Diane and I enjoyed watching Frasier during the 1990s. Although the series lasted until 2004, the Millennial Frasier episodes were NOT “Must See TV.” Now, nearly 20 years later, Kelsey Grammer reprises his role as Frasier Crane and returns to Boston to accept a professorship at Harvard University. One Big Difference between the old Frasier and this new Frasier is the absence of David Hyde Pierce as Frasier’s brother, Niles.
After watching the two episodes shown on CBS (now the series shifts to Paramount+), you have to wonder if you can really go home again after decades in Seattle. One of Frasier’s motives for returning to Boston is to develop a better relationship with his son, Frederick. One of the several areas of conflict between Frasier and Frederick is that Frederick dropped out of Harvard…to become a fire fighter. The elite mentality of Frasier finds this move incomprehensible…and idiotic.
But, in order to establish closeness with his son, Frasier buys the apartment building Frederick lives in…and moves into the apartment across the hall from his son’s apartment. This promises to be a flashpoint for the series.
Will this new iteration of Frasier draw enough of an audience to survive? Do today’s streaming audiences want to see a 1990s format sitcom? We’ll see. Were you a fan of Frasier? GRADE: Incomplete (but trending towards a B)
I liked Frasier well enoug in the 90’s but have little interestin the new series. I seldom watch sit coms anymore and if I do mits usually a rerun of Seinfeld or Curb Your Enthusiams.
Steve, this new version of FRASIER might not appeal to a younger audience, either.
FRASIER was a refreshingly intelligent show and I enjoyed it. But I ain’t paying for a Paramount subscription to see it.
Dan, exactly! The streaming services like Paramount+ are desperate for hit TV shows. I’m not sure this new version of FRASIER is the answer.
I was something of a fan during the nineties but lost track of the show furing its final few seasons. I watched it in its entirety during the lockdown (like apparently A LOT of people) and that was great fun, especially the first four or five seasons and while the final years weren’t terrible the flavor was…odd. This sounds truly awful and while I’d give it a passing glance if it were free I’d never pay for the privilege especially considering the lack of original cast members and writers.
Byron, some of our friends watched all the old FRASIER episodes during the Pandemic, too. As you point out, the first five seasons were great. This new version of FRASIER has a very different vibe.
DHP’s absence makes all the difference. His relationship with Frasier made the original show and its absence spoils this one. It was nearly cringe-worthy in the episode I watched.
Patti, the magic of the original FRASIER is missing in this new incarnation. You’re right about the absence of DHP as a major factor. Will nostalgia be enough to keep this new FRASIER going? We’ll have to see, but the prospects seem dim to me.
The reviews I read were bad and your explication makes it sound terrible. Without Niles or Martin, forget it. Niles and Daphne made the show, for me.
Jeff, I was a big Roz fan. And the antics of Frasier and Niles animated everything. When I say that this new FRASIER has “low energy” I’m being kind.
I wasn’t a fan of the original show. The character was OK as one of several second bananas in CHEERS, but carrying his own series, he was grating. The father-son conflict sounds like a terrible, cliched idea. Do fathers and sons in movies and TV shows ever get along?
Fred, as one Hollywood writer once declared: “Conflict is everything!”
One reason I preferred original FRASIER to CHEERS was that, however cartoonishly at times, F made a point that intellectuals enjoyed being intellectuals, while C was all about intellectuals (not solely Frasier himself) were always just looking for an excuse to Not Think, if only they’d be honest with themselves.
I saw a few minutes of the CBS clearance, and it does seem rather too much the Kelsey Grammar show, indeed, and that I don’t need.
The chalet farce episode was one of the most memorable. Aside from everything else, Grammer (spellcheck may or may not’ve “corrected” me above) needs a job, most likely. People aren’t knocking each other over to hire him these years.
This was a reply to Deb’s comment…not sure how it ended up appended to mine!
Tpdd. the chalet episode was my favorite! I suspect we won’t see anything close to that with the new FRASIER.
Totally uninterested in this one. The reason the original show worked so well was the interplay between the characters: Frasier, Niles, Martin, Daphne, Roz—and even some of the smaller parts, like Bulldog (the womanizing sports guy) & Gil Chesterton (the food critic—whose name was an obvious homage to GK Chesterton). The show also did some great screwball stuff (like the time the gang went to a ski chalet and everyone ended up playing musical beds). But the era has passed. I wish the studio would let us remember a great show the way it was and not try to cash in on nostalgia. That tactic rarely works.
Deb, you’re right about the interplay between the characters of the original FRASIER. So far, after three episode of the new FRASIER, the interplay of the characters has not achieved lift-off.
I enjoyed the original show except for Freddie! I trust they’re using a new actor now! No matter, I won’t be watching it!
Bob, Freddie is all grown up and a fire fighter now.