After nearly 20 years, the blues are once again a-callin’ tossed salad and scrambled eggs. A 10-episode Frasier revival is coming to Paramount+, with Kelsey Grammer returning to the title role he originated in Cheers. However, rather than Grammer being accompanied by David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin and Jane Reeves like in the original show (John Mahoney passed in 2018), Frasier Crane will be surrounded by new faces this time around. Now we know who the first two of these faces will be. One of them is someone Grammer has worked with in the past, and the other is a recasting of a familiar character.
First up, Nicholas Lyndhurst, who previously co-starred with Kelsey Grammer in the English National Opera’s production of Man of La Mancha at the London Coliseum, is the first new actor to come aboard the Frasier revival. As had previously been revealed, the show will see Frasier Crane living in a new city “with new challenges to face, new relationships to forge, and an old dream or two to finally fulfill.” Variety reports that Lyndhurst will play Alan Cornwall, Frasier’s “old college buddy” who’s now a university professor. Described as "British, boozy and larger than life,” as well as having “an intellect on par with Frasier’s,” but not applying himself as much, Alan “mischievous streak” could be just the thing to spice up his friend’s life. Simultaneously, Frasier’s “thoughtful guidance” might help Alan finally find some direction in his life.
Then in a separate Variety report, it was revealed Jack Cutmore-Scott will star in the Frasier revival as Freddy Crane, Frasier’s son. As an adult, Freddy is “a nuanced combination of his father and grandfather” who dropped out of college years back to become a fireman, but now “recent troubles have left him with no one to turn to in his life.” As a result, Freddy will reunite with his father, giving them the chance to “repair old wounds.” After being played by twins Christopher and Kevin Graves as an infant on Cheers, Freddy Crane was originally played on the spinoff by Luke Tarsitano, but then Trevor Einhorn went on to play him for the majority of the original Frasier’s run.
Frasier gives Nicholas Lyndhurst the opportunity to make a splash on American TV, as he’s chiefly known for UK shows like Butterflies, The Piglet Files, Goodnight Sweetheart, After You’ve Gone and New Tricks. It sounds like Lyndhurst’s Alan Cornwall will be occupying a similar position to the one David Hyde Pierce filled as Niles Crane in the original show, although Alan sounds like more of a loose cannon and nowhere near uptight as Niles. As for Jack Cutmore-Scott, known from movies and TV shows like Kingsman: The Secret Service, Tenet and Deception, his Freddy sounds like he’ll be filling the same kind of void Martin Crane did back in the day, in that he and his father are opposites in many ways, but they’re able to come back together.
Now that Nicholas Lyndhurst and Jack Cutmore-Scott has been announced for Paramount+’s Frasier revival, hopefully that means the rest of the show’s main cast members will be unveiled in the coming weeks/months before production begins. In addition to reprising Frasier Crane, Kelsey Grammer is executive producing the revival alongside writers Chris Harris and Joe Cristalli. As for whether any of the other original Frasier actors could stop by for guest spots, Grammer said in late November 2022 that David Hyde Pierce will not be doing so because “he wasn't really interested in repeating the performance of Niles,” but there’s no word yet on whether or not Peri Gilpin and Jane Reeves will follow suit.
While we wait for more updates about the Frasier revival, you can stream its predecessor with either a Paramount+ subscription or Hulu subscription. Learn what shows are coming out this year by scanning through our 2023 TV schedule.
