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According to People magazine, Kelsey Grammer is in a Hawaiian hospital after suffering a mild heart attack. A rep for Grammer says it happened Saturday morning as he was paddle boarding with his wife near their home in Hawaii. He immediately went to the hospital where doctors determined it was a mild heart attack. He'll be in the hospital for a few days for observation.

Grammer was most likely enjoying a little time off before he returns to television this fall. His Fox sitcom, Back to You, was recently canceled but he quickly rebounded and took a role on an ABC comedy called Roman's Empire. He'll have the title role, actually, as Roman, the wacky patriarch of a wealthy and eclectic family. This new comedy is a departure, of sorts, for Grammer. Rather than the Frasier and Back to You-style sitcoms with multiple cameras, his new project is a single-camera venture.

It didn't take long for Kelsey Grammer to bounce back from his Back to You flop stint. The Fox sitcom, a high profile one at that with Emmy-winner Patricia Heaton as his co-star, was dumped by the network recently. Kelsey was so bummed out that he even tried to get other networks, CBS in particular, to pick up the news room comedy. No dice. Back to You was a dead shark.

Now, less than two weeks later, Kelsey Grammer has been cast in a new ABC sitcom called Roman's Empire. This is big news for a big star and he's the emperor in the title. He's playing Roman.

Roman's Empire is not a three-camera, traditional sitcom, which has been Grammer's playground since Cheers. Frasier may have been one of the best three-camera sitcoms ever. As an actor, Kelsey's accustomed to having an audience watching him work. Empire is a single-camera comedy -- like The Office or My Name Is Earl or Samantha Who? -- and revolves around a nice guy named Leo (Nick Thune), who's dumped by his heiress-like girlfriend (Christine Woods), but remains connected to her crazy family, the Prettys. That's especially true of Roman Pretty, the family patriarch, an outspoken, outrageous character.

Frasier has left the building, but Kelsey Grammer hasn't. Or maybe he just doesn't want to. The actor, whose Fox situation comedy, Back to You, was canceled after just one season, doesn't want to call it quits. He wants the show to continue and he's so determined, he's even lobbied for the show personally. The Emmy award winning star phoned CBS executives -- including CBS CEO Les Moonves -- to plead the case for Back to You.

When Kelsey phoned, Les took the call, and he even told Grammer that he'd "think about it," that is, moving Back to You to CBS. However, when Kelsey followed up with a call to Nina Tassler, CBS Entertainment prez, she dismissed it. There really was no room on the CBS schedule for another sitcom; even Rules of Engagement (which CBS has a vested interest in bringing back) won't be broadcast till mid-season next year. There's no mention of Kelsey calling ABC or NBC; perhaps they didn't take his call?

Fox has made the call, and it's a big "see ya later" for Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. But their loss is someone else's gain. The pilot for the Jason Bateman directed comedy series The Inn has been picked up for a 13-week commitment, while Back to You has been axed. The Brad Garrett-Joely Fisher sitcom, Til Death, meanwhile, has been given another year.

Bateman, who starred in Arrested Development -- the Emmy-award winning comedy that the network dumped unceremoniously because of low ratings -- was behind the camera for The Inn pilot. The show, which is about the haves and have-nots in a fancy, five-star New York City hotel, has a promising cast of funny folks including Niecy Nash (Reno 911!), Jerry O'Connell (who looks like Jason's twin), and the really hilarious Jesse Tyler Ferguson (remember him on The Class -- he was so funny!).

... Six welcome returns.

Every fall season I get stoked about all the new shows, with cool new premises ("A guy travels through time trying to make right what once went wrong!"-- Journeyman not Quantum Leap), and all the big changes in store for existing shows. But it's equally exciting to see which beloved actors will be returning to television. Brad Garrett coming back to television in 'Til Death last year? Cool! Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer both coming back to television ... together? That's gotta be awesome, right? Jerry O'Connell on Carpoolers ... well ... ? I like the guy, but I'm not scheduling a 'Welcome Back' shindig for him.

Half the fun of a new television season is the return of great actors and actresses to the small screen. And while I could have easily done 10 or even 20 of these, I've narrowed it down to the six talents who were most welcome back in my house on a weekly basis this past year. I've even been so bold as to rank them. Feel free to agree, disagree and present your own lists in the comments.

By now you may have seen the preview for FOX's new comedy Back to You, which stars Kelsey Grammer and Patricia Heaton. In the preview Grammer's character, a prominent Los Angeles news anchor, apparently cusses out a colleague while still on the air. I say apparent because all of the swear words are bleeped out for network television.

You're probably just itching to find out what Kelsey really said, aren't you? Well, thanks to the pack rat known as YouTube you can see that same clip in all of its foul-mouthed glory. It's not the entire preview, just the part that shows Grammer's character yelling and screaming at the off-camera production crew. It's also minus the laughing you hear on the FOX preview. Don't know if this is a good or bad sign for the show or not. I have labeled the video, which you'll see after the jump, as Not Suitable For Work.

Sometimes, when I'm bored and my WiFi router is broken, I like to play "guess the celebrity commercial voice over." Most of the time, I usually get things right, as advertisers are using more familiar voices than ever before. But sometimes I wonder if a company uses a particular voice for more reasons than they're available, recognizable, and like cashing large checks for very little work.

Case in point is a recent set of Hyundai ads starring the voice of Kelsey Grammer. In the ads, Grammer compares the attributes of the Korean car company's Santa Fe SUV with a much more expensive Land Rover. Of course, this being a Hyundai ad, the Santa Fe comes out favorably, matching the Land Rover in every category except cup holders.

The Hollywood Reporter is saying that Patricia Heaton and Kelsey Grammer are in talks to co-star in a sitcom together. The comedy is called Action News, in which Heaton and Grammer would star as a reunited anchor team at a local television station. It's being written and produced by Steven Levitan of Just Shoot Me, Greg the Bunny and Stacked, and Christopher Lloyd of Wings and Out of Practice.

I'm always a fan of a comedy that's based in a newsroom because I think there is a bottomless supply of humor. But, Patricia Heaton drives me nuts. I didn't like her on Raymond-- by the end of that series, she was a whining, yelling shell of a housewife. And those grocery stores ads are infuriating! I'm lukewarm on Kelsey Grammer.

What do you think of the possible pairing?

I may get a little pissy along the way, so please forgive me in advance.

The CW Network, a amalgamation of the old WB and UPN networks, has ordered full seasons for two of its shows. The first is the Kelsey Grammer-produced comedy The Game. Network executives have been impressed with the 95% retention rate of this show from its lead-in Girlfriends, which is also produced by Kelsey Grammer. According to the press release, The Game centers on the lives and relationships among NFL wives, girlfriends and mom/managers who use their best to help their men stay on the field and on their arm.

Kelsey Grammer is returning to comedic television, but only behind-the-scenes. He has agreed to direct the CBS comedy pilot, My Ex-Life, about about two divorced couples and the way they deal with life after divorce. Former Love Monkey and Ed actor Tom Cavanah snagged a lead role in this show.

Despite a list of cancelled shows, The CW doesn't think that Wayne Brady is bad luck. The new network has picked up a comedy pilot called Flirt, starring Brady as the only man working at a women's magazine.

Bo Derek has joined the cast of Secret Obsessions, a telenovela-style, primetime soap opera on My Network TV, the network that FOX is creating out of its UPN stations that lost their affiliation earlier this year. Secret Obsessions is about the glamorous, yet ruthless world of fashion. Derek will play Maria Zianni, a mega-bitch who runs a fashion corporation.

[Via The Hollywood Reporter]