Frasier Crane may be taking listeners’ phone calls again soon.
A revival of the classic sitcom Frasier is reportedly under consideration at Paramount for their Paramount Plus streaming service, according to the Hollywood Reporter. From sources, the trade is stating that “[t]he hope for a revival would be to reunite [series star Kelsey] Grammer and the surviving core cast of the original series: David Hyde Pierce’s Niles, Peri Gilpin’s Roz and Jane Leeves’ Daphne. (John Mahoney, who played Frasier and Nile’s father, Martin, died in 2018.)”
With discussions still in their earliest phase, no behind-the-scenes creative talent has been attached yet, nor has any cast member been approached with a deal. At this point, there are a number of things that could scuttle the project before it has time to even get underway.
Paramount Plus will be the new name of Paramount’s CBS All Access streaming service, when the announced rebranding of it happens next month.
Gramer originated the role of Dr. Frasier Crane on the venerable sitcom Cheers in 1984, joining the cast as first psychiatrist and then paramour to Shelly Long’s Diane Chambers in the show’s third season. Although the character was original supposed to appear in just a small number of episodes, the producer’s liked Grammer’s work with the character so much that he quickly became a regular cast member and stayed with the series through to its 1993 finale.
But the summer between the Cheers finale and the fall debut of the Frasier spinoff saw the character transplant cross country from Boston to Seattle to help take care of his aging father while working as the host of a call-in psychology radio talk show. The series would run an impressive eleven seasons, rack up an impressive 37 Emmy wins, including a five year streak winning the Outstanding Comedy Series award starting in 1994. When the series ended, it saw the character heading towards Chicago to be with his girlfriend who had just relocated there.
Credit has to be given to Grammer for playing the character for twenty years and keeping him fresh the entire time. When first introduced on Cheers, he was the stuffed shirt, somewhat more mature member of the bar’s gang of regulars, a contrast to the more brash, Bostonian patrons. He would eventually relax somewhat to fit in better with the rest of the characters. But once he moved back to his home in Seattle, his erudite side reemerged and developed in a different direction over the course of the spin-off.
So can lightening be captured in a bottle for a third time though? That’s the big question that everyone will need to ask themselves as this moves forward.
