Paramount+ has resurrected the ’90s sitcom “Frasier,” which was originally a spinoff featuring the pretentious psychiatrist who first appeared in Season 3 of NBC’s “Cheers.” The show joins the ranks of other revived classic sitcoms like “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Quantum Leap,” and “Night Court.” Kelsey Grammer returns to a now much older version of Frasier Crane, bringing some familiar and some new faces to the show.
So far, the “Frasier” reboot has included a few stars from the original series, including Bebe Neuwirth, who played Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith Sternin, and Peri Gilpin, who played Frasier’s former co-worker Roz. The show’s reboot is now focused on Frasier’s return to Boston after his father’s death, Martin Crane (the late John Mahoney), to mend his relationship with his son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott).
While the brief moments reunited the original cast, Grammer hopes that Gilpin returns for more appearances on the show in the future. “I hope that we can actually find a bit more action for her in the subsequent seasons,” Grammer told Entertainment Tonight. “Assuming that we have them—and I really can’t understand why we wouldn’t.”
Other “Frasier” favorites, like Niles (David Hyde Pierce), Daphne (Jane Leeves), and their son David (Anders Keith), return to the reboot series, often dropping by to visit Frasier and his son. But since Frasier has returned to Boston after originally leaving to start his “second act” of life in Seattle, many are speculating that a cast member from “Cheers” might drop in and make an appearance.
Grammer expresses his wish for Shelley Long to return to her “Cheers” character, Diane Chambers, who was on the first five seasons of the sitcom. The character romanced both Frasier and the bartender, Sam Malone (Ted Danson).
“Frasier has to come to terms with the fact that he failed at love—I think that’s one of his big arcs for this,” Grammer said.
“[Long] came back for “Frasier,” and it was very funny, but she was sort of lost in sort of a delusional haze there,” Grammer recalls of Long’s guest appearance on the spinoff series, in which Diane sought Frasier’s psychiatric advice. “It’d be neat to see her having evolved into a new kind of person who’s more comfortable in their own skin.” While Grammer and Long have not spoken about the potential storyline, Grammer is excited about the possibility of “the two of them face to face [to acknowledge that] we did mean something to each other, and God bless you—that’d be kind of a neat thing to see.”
While hopes are high that familiar faces will return, the reboot of “Frasier” feels bittersweet as one of the central characters in the original sitcom is no longer around. John Mahoney died in 2018 due to complications from throat cancer at 77 years old.
However, the reboot pays homage to the late actor with subtle Easter eggs. “The baby’s name is John,” Grammer says of the child that Freddy is helping to raise with his roommate, Eve (Jess Salgueiro). “The bar’s name is Mahoney’s—it was established in 1940 when John was born. So there’s a lot of wonderful, just little sort of secrets, ’cause John Mahoney was just such a wonderful guy.”
You can watch the entire first season of the “Frasier” reboot now streaming on Paramount+.
Source: Entertainment Tonight
