“Frasier” review: Kelsey Grammer's great character returns for an okay sitcom
Revivals are rarely a risk worth taking. The ones that succeed give us something more than just the return of characters we love: Closure (Twin Peaks: The Return, The Comeback); a fresh story rooted in the themes of the original (Cobra Kai); or even just cringey spectacle combined with an amusing hit of nostalgia (And Just Like That).
This week brings the premiere of the long-gestating revival of Frasier, a 10-episode season willed into existence by star Kelsey Grammer and Paramount Network Television, which has a hungry streaming platform to feed. Though the series is technically a revival, Frasier is really a homecoming party of one: Grammer is the only original cast member to return. With no Niles (David Hyde Pierce) or Daphne (Jane Leeves), no Martin (John Mahoney, who passed away in 2017) and only the vague promise of a "guest appearance" from Roz (Peri Gilpin) and Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), the weight of this sitcom's new world rests on Frasier's shoulders.
It's quite a handicap, but Grammer knows the good doctor well, and he slips back into the role as easily as Frasier might don a bespoke Armani suit. The actor's exceptional charisma keeps this new Frasier afloat for now, but the five episodes made available for review reveal underlying issues that indicate it will not be an exception to the revival rule.
When last we saw Frasier in 2004, he was leaving Seattle to pursue a life with his girlfriend, Charlotte (Laura Linney), in Chicago. Nearly 20 years later, Frasier is on the verge of another major life change after the death of his father, Martin. Having left his wildly successful daytime TV talk show so he can research a new book in Paris, Frasier makes a stop in Boston to see his estranged son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), a Harvard dropout-turned-firefighter. Distressed to learn how little Freddy wants to share with him about his new life, Frasier decides to postpone Paris and work on fixing things with his son.
Chris Haston/Paramount+ Kelsey Grammer, Jess Salguerio, and Jack Cutmore-Scott on 'Frasier'
Though Freddy is loath to reconnect, others are happy to welcome Frasier back to Beantown: Freddy's roommate, Eve (Jess Salgueiro), an aspiring actress and fan of Frasier's TV show; his old Oxford buddy, Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst), a professor at Harvard; Niles and Daphne's son, David (Anders Keith), now a freshman at Harvard; and Alan's boss, Olivia (Toks Olagundoye), who hopes to recruit the famous Dr. Crane to teach in the University's psych department.
The pilot, written by showrunners Joe Cristalli (Life in Pieces) and Chris Harris (How I Met Your Mother), aims to replicate the original's skillful use of slamming-door farce, as Frasier's planned quiet dinner with Freddy becomes a round robin of interruptions and misunderstandings. The result is a little more chaotic than comical, but subsequent episodes have a calmer confidence. Grammer is still an expert at employing his buttery baritone to give Frasier's every utterance an extra layer of theatricality, whether the fussy doctor is turning his nose up at Freddy's bachelor pad or bloviating about the burden of being so very rich and famous. ("Ah, the limelight. I thought I'd be able to leave her hungry glow behind me…") The dialogue has flashes of the erudite elegance of the original, and the writers have a good handle on the importance of puns in Frasier's universe. ("It's a real sofa's choice," notes Dr. Crane with prim pleasure while discussing furniture for his new apartment.)
Beyond mending his strained relationship with Freddy, Frasier also wants to establish himself as a serious academic in the field of psychiatry. Some of the biggest laughs in the new series come from clips of Dr. Crane, a slickly produced TV trifle that often found Frasier performing silly stunts like karate chopping a board printed with the words "negative self-talk." Though the idea of teaching at Harvard intrigues him, Frasier worries the students will only want the "dancing bear" they've seen on TV. "My greatest nightmare is that that will be my whole legacy," he frets to Alan.
Frasier the show, however, is perfectly fine with indulging in fan service. The revival does not skimp on callbacks to the original — a reference to "The Innkeepers" here, an "I'm listening" there. "I'm no stranger to an underperforming dinner party," sighs Frasier in the premiere, nodding to the original series' many failed fetes (see: "To Kill a Talking Bird," "Daphne Does Dinner," "The Seal Who Came to Dinner," and so on).
Chris Haston/Paramount+ Kevin Daniels, Kelsey Grammer, Jimmy Dunn, and Jack Cutmore-Scott on 'Frasier'
Those reminders 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.)
As Freddy, Cutmore-Scott has two gears so far: Perpetually annoyed with or frazzled by his father's presence. Olagundoye is a reliably funny performer and is especially skilled at deadpan humor, but it seems like she's been directed to play Olivia — a woman whose primary character trait is jealousy of her unseen sister — as big as possible. Newcomer Anders Keith has the unenviable task of filling the Niles-sized hole in the proceedings, and his characterization of the young Crane scion can best be described as David Hyde Pierce by way of Jim Parsons.
Only Lyndhurst, a well-known UK sitcom star, jells with Grammer from the outset. The two worked together on stage in 2019, and their rapport on screen is the closest this new Frasier comes to the feel of the original. Though Alan is a work-shirking, Scotch-obsessed loafer, he's still an adept psychiatrist, and he offers Frasier meaningful — and wryly funny — insights about his troubles with Freddy. The interactions between Frasier and Freddy's firefighter colleagues Moose (Jimmy Dunn), Tiny (Kevin Daniels), and Smokey (Renee Pezzotta) are reliably amusing, but whenever Dr. Crane is not on screen, Frasier suffers. A subplot in episode 5 about Freddy and Eve trying to teach David how to pick up women is lackluster.
"We're in our 60s, man. What's wrong with 'good enough'?" Alan asks his old friend at one point. "What's wrong with 'this'll do'?" Nothing, really. Lord knows the TV industry runs on "good enough" much of the time. Unfortunately for the new Frasier, however, being "good enough" only brings back memories of the one that was great. Grade: C+
The first two episodes of Frasier premiere Thursday, Oct. 12, on Paramount+.
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