followed by a swift divorce. The episode ends with Nanny G and Frasier getting stuck in an awkward situation during a live show, but the episode is also notable for a very meta in-joke. Nanette reveals she’s sick of playing Nanny G and complains to Frasier “Do you know what it’s like to play the same character for twenty years!?” At this point in Frasier’s run, Grammer HAD been playing the good doctor for that long.
