Kelsey Grammer has apparently been talking about a revival of the popular ‘90s seriesFrasier for a while now, and what better time than now to bring back the successful Cheers spinoff? A whole new audience will be introduced to the uptight psychiatrist, who has shifted locations to Boston from Seattle for the Paramount+ series, when the 10-episode first season hits the streaming service. Critics have had the opportunity to screen the first five episodes of Frasier, and they’re not holding back in their assessment of the revival.
David Hyde Pierce will not be returning as Niles Crane, Frasier’s younger brother, and John Mahoney, who starred in the original series as their father Martin, died in 2018. Instead, joining Kelsey Grammer in the Frasier revival’s cast will be Jack Cutmore-Scott as Frasier’s son Freddy Crane and Anders Keith as his nephew David. Let’s see what the critics are saying, starting with CinemaBlend’s Adam Holmes, who writes that the new series isn’t as funny as the original, but it’s an easy introduction for those unfamiliar with the OG story. He says:
Don’t go into this show thinking it’s just the original picking up 20 years later. There are some fun nods to OG Frasier, but it mostly functions as a new offering that’s easily accessible to newcomers. New Frasier isn’t as funny as the original, but some solid jokes/gags were sprinkled into the episodes I saw. The new cast members effectively play opposite Kelsey Grammer, particularly Anders Keith, who excels at channeling David Hyde Pierce in mannerisms and physical comedy.
Jackson McHenry of Vulture says the revival hasn’t yet found its own groove. The new characters so far are “disappointingly generic” and may need time to get running at full speed. McHenry continues:
If only Frasier had learned more lessons from [revivals like Will & Grace and Murphy Brown], which like this reboot, tended to broaden the tone of their original iterations, even as they labored to recreate the circumstances that made the originals click. Revivals tend to be cursed propositions on that front. You can’t make them exact replicas of what came before, because time has passed and circumstances have changed, but if you change too much (and say, put Frasier in jeans) you alienate the diehards. It’s odd to see how much effort Grammer has put in to make this revival happen, only for it to come across as a cautious, defensive maneuver. All that effort just to bring back this?
Judy Berman of Time says the Frasier revival feels like it was ordered by television executives in need of a nostalgia-driven hit, because it’s hard to believe anyone else would be interested in the continuation of an 11-season show that’s missing all but one of its original cast members. Berman writes:
The tone feels off, too. It’s nice that the new episodes were filmed in front of a live audience, but their laughter, which reads as artificial in 2023, makes the revival feel too much like a kitschy throwback. Frasier’s quest to prove, after a couple of decades as an overeducated talk-show host, that he’s got more substance than, say, Dr. Phil makes for a decent premise. But his guilt over passing his daddy issues onto the next generation is more of a bummer than a light comedy can support. The show needs more jokes and less earnest emoting, at the very least. Still, I’m not convinced that any amount of tweaking would be enough to justify its existence.
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone calls the series “an unfunny, uninspired dud,” saying that instead of good writing, the reboot centers around whatever built-in affection we already have for Kelsey Grammer’s title character. Even then, it ignores some pretty big aspects of the Frasier Crane that we know so well, the critic says, writing:
This new Frasier struggles to deal with the detailed and familiar history of a man who previously appeared in 20 seasons of television. It’s a muddle that doesn’t exist because Grammer and new executive producers Chris Harris and Joe Cristalli have something interesting to say about what Frasier is like in 2023. It exists because the title is familiar IP, and will get to reside on the same streaming service that features both Cheers and the original Frasier run.
LaToya Ferguson of The Wrap says this series is Frasier in name only, lacking the farce and charm that drew its audience in decades ago. The fact that Kelsey Grammer falls into the familiar cadence of his character only highlights that those around him aren’t in rhythm with him. In Ferguson’s words:
Frasier’s DNA was almost always in its farce, a realm in which the revival just barely dips its toe in. There are beats of misunderstandings — and unsurprisingly, the first two episodes set to drop Thursday are the ones that most lean into those beats, to lure viewers in surely. But instead of letting these misunderstandings build to a cacophony of confusion for the characters and delight for the audience, the five episodes available for review tend to drop the issues after the second (or even first) time they come up.
Kristen Baldwin of EW grades the first five episodes a C+, agreeing with the above assessment that revival fails to capture the lightning in a bottle that was the original Frasier, and the new cast suffers in comparison to the actors who chose not to return. The critic continues:
[Callbacks to the original series] spark a moment of joy, but they also underscore that this Frasier is not that Frasier. The original series boasted one of television’s all-time greatest ensembles, a group of extraordinary actors who shared an uncommon chemistry from the very first episode. The revival’s cast suffers by comparison — as almost any sitcom cast would. The actors are all perfectly likable, but they’re not quite able to operate at Grammer’s comedic level. (Again, very few actors can.)
Longtime Frasier fans will likely want to check out the first two episodes of the new series when they drop Thursday, October 12, for those with a Paramount+ subscription, but these reviews make it sound like expectations should be tempered. Also be sure to check out some of Paramount+’s best original shows, and keep up to date with all of the upcoming premieres with our 2023 TV schedule.