AIf I’m already high in the small line of spin-offs, it turns out that Frasier (NBC, 1993-2004) – born of Cheers (NBC, 1982-93), will live at least as long as the parent’s legend, will strive for a place on an even more army pedestal: classic series successfully revived after a long hiatus.
Arrested Development in the US and Birds of a Feather and Open All Hours in the UK have made such a comeback, but those shows didn’t have Frasier status. Dusting off the picky Seattle radiopsychiatrist played by Kelsey Grammer involves something like the degree of risk of going back to Fawlty Towers, which its creator, John Cleese, may have always wisely refused.
As is often the case with artistic successes, Frasier was not the result of planning but happy accidents. Set among the regulars of a Boston bar, Cheers introduced the character of Dr. Frasier Crane, a haughty psychiatrist, only in the third series; even then, he was only written for a few episodes, moderating the faltering marriage of two of the regular cast. After John Lithgow turned down the role, the producers cast Grammer, then a 29-year-old with an emerging reputation in American theater, mainly in the work of English playwrights: William Shakespeare, David Hare and Simon Gray. (There are some warm references to the actor in Gray’s parts of otherwise often biting theatrical memoirs.)
Such was the reaction of the show’s writers (and then viewers) to Grammer as Frasier, that he remained as a heavy thinker among the heavy drinkers for the last eight seasons. But remarkable in terms of what happened next, he remained a relatively minor character.
By the time Cheers ended, it had already become common for networks to seek financial compensation for themselves and emotional comfort for the audience through spin-offs from top shows. The record was mixed. The Korean medical war drama, M * A * S * H, caused a minor hit and two flops; Happy Days had seven offspring, two of which flourished: Mork & Mindy and Laverne & Shirley.
Even while the Boston bar show was still running, it had tried to grow another golden apple from the tree, but The Tortellis (1987) was canceled after one season. Perhaps that’s why the creators of Cheers – James Burrows and Glen and Les Charles – initially feared a direct narrative continuation after Cheers ended in 1993.
Seeing something special in Grammer, members of the writing team built up a role for him as a paralyzed billionaire tetchily dependent on caregivers, but the network turned it down. As for the idea of expanding Grammer’s earlier character, the creators of Frasier – David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee – may have learned from Mork & Mindy, basically a sci-fi show born out of a nostalgic comedy, that a second hit is more likely with considerable distance from the first. Nervous that if the new show faltered, NBC would call for cameos from Cheers regulars, effectively reconstructing the old show, putting Frasier on the other side of America. So it was that Frasier moved to Seattle, the character’s hometown, where he fled after a divorce and got a job as a radio adviser.
Some narrative magic was required, since Frasier had been a sole orphan in the universe of Cheers; but the spin-off gave him a competitive dyspeptic psychiatrist, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), and a sick father, Martin (John Mahoney), who got a caregiver, Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) in the pilot episode. Since Daphne is, strangely, from North West England, Frasier stands out among the great American sitcoms because the lineup lines are spoken with a Cod-Mancunian accent.
While British sitcoms are often built around catchphrases (“I haven’t gotten to where I am now”, “Lovely jubbly!”, And so on), American comedy hinges more on catchy traits – Frasier’s haughtiness, Niles’ wasespishness, the (previewed in her name) daffiness of Daphne. These do not arise from repetitions of the same sentence, but from new verbal expressions of the core characteristic. In his repeated afterlife, Frasier adapted easily to clip and meme culture, with multiple compilations of Frasier’s best expressions of insult, Niles’ vile reproaches, Daphne’s wacky Britishisms etc.
Since Frasier is politically liberal, this has inevitably caused some entertainment, as Grammer’s own allegiance is firmly Republican, and on the right; he has made pro-Trump, pro-Brexit and pro-Putin comments.
But those who find it surprising or even hypocritical that actors can play characters outside of their own worldview may miss the point of a profession rooted in pretension and psychological exploration. If you are dining with Sir Anthony Hopkins, he is unlikely to eat your liver with fava beans; yet brilliantly portrayed as Dr. Hannibal Lecter, someone who would.
And, regardless of acting skill, the writers, deliberately or unintentionally exploiting the gulf between Grammer and Frasier, gave the character deep contradictions – a liberal who is a snob about culture and decor, a relationship expert who grapples with family and loved ones. Many of the best comedies involve people who are not fit for what they do – Captain Mainwaring is not an officer class, Basil Fawlty lacks the hospitality manners, David Brent cannot manage his own career. In Cheers and Frasier, Grammer’s character is a fish who feels both in and out of the water he finds himself in. Most actors would tell you that a Republican playing a Democrat would find that a help rather than a hindrance.
The new Frasier will be broadcast on Paramount Plus, a streaming service. This is another example of how the fragmentation of broadcasting through digital expansion, by changing the economy of television, has democratized planning. An old show with a significant fan base may not fit the demographic or rating base of the original network, but it can do a decent business for a niche outlet. BBC One was reluctant to revive All Creatures Great and Small, but it fits the smaller Channel 5 perfectly. Even if out of curiosity or just nostalgia, Paramount Plus should have a market for at least the first few new Frasiers.
Some showrunners are stunted by having their characters killed in the finale, forcing them to a prequel or medical or theological convolutions to bring them back. However, Frasier had tantalizingly loose ends 16 years ago. Viewers were fooled into thinking a plane with the protagonist would land in San Francisco (where there was the promise of a new runway), but the runway turned out to be in Chicago, where the lure of a lost love was.
A complication of the plot will be that Mahoney, who played Martin, died in 2018, and rearranging that part would raise issues with taste and storyline. (Dad would be at least 90 now.)
So the writers’ room will probably start asking questions like: where is Frasier, around 70 years old, in 2021, and with whom? Are Niles and Daphne still married? Their son, David, who is now in his late teens, offers another potential new part. Frasier was (in line with his time) a very white show, so diversity will have to be introduced in some way.
And since Frasier was last on screen, the real America has had eight years of Obama and four years of Trump as president. What did the character make of that? That could really give Kelsey Grammer something to trade with.