What was the deal with Frasier and Star Trek?

Question

The long-running sitcom Frasier (1993-2004) made frequent references to the Star Trek franchise. These include:

• The character of Noel Shempsky is an avid Trekkie, much to the chagrin of everyone around him.
• In revenge for Frasier failing to obtain Enterprise actor Scott Bakula's autograph at a sci-fi convention, Noel translates Frasier's speech for his son's Bar Mitzvah into Klingon instead of Hebrew, causing Frasier much embarrassment.
• A number of Star Trek actors guest starred on Frasier, most notably Brent Spiner and Patrick Stewart.

• Kelsey Grammer himself made a guest appearance on TNG as Captain Morgan Bateman in "Cause and Effect" (although that was during his run playing Frasier on Cheers).

Is this simply because Frasier was, like the various Star Trek properties, produced by Paramount? Did Paramount want to use Frasier as a vehicle to push its various Star Trek productions at the time? Was it just a random effect of filming on adjacent lots? Was it that a Frasier writer was a big fan of Star Trek?

What was the reason for the many Star Trek references in Frasier?

Answer 1

The best explanation is that the two series were being produced by the same company (Paramount), in the same location (on the studio lot) and that there was some overlap in the end of TNG (1987-1994) and the start of Frasier (1993-2004), as well as the subsequent TNG movies.

As noted by Wikipedia

As with Cheers, most episodes were filmed on Stage 25, Paramount Studios, or at various locations in and around Los Angeles.

And all Star Trek TV series have been filmed in some fashion at Paramount Studios, going all the way back to TOS.

Another reason is that Hollywood is a small town, and guest starring is a good way to keep up relations and your portfolio. TNG, in particular, had a long list of people who guest starred before they were popular. It's worth noting that Cause and Effect was produced in 1992, before Grammer had become the major solo star that the Frasier TV series made him. He got the TNG role as a result of Jonathan Frakes (Riker), a personal friend (h/t Valorum)

As to Stewart and Spiner showing up in Frasier, both were in episodes aired in 2003. Star Trek: Nemesis was filmed at Paramount in 2002, when those episodes were produced.