The Star Trek Character You May Not Remember Kelsey Grammer Played

To many TV fans, "Frasier" cast member Kelsey Grammer looks most at home when he's belting out wry one-liners in a Seattle apartment as the sitcom's titular psychiatrist-turned-radio-host. However, the longtime sitcom star has held plenty of other roles over the years, including an appearance in one of the most notable sci-fi franchises out there. Indeed, Grammer once boldly went where no one has gone before in an entry of "Star Trek."

It's not too big of a surprise if "Star Trek" fans don't quite remember when and where Grammer popped up in the massive spacefaring franchise, as he only ever had a single guest appearance in a certain episode of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Specifically, the actor guest starred in Season 5, Episode 18, titled "Cause and Effect," in which he plays a character named Captain Morgan Bateson.

In the episode, Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the rest of the Enterprise crew find themselves caught in a time loop in which they collide with another mysterious starship: the USS Bozeman. As the episode reaches its conclusion and the team finally finds a way to break the loop, the audience is treated to two major bombshells. One: the Bozeman is led by Grammer's Captain Bateson. Two: while the Enterprise has been stuck in the loop for a few weeks, the Bozeman has been trapped for nearly an entire century.

Considering Kelsey Grammer's star power in the '80s and '90s, one may think that his appearance in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" was purposefully sought on behalf of the sci-fi show's team. However, it's actually the other way around — Grammer actually wanted to guest star on the show himself and took initiative.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" star Jonathan Frakes spoke about how Grammer's cameo as the Bozeman's captain came to be. ""This was pre-Frasier," the actor explained. "Before he had his spinoff, he was just a member of the ['Cheers'] ensemble. And they shot that show right around the corner from us, because we were on the same lot. And Kelsey, he was a Trekker. A huge 'Star Trek' fan. And he asked to be on the show, like a number of actors that were fans, like Whoopi Goldberg, did. That's how I understood it. It was just one day of shooting and I had no idea. But it was fun to shoot."

While Grammer himself never returned to the role of Bateson after his initial appearance, his debut outing is widely considered one of the best episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." What's more, the character has continued to pop up from time to time in adjacent "Star Trek" media, from official novels set in-universe to a non-speaking cameo in an episode of the animated series "Star Trek: Lower Decks."