Frasier Spoiler Review: The Series That Should Have Been A Special
There was every reason to be skeptical about the "Frasier" reboot. Back in the '90s, producers David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee pulled off the seemingly impossible by spinning off the character of Frasier Crane from "Cheers" and making a sitcom that became as beloved as the classic show from which it had sprung. Running for 11 seasons between 1993 and 2004, "Frasier" set itself apart from every other sitcom with a mix of highbrow humor and heart, made all the more effective by one of the best ensemble casts ever assembled on the small screen. By the time the show wrapped and Frasier departed his native Seattle for a new life in Chicago, we'd had 11 arguably perfect seasons.
So, the idea of reviving the show 20 years after the close of the original was both an exciting and daunting prospect. After all, how was our beloved Dr. Crane, who seemed to belong to a golden age of TV sitcoms, going to fare in the age of prestige TV and binge-watching? There was also the inescapable notion that this was yet more nostalgia-bait in our already nostalgia-mad monoculture. And yet, what fan of the original series wouldn't want to see what our old pal Frasier was up to in 2023?
Star Kelsey Grammer was certainly excited by the prospect, despite the fact that, besides himself, not a single actor from the original series agreed to return in any recurring capacity. The actor told Entertainment Weekly, "In my mind, we're going to do another 100, another 150 shows in the next seven or eight years." That might have been a tad presumptuous on Grammer's part, especially since the first season of the revival series, available on Paramount+, comprises just ten episodes that don't exactly justify the whole enterprise.
An all-new cast
There were more warning signs ahead of the "Frasier" revival's debut. Kelsey Grammer openly advertised his not-so-modest view that he alone was the key to "Frasier," which, as any fan of the original knows, is exactly the wrong way to think about it. Grammar's lovably pretentious psychiatrist remains one of the best characters in TV history, and there's nobody that could play him better. But "Frasier" was a hit mainly because of how its excellent supporting cast complimented the central character.
Which brings us to the most glaring issue with the revival show: the lack of the original cast. David Hyde Pierce, who played Frasier's brother Niles, declined to return for the reboot. As did Jane Leeves, who portrayed housekeeper Daphne. Meanwhile, Frasier's father, Martin, was played by the late John Mahoney who passed away in 2018. All of which meant that "Frasier" 2023 was faced with bringing back Dr. Crane without any other familiar faces.
In place of these beloved characters, the revival establishes a new supporting cast. After Frasier returns to Boston, home of the eponymous bar from "Cheers," alongside his nephew, David (Anders Keith), he's greeted by his old college pal Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst). Intending to make a quick stop in Bean Town before departing for Paris, Frasier visits his son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) only to become taken with the idea of settling down in the city, taking a job as a Harvard psychology professor, and making up for years of shaky fathering by reconnecting with his son. Freddy's roommate, Eve (Jess Salgueiro), and Harvard's psychology department head, Olivia (Toks Olagundoye), round out the new supporting cast. Unfortunately, while Grammer effortlessly slips back into playing Dr. Crane as if he'd never stopped, the rest of the cast just doesn't measure up.
New Frasier, same story
The first episode of the revival ("The Good Father") mirrors the first "Frasier" episode, ("The Good Son"), in which Frasier moved his father into his apartment. In "The Good Father," the roles are reversed as Freddy moves into Frasier's apartment, setting up a similar "Odd Couple"-esque "sit" out of which the requisite "com" arises.
This inaugural episode is an auspicious start, with its touching tribute to John Mahoney that not only conveys the writer's reverence for the original series, but also suggests the new show contains just as much heart as its predecessor. But as things continue, cracks begin to show. Whereas the ongoing conflict between Frasier and his father made for some of the funniest and most heartfelt moments in the original, the mismatch between the doctor and his son feels like a not-as-good version of the same story. In season one of "Frasier," for example, Dr. Crane disposes of his father's favorite recliner, before Mahoney delivers a moving monologue about the nights Frasier's mother would "wake [him] up with a kiss after [he'd] fallen asleep in front of the television." In the revival, Frasier and Freddy similarly fall out and make up over various differences in taste, but none of these moments feels as powerful as Mahoney's recliner monologue.
Indeed, the most moving moments in the new series come from the characters reminiscing about the "Frasier" of old. Freddy and his father share a touching moment in the first episode as they recall what Martin meant to them, and the final installment sees the return of Peri Gilpin as Roz, Frasier's former radio producer. These episodes are both the best and the most emotionally affecting entries in the new series, which otherwise struggles to match the warmth and moral heart of its predecessor.
