There’s a large audience out there of Frasier mega-fans (including my parents) who are eagerly waiting for more information about the show’s upcoming reboot. While the titular doctor, played by Kelsey Grammer, will be accepting new patients in the follow-up production, many of the other beloved original cast members, including David Hyde Pierce who played Frasier’s brother Niles, will not be coming back. Sadly, the same is true for the late John Mahoney who played Frasier and Niles’s father Martin Crane as Mahoney tragically passed away in 2018. And, although he will be sorely missed from the reboot’s storyline, Grammer recently revealed to Entertainment Tonight that there are plenty of ways the show will be paying tribute to his on-screen dad.
During the interview, Grammer revealed that the Frasier reboot will see the psychiatrist and radio personality return to Boston—the city where we first met him during his time on Cheers. While drinking happy hour beers at the legendary bar is certainly the throwback we’re all waiting for, the actor says that Frasier is moving to Boston “because his son lives there.” Speaking to the father-son dynamic that the original series played through, Grammer says that a similar theme will happen in the reboot with even the pilot episode titles acting as a callback.
The title of the first episode of Frasier was “The Good Son” with the upcoming premiere titled “The Good Father,” giving a nod to Frasier’s original storyline that saw him moving to Seattle to take care of his father. Grammer says that audiences can expect to “see things about John all through the show,” adding, “I think people will be very happy to see he’s honored in the way he is in the show.” Further adding to that ongoing family dynamic, Grammer says that the reboot is “all about love” and “all about looking for love, becoming a good father.”
More details are coming to the surface surrounding the Frasier reboot with the recent announcement that filming has begun. And, although we won’t expect to see Niles (although there’s always a chance that he and other Cheers-universe favorites may make guest appearances), we do know that Nicholas Lyndhurst (Only Fools and Horses) will step into the role of a friend from Frasier’s past.
Not having the dry wit and comedic hijinks that were provided by Mahoney’s Martin Crane will be a very missed piece of the puzzle that made Frasier such a gigantic hit, to begin with but knowing that the production plans to pay homage to him in various ways is a terrific sign for how the fresh series will pan out. No release window has been set for Paramount+'s Frasier, but check out a Collider interview with Grammer below.