Frasier's New Style May Look Casual But The Price Tag Says Otherwise
The "Frasier" revival didn't get off to the most auspicious start. In fact, it got off to several less than ideal starts, with star Kelsey Grammer initially planning on bringing back the entire ensemble that made the original series so beloved. Unfortunately, no one actually wanted to come back, leaving Grammar and new showrunners Joe Cristali and Chris Harris to dream up a whole new chapter for Dr. Crane — one that would see him return to Boston and reinsert himself into the life of his son, Freddy (played by Jack Cutmore-Scott in the revival).
But even after locking in this new premise, there were further hurdles to navigate. Leaving aside the fact that when it finally aired, Frasier 2023 revealed itself as a series that really should have been a one-off special, the period directly before its launch on the Paramount+ streaming service also brought some minor controversy. A promo image for the revival show had Reddit in a tizzy due to its depiction of Dr. Crane in a navy blazer with jeans and running shoes. That might seem so insignificant as to not even qualify as nitpickery, but Frasier is a beloved character of the sitcom genre, and his fastidious style sense was part of what made him the lovably pompous snob he was. That is to say, this new look didn't seem to be quite in keeping with the smart designer attire he wore throughout the original sitcom, perhaps hinting at a show that would sully the memory of the great sitcom.
Now that all 10 episodes have aired, however, we know the revival didn't quite ruin the legacy of "Frasier," even if it didn't manage to fully justify its existence. What's more, it turns out the controversial casual Frasier attire wasn't quite as cheap as it looked.
Frasier's casual look didn't come cheap
After the promo image showing a be-jeaned Frasier arrived, GQ was moved to comment on the doctor's new smart/casual look, in a piece that took the neither disappointing nor remarkable revival show to task for delivering a "weird tech bro cosplay dilution of the good doctor." The piece even called out the promo image for Dr. Crane's "mid blazer you could rent at any dial-a-wedding-suit place with ... jeans ... and the most sexless sneakers known to man: jersey knit running shoes."
Apparently, Joe Cristali and Chris Harris read this takedown of Dr. Crane's new look and contacted the outlet to explain themselves. In their GQ follow-up interview, in which they defend their changes to the "Frasier" formula, Cristali and Harris brought along costume designer Lori Eskowitz-Carter for backup. As she explained, "We wanted [Frasier] to still be sophisticated and elegant and upscale, but definitely more casual — he's more comfortable in his own skin." But that didn't mean he had to suddenly become more frugal, especially since the new show reveals that the man has become rich beyond his wildest dreams after fronting a Dr. Phil-style TV show in Chicago.
As Eskowitz-Carter explained, the offending jeans cost $250 and came from Carroll Custom, a "really lovely little" Beverly Hills-based Italian menswear boutique. What's more, those sneakers were a $400 pair of APL Techloom Waves, while the plaid shirt was a Tom Ford piece that, according to GQ, had "a price tag that would have horrified [Frasier's blue collar father] Martin." Finally, in a moment that feels a little "The lady doth protest too much," Eskowitz-Carter clarified that "Everything [Frasier] wore was super high-end: Brioni, Tom Ford, Bruno Cucinelli. It was all the best of the best, and fit to perfection on him."
Frasier's changed and that's ok
Far be it from me to dictate how best to conduct damage control on your streaming series before it's even launched, but ... well that's exactly what I'm going to do, I guess. Rather than contacting GQ and breathlessly telling us how much all this cheap-looking stuff cost, it might have been better to simply stick to the line Chris Harris lays out earlier in the piece. The whole point of this revival series is that it focuses on Frasier 20 years removed from his younger self. As the co-showrunner put it:
"He's had some success — and some failures, too — but he's also grown older, a little bit wiser, and a little bit more comfortable with who he is and where he is in life. We like to say that he has unbuttoned his shirt a little bit, and unwound maybe just a quarter-turn."
That's really all the revival series guys needed to say. What's more, it's not like Frasier never wore jeans on the original series. In fact, as one Redditor pointed out, his denim of old was much more bedraggled than the jeans we saw in that revival show promo image. As such, it would make sense that as he's aged, the good doctor has become much more comfortable donning his denim day-to-day. Perhaps if Kelsey Grammer's ambitious plans for Frasier pan out and the revival is renewed, we'll get to see him venture into full sweatpant territory.