Lutes first gained national attention with in 1994 with diverse guest appearances in three established sitcoms: on NBC's "Frasier" he was the gay station manager who mistakenly believes Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) wants to date him; on the Christmas episode of ABC's "Ellen", he was the terminally nice boyfriend who wants to marry Ellen (Ellen DeGeneres); and on NBC's "Mad About You", he tried to pick up the married Jamie Buchman (Helen Hunt). His shoulder-length chestnut hair and handsome features made Lutes a candidate for leading man roles, but his early work was mostly in commercials and on
