Dan Butler Got His Start On A Beloved '80s Show Years Before Becoming Bulldog On Frasier
Until the neither disappointing nor remarkable "Frasier" reboot, the beloved sitcom on which it was based had been off the air for almost 20 years. Running from 1993 to 2004, "Frasier" came to represent the gold standard for '90s sitcoms, alongside contemporary hits such as "Friends" and "Seinfeld." A big part of the show's success was that star Kelsey Grammer seemed to have been born to play the titular doctor, portraying his egoism and fastidiousness with the perfect balance of humor and earnestness. But the show was also propelled by a truly stellar supporting cast.
David Hyde Pierce might have thought the script for the "Frasier" pilot was "terrible" at first, but he very quickly realized how well-written the show was and throughout the show's run delivered a consistently brilliant performance as Frasier's equally stuffy brother, Niles. Alongside Peri Gilpin as Frasier's radio producer, Roz, John Mahoney as Frasier and Niles' father, Martin, and Jane Leeves as Martin's carer and housekeeper Daphne, Hyde Pierce helped elevate the show to a level few sitcoms ever reach.
But even beyond these central characters, the show was bolstered by some excellent guest stars and recurring characters. Take, for instance, Dan Butler, who played Bob "Bulldog" Brisco, the brash and ultra-macho host of "The Gonzo Sports Show." Butler's committed performance was, like his co-stars, perfectly-pitched, with Bulldog providing a great foil for Frasier, whose urbanity clashed with the boorish nature of his KACL colleague.
If you grew up with "Frasier" you might well only know Butler for his role on the show. In fact, you might be under the impression that he got his start on the series. But while Bulldog is inarguably his best-known role, the actor had debuted on TV a full decade before "Frasier" arrived.
Dan Butler's first TV role
Before he debuted as Bulldog in the second episode of "Frasier" season 1, Dan Butler had been acting in film and television for a good ten years. Alongside a three-episode run in another staple of the sitcom genre, "Roseanne," the actor had appeared in small roles in "Columbo," "Quantum Leap," and in several films including two adaptations of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter novels, "Manhunter" and "Silence of the Lambs".
But Butler actually got his start on the Stephanie Zimbalist and Pierce Brosnan-starring NBC series "Remington Steele." The beloved '80s Rom-Com-Procedural ran from 1982 to 1987 and saw Zimbalist play private investigator Laura Holt, who after struggling to get her detective agency off the ground hires Brosnan's character, an ex-thief, to masquerade as her fictitious colleague, Remington Steele.
During the show's inaugural season back in 1982, a young Dan Butler appeared in an uncredited role on the episode "Your Steele the One for Me," playing a morgue attendant who escorts the two leads to a body being held in the morgue. Interestingly enough, there's a similar dynamic between Butler's morgue attendant and Brosnan's fake PI, with the former projecting more of an easygoing everyman energy while the latter remains urbane and calmly composed throughout their interaction. There's no Bulldog-style yelling or insults exchanged between the two, but it's interesting to see a faint suggestion of the Bulldog character and his relationship with Frasier some eleven years before the show debuted.
What happened to Bulldog?
After season six of "Frasier," Bulldog would become less of a presence on the show. His character is fired from KACL during that season, but returns to work in the archives of the radio station. Bulldog continued to make appearances throughout the remaining seasons, with Dan Butler appearing in all but one season of the series by the time it ended in 2004. Oddly, Butler was absent from the series finale, "Goodnight Seattle," which featured a final scene in which the titular doctor's colleagues surrounded him as he delivered his final broadcast. Butler did show up in the 12th episode of season 11, "Frasier Lite," but that would be his final appearance on the show.
There's never been any official explanation as to why Bulldog wasn't brought back for the finale, but the "Frasier" revival did at least give Frasier's former colleague a quick mention. In the pilot episode of the revival, which pays tribute to the late Martin actor John Mahoney, Frasier and his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore Scott) reflect on Martin's funeral, with the doctor revealing that Bulldog performed a rendition of "Ave Maria." That's the most we've heard about Bulldog since "Frasier Lite" aired in 2004.
As it stands, the "Frasier" reboot series gave the impression it would have been better as a one-off special, so the writers will need something to make a second season worthwhile. If the revival is renewed for another run of episodes, let's hope we hear more about the former "Gonzo Sports Show" host, or perhaps even see a guest appearance from Butler himself.