Frasier Revival Renewed For Season 2, Will Continue To Serve Up Tossed Salad And Scrambled Eggs
2023 saw the return of Frasier Crane in a "Frasier" revival series that was neither disappointing nor remarkable. But the good doctor must have done something right because Paramount has renewed the series for a second season. "Frasier" 2023 debuted in October last year with a full 10 episodes that saw Dr. Crane (Kelsey Grammer) return to Boston to reconnect with his son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). Now, as Variety reports, CBS Studios, which produces this new iteration of"Frasier," will push ahead with a new slate of episodes, scheduled to once again shoot in front of a live audience at Paramount Studios. In response to the news, star Kelsey Grammer released a statement, saying:
"'Frasier' is a love story, and I am very happy we will be allowed to continue it. I'm delighted that our partners at CBS Studios and Paramount+ are on board for another season, and I can't wait for the fans to see what we have in store."
The star is the only actor from the original series, which ran from 1993 to 2004, to return for main cast of the revival show, which received a decidedly mixed response when it debuted last year. Still, it was undeniably comforting to see Dr. Crane back on our screens after almost 20 years, and audiences clearly watched enough of the new show to justify its renewal — a renewal which has taken a little while to materialize following the revival's season finale in December.
The Frasier revival has a chance to overcome its problems
One of the "Frasier" revival's biggest downsides was the lack of the original supporting cast. Although we did see the return of Frasier's ex-wife Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth) and an emotional comeback for the Dr.'s erstwhile producer Roz (Peri Gilpin), the new show couldn't quite overcome the gaping hole left by the lack of the original ensemble. Most notably, Niles actor David Hyde Pierce declined to return for the show, prompting Kelsey Grammer and new showrunners Joe Cristali and Chris Harris to radically rethink their approach to the reboot.
That revised approach led to the perfectly decent, if at times disappointing, revival we got in 2023. But while Grammer was clearly firing on all cylinders in the role he inhabited so effortlessly 20 years prior, the new supporting characters just couldn't live up to their predecessors. That said, as Paramount+'s executive VP of programming, Jeff Grossman noted in a statement following the show's season 2 renewal, "The new series introduced 'Frasier' to a whole new generation," so perhaps new "Frasier" adherents weren't bothered too much by the lack of Hyde-Pierce, Daphne Moon actress Jane Leeves, or Martin Crane actor John Mahoney.
Either way, now "Frasier" 2.0 has a chance to overcome some of the issues that held its first season back. Grammar has revealed some ambitious plans for the series, and while it remains to be seen whether he'll get the "100 episodes" he envisions, he'll at least get another run at restoring Frasier Crane to greatness when the new season debuts. Just when that will be remains unclear at this time, but more news on season 2 should arrive in the coming months.