When Paramount+ subscribers reunite with Frasier Crane in the near future, it won’t be in his Seattle digs from the original show, nor will it be in Chicago, where Kelsey Grammer’s character was heading in Frasier’s series finale. Instead, the Frasier revival will take place in Boston, which is where we met the character back in the Cheers days. Now Grammer has revealed why the new Frasier will be set in his old East Coast stomping grounds, as well as whether the Cheers bar itself will factor into the revival.
While stopping by TODAY to talk about his new movie Jesus Revolution, Kelsey Grammer discussed the Frasier revival with hosts Hood Kotb and Jenna Bush Hager, starting with the reasoning for why Frasier Crane has moved back to Boston. When the hosts mentioned that the Frasier revival is coming up, the actor responded:
It’s done. We’ve shot two already and the audience seems to be pretty responsive. It’s Frasier’s fourth act, really. When he left Seattle in the previous show, he went to Chicago. So there’s a whole raft of time there that we’ll discover a little bit about. He’s now going to Boston. He wants to go become a writer of critical novels, and it doesn’t quite work out.
It was revealed at the beginning of February that the Frasier revival will take place in Boston, only rather than return to the Massachusetts city mainly to reconnect with his son Freddy, who will be played by Jack Cutmore-Scott, we now know that he’s back there to establish himself as a writer. Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be going well when the show kicks off, so we’ll have to wait and see over the course of these 10 episodes whether his professional luck changes at all.
For those who haven’t been following along with the Frasier’s revival development, David Hyde Pierce will not reprise Frasier’s brother Niles, and Jane Reeves and Peri Gilpin are not on deck to return as Daphne and Roz either. Instead, this new show sees Frasier Crane largely surrounded by new faces, and while talking about the possibility of seeing Niles and Daphne make guest appearances someday, Kelsey Grammer shared another reason for why Frasier decided to set himself back up in Boston:
Niles and Daphne are not coming back. If there is a spot for a one-off appearance and they’re interested, yeah, I’m sure we would do something like that. But it’s a new world, it’s a new life. Frasier’s going back to Boston to put himself back in a place where he didn’t feel like he quite made it, where he left with his tail between his legs a little bit, and he wants to feel like he’s conquered it again. He had such high hopes for Boston in his life, fell in love, fell in love again, got divorced, had a child… There’s a lot going on in his life now that it’s pointing him back home.
As for whether the Cheers bar will play into the Frasier revival, Kelsey Grammer stated that “there is mention of a certain bar.” When asked if it was still open, he first joked about it being closed, then said someone recently told him that “they were there,” so he guesses “it may still be happening.” This isn’t exactly clear-cut, but it sounds like although we won’t be visiting Cheers initially in the revival, it’s possible we may stop by the bar towards the end of the season or, if the new Frasier is renewed, in Season 2. If Cheers is indeed still open, it’d be nice to see how people like Ted Danson’s Sam Malone and Rhea Perlman’s Carla Tortelli are doing these days.
The Frasier revival’s main cast also includes Nicholas Lyndhurst as Alan Cornwall, Frasier’s old college buddy and a university professor; Anders Keith as David, Niles and Daphne’s son who was born in the original show’s series finale; Jess Salgueiro as Eve, Freddy’s roommate; and Toys Olagundoye as Olivia, head of the psych department at the same Ivy League university where Alan works. Joe Cristalli & Chris Harris are writing the show, and James Burrows, who directed multiple Cheers episodes, was tapped to helm the first two episodes.
Paramount+ hasn’t set a premiere date for the new Frasier yet, but because the show is currently shooting, dropping in late 2023 or early 2024 seems likely. Find out what shows are currently airing or do have set premiere dates with our 2023 TV schedule, and keep your eyes peeled here for more updates on how the revival is coming along.