Frasier fan fiction
The "Frasier" revival might fail to live up to the original but it's not as if the production team didn't try. Showrunners Joe Cristali and Chris Harris seem to have a good grasp of what made "Frasier" work, especially Cristali, who is a self-confessed super-fan of the sitcom. The writer once ran a Twitter feed called "Frasier For Hire," on which he'd post his own jokes in the style of the show. Alongside Harris and Kelsey Grammer, whose input significantly influenced "Frasier" 2023, Cristali also oversaw the return of "Cheers" co-creator and veteran "Frasier" director James Burrows to direct several episodes of the streaming series. All of which should have resulted in a show that felt as faithful to the original as possible.
But as the episodes went on, they came with the creeping feeling that this is a show doing its best "Frasier" impression rather than a genuine sequel. For example, the return of Bebe Neuwirth's Lilith — Frasier's ex-wife and Freddy's mother — seemed dubious from the outset, particularly because she and her ex-husband had parted on a sweet note in the original show's final season. On her return, however, she and Frasier are back to sniping at each other, with Lilith's classic ice queen persona restored and Frasier seemingly repelled by her presence despite the hopeful way in which they'd previously parted.
As the episode plays out, it gives the impression of Cristali and co. bringing the "Frasier for hire" Twitter feed to life, racking up amusing Frasier and Lilith jibes before bringing the pair together for a sneaky kiss at the episode's end. It's not bad, necessarily. It just can't escape the sense of being a sort of "Frasier" fan fiction where everything feels like you've seen it before but it isn't quite as good.
Something's amiss in the Frasier-verse
Critics have been unfairly harsh on the "Frasier" revival, as if the show was purely a cynical nostalgia play. While nostalgia is undoubtedly at play here, the people involved clearly care about the work they're doing, even if they never had a hope of capturing the magic of the original.
What's more, the revival does, at times, manage to conjure flashes of that magic — usually when Kelsey Grammer is firing on all cylinders. In the first episode, there's a brief moment where Frasier and David scour Freddy's apartment for clues as to his living situation. After discovering some spilled cereal, Frasier says to his nephew, "See David this is why we can't let a single detail escape our notice. Observe, if you will, the linear pattern of these Cheerios." Meanwhile, Freddy and Eve sneak in behind him unseen. It's a small thing, but for a second, as Frasier is distracted and spouting needlessly overwrought sentences and expounding on his ridiculous theories, you feel like you're watching the "Frasier" of old.
Similarly, the final episode, in which Frasier attempts to hold a Christmas dinner party for his family and friends, feels the most like you're watching a classic installment. Perhaps it's because the writers tried their hand at a classic "Frasier" farce, but there's something about the hijinks of the ultimate episode that feel familiar in a way the others don't. It's helped, of course, by Peri Gilpin's return. Once Roz shows up and starts admonishing Frasier for his self-centeredness, all feels right in the Frasier-verse. It's just a shame that the show couldn't maintain that feeling on its own merits.
Just make it a special and move on
Is "Frasier" 2023 simply another pointless and cynical nostalgia play? Not by any means. Grammar might be attempting to play the hits in the wake of the abysmal "Money Plane," which was described as "the dumbest movie of 2020" by The Daily Beast. But he's also clearly very protective of Frasier Crane — the man simply can't stop crying whenever he talks about him — and made sure to surround himself with similarly reverent company for the revival.
It is, however, a show undermined by its own source material being so unimpeachably excellent, and which was hamstrung from the moment the original cast declined to return. On top of that, its familiar sitcom cadence just feels startlingly outdated in our current moment. For every charmingly hifalutin phrase that Grammer delivers, there's a trite sitcom goof of the kind the original show went to great lengths to avoid which makes the whole thing feel like an anachronism regardless of any issues with trying to ape classic "Frasier." When you add episodes like "First Class," in which we learn Frasier became some sort of Dr. Phil-esque figure in the years between the original and this new entry, things just don't sit right.
Still, for fans of the original who are keen to see what Dr. Crane is up to in 2023, the "Frasier" revival is a wholesome and frequently charming take on the character's twilight years, made by people with an obvious love for the original. If they'd just mashed the first and last episode together and made some sort of holiday special, I might even be tempted to say it's a triumphant return. As it stands, it's a shame there's eight mostly mediocre episodes sandwiched between them.
/Film Rating: 6 out of 10