After Holding Back For Five Episodes, Paramount's Revival Finally Gives Us Horny Frasier
This post contains spoilers for the sixth episode of the "Fraiser" revival series.
Prior to the debut of the "Frasier" revival on Paramount+, we heard a lot about how the show would present a different Frasier Crane. In a behind-the-scenes featurette, star Kelsey Grammer teased the new series with this summary:
"Now is the right time to bring Frasier back because he is not the same guy anymore. He is a little wiser, he may actually even be a little funnier, and he has a new mission in life. I mean, he's got some loose ends to tie up in Boston, but he also has a relationship to carve out with his son."
Meanwhile, co-showrunner Joe Cristali told the Los Angeles Times that in this new series, Frasier is "a little bit more comfortable in life; he's not as anxious [and] he's not the guy that has to prove himself anymore."
But even though the marketing for the show has been showcasing this new version of the character, there's also this sense that the writers want to make sure we all know he's the same guy he always was. The writers have been determined to tie their revival back to the two shows that preceded it, with Frasier cracking jokes about his "Cheers" years and episodes featuring multiple callbacks to the original "Frasier." Grammer also confusingly added in the same behind-the-scenes featurette that "the theme of the new series [is] the same. He's just looking for love. He's just trying to seek love to become the better of Frasier each day, the best man he can be."
So with the new "Frasier," we've got a Dr. Crane who's a whole new guy but also exactly the same. In episode 6, that strange dichotomy was on full display as we witnessed the return of horny Frasier.
'You're doing this, again?'
"Frasier" 2023 seems to be the result of a writing crew that love the character but aren't sure how to evolve him. The show often deviates from the classic "Frasier" formula — such as when we learn that Dr. Crane basically became Dr. Phil during his time in Chicago. Other times, we've seen flashes of the classic character we all remember.
This strange mix was evident in episode 6, wherein Eve (Jess Salgueiro) sets up a blind date for both Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) and Frasier. When the first date, played by "Grace and Frankie" alum June Diane Raphael, arrives at Frasier's door there's some confusion over who she's there to see. Frasier and Freddy then compete to win her over, with the former eventually winning out. But just as things seem to be coming together, Frasier's actual date, Siobhan (Jacqueline Obradors) arrives. The doctor then decides he wants to pursue Siobhan, attempting to bribe his son into taking Raphael's character out to dinner — prompting Freddy to comment, "Are you kidding me? You're doing this again?" Unfortunately, both women overhear his machinations and decide to leave. But Frasier can't help but sneak in a quick comment about how both of them wanted him.
One of Frasier's animating character traits from the original series was his love of women and inability to ever settle down with just one. That quality has rarely been seen on the new show, although there is a moment early in the season when Dr. Crane becomes momentarily convinced that Eve has fallen for him. So far, the revival's attempts to subvert his old traits and invent new ones have been mixed at best, but with episode 6, we get to see our old friend horny Frasier in all his glory. Except, something felt off ...
Recognizably unfamiliar
Much like the show's other attempts to harken back to the Frasier of old, the return of horny Frasier just felt a little odd. Seeing a septuagenarian Dr. Crane chasing two different women feels like it sits in some uncanny valley between a new version of the character and the old version, while simultaneously feeling like neither. It certainly doesn't fit with the renewed vision of Frasier as "more comfortable in life" that Kelsey Grammer spoke of. But it also doesn't feel right having old Frasier acting like his younger self and seemingly learning nothing about relationships in the 20 years since we last saw him.
Perhaps it's asking too much to see an evolved Frasier that still feels like an authentic version of the doctor we remember from the original series. But that all just speaks to the creeping sense that this show was kind of unnecessary in the first place. The first episode, with its touching tribute to the late John Mahoney, felt like a worthwhile revisit, but with each new episode, the series seems less and less worthwhile. Still, we do have the return of some fan-favorite characters to look forward to, so things might still look up.