Do you hear the blues are calling tossed salad and scrambled eggs… again? In 2018, Kelsey Grammer confirmed that there had been talks about reviving Frasier, the 11-season spinoff of Cheers that ended in 2004, and by 2021, the project was officially greenlit. Rather than airing on standard television, this revival will be an exclusive to Paramount+ subscribers, with 10 episodes comprising the first season.
If you haven’t been keeping track of the new Frasier’s development that’s been spearheaded by writers Joe Cristalli and Chris Harris, not to worry. We’re here to break down all the major details revealed about this upcoming entry to the 2023 TV schedule, including when it will premiere, who’s comprising the main cast, what other familiar faces from the original Frasier will return and more.
What Is Frasier’s Premiere Date?
It was unclear for a while if the show would premiere sometime in late 2023 or if it would be saved for a 2024 release. Now we know that this series will premiere its first two episodes Thursday, October 12, 2023 on Paramount+. After that, a new episode will be released weekly until the Season 1 finale arrives on December 7. Frasier’s first two episodes will also be shown Tuesday, October 17 on CBS.
Kelsey Grammer Is Joined By Entirely New Faces In The Main Cast
All-new faces are starring alongside Kelsey Grammer in the new Frasier’s main cast, though some of these inidividuals will be playing characters who were brought to life by other actors in the original series. Starting off, Jack Cutmore-Scott has been cast as Freddy Crane, Frasier’s son with Lilith Sternin who was born during Cheers, and was chiefly played in the old Frasier by Trevor Einhorn. As an adult, Cutmore-Scott’s Freddy is described (via Variety) as “a nuanced combination of his father and grandfather” who dropped out of college to become a firefighter, but is now dealing with “troubles” that force him to turn to his father for help.
Frasier and Freddy will also be joined by David Crane, the son of Niles Crane and Daphne Moon who was born in the original Frasier’s series finale. Played by Anders Keith, per Variety, David will be depicted in the revival as “an awkward college freshman with a penchant for off-kilter observations” who has his father’s intelligence and his mother’s smile, but neither of their “polish.” This results in the young man having an “unearned confidence,” though Frasier is delighted by his nephew’s “earnest enthusiasm.”
As for the newcomers both on camera and within the show’s canon, the first to be revealed to the public was Nicholas Lyndhurst’s Alan Cornwall, an old college buddy of Frasier’s who’s now a professor at an Ivy League university. Next, there’s Jess Salgueiro’s Eve, who’s Freddy’s roommate and a single mother who, according to Deadline, will serve as a “critical bridge” between Freddy and Fraiser as they attempt to reconcile. Finally, we have Toks Olagundoye’s Olivia, the head of the psych department at the same university where Alan teaches.
The Revival Is Set In Boston
At the end of the original Frasier, it was revealed that rather than moving to San Francisco to start his new TV job, Kelsey Grammer’s character was instead flying to Chicago to reunite with Laura Linney’s Charlotte, with whom he’d been romantically involved with earlier in Season 11. However, evidently things didn’t work out with her, because the new Frasier isn’t set in Chicago, nor did he decided to move back to Seattle or establish roots in San Francisco. Instead, the Paramount+ show will see Frasier Crane back in his old stomping grounds of Boston, Massachusetts. And yet, even though we’ll be back in Boston, that doesn’t mean Frasier will be spending time at his old hangout.
There’s No Word On If Any Cheers Characters Will Appear
Rather than hanging out at Cheers again, Frasier Crane will frequent a different Boston bar, which we’ll talk more about later. That said, director James Burrows mentioned that the revival’s opening episode includes an indirect reference to Cheers. As for whether any of the other main Cheers characters will appear in the new Frasier, that doesn’t appear to be on the table at the moment. However, given that the original Frasier peppered in Cheers guest appearances, plus this new show being set in the same city, if Paramount+’s Frasier ends up running for multiple seasons, I’d say the odds of someone like Ted Danson, Rhea Perlman or Woody Harrelson appearing are stronger than not.
Bebe Neuwirth And Peri Gilpin Are Guest Starring
Just because Kelsey Grammer is surrounded by newcomers in the Fraiser revival’s main cast doesn’t mean no one else from the original show will appear. It was announced in March 2023 that Bebe Neuwirth will reprise Frasier Crane’s ex-wife/Freddy’s mother, Lilith Sternin, whom also originated from Cheers and recurred throughout her ex-husband’s first show. Then in April, Peril Gilpin was confirmed to reprise Roz Doyle, who produced Frasier’s radio show in Seattle and became one of his closest friends. It’s unclear if Lilith and Roz are also now living in Boston or if they’re just visiting Frasier there.
David Hyde Pierce Will Not Reprise Niles In The Revival
As beloved a TV character as Frasier Crane is, one could argue that one of the main reasons his spinoff was so successful stemmed from David Hyde Pierce’s Niles Crane. There’s a reason he won four Emmy Awards and was nominated seven other times for that performance. With his son David being one of the revival’s main characters, one would think that’d be more than enough justification for Niles to appear.
And yet, Kelsey Grammer shared in November 2022 that Pierce will not reprise Niles because he “wasn’t really interested in repeating” that performance. Depending on how long the new Frasier runs for, perhaps the actor may change his mind down the road, but for now, it’s not on the table. As such, it’s unclear whether or not we’ll see Jane Leeves reprise Daphne either.
The Show Will Pay Tribute To John Mahoney
John Mahoney starred as Frasier and Niles; father Martin for the entirety of Frasier’s run, but the actor passed away in 2018 at the age of 77. However, both Martin and Mahoney will be honored in the Frasier revival. Along with the bar Frasier Crane is now spending time at being called Mahoney’s, in an interview with EW, James Burrows shared that there’s a “wonderful scene” in the new Frasier’s first episode that’s “two-and-a-half, three minutes without any laughs” revolving around Martin. If I had to guess, this will likely be a conversation between Frasier and Freddy discussing the late patriarch.
Keep visiting CinemaBlend for more coverage on Frasier we get closer to its October 12 premiere. Don’t forget to also check out the best Paramount+ shows that can be streamed now.
