Kelsey Grammer is heading back to TV in a new show directed by "Milk" moviemaker Gus Van Sant. The former "Frasier" star is swapping comedy for a tense political drama called "Boss", which will mark Oscar-nominee Van Sant's first small screen venture.

Grammer will star as the fictional Mayor of Chicago, Illinois who is diagnosed with a degenerative mental condition that only he and his doctor know about, according to Deadline. The show is said to be inspired by Shakespeare's "King Lear".

In the early 1980s, Kelsey Grammer began his television career by portraying Stephen Smith in NBC's "Kennedy". Later on, he guest-starred in "Medium".