‘Frasier’ review: Reboot has its charms, but isn’t ‘must-see TV’

In the opening moments of Paramount+’s “Frasier” reboot, Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) walks onto a soundstage masquerading as Logan Airport and contemplates a poster on the wall that reads, “Boston’s calling… Are you listening?”

It’s a question studio executives hope will be answered resoundingly — with your viewership and subscription dollars.

Frasier, first introduced as a character on the Boston-set sitcom “Cheers,” is merely passing through his old stomping grounds. Or so he thinks. The laws of sitcom logic and studio balance sheets, however, ensure that Dr. Crane will end up spending at least ten episodes in Boston, starting this Thursday on Paramount+.

As far as reboots go, 2023’s “Frasier” is half-decent. Grammer remains keyed into the essence of Frasier, a pretentious psychiatrist whose interpersonal relationships suggest he could use a bit of therapy himself. Placed in a new city with a new supporting cast, Grammer and the writing staff conjure up moments of the show’s original magic on a line-by-line (or scene-by-scene) basis. 

The show even manages to make you care about the fate of Dr. Crane, a character whose unlikeability is one of his defining qualities. But after watching five episodes of the ten-episode season, it’s obvious that the absence of the original supporting cast — specifically brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce), father Martin (the late John Mahoney), and housekeeper Daphne (Jane Leeves) — is deeply felt.

The original reason for Frasier’s Boston pit stop is to visit his son, Frederick (Jack Cutmore-Scott). The Harvard dropout goes by “Freddy” now, and his decision to become a firefighter instead of an academic is the show’s main source of tension.

With Frasier and Freddy’s relationship, showrunners Chris Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”) and Joe Cristalli (“Life in Pieces”) have attempted to recreate the class differences between Frasier and his father, a retired police detective whose duct-taped recliner clashed with Frasier’s posh apartment decor. For someone so central to the plot, Cutmore-Scott is sadly forgettable in the role, serving as a mere sounding board for Grammer’s cunning wordplay.

Freddy isn’t the only character who feels like a Frankenstein of characteristics from the original “Frasier.” There’s David (Anders Keith), the son of Niles and Daphne, who is starting at Harvard in the fall. He has all of Niles’ neuroses but none of his charm, and mostly serves as a reminder of how integral Hyde Pierce’s presence was to the original show’s success.

“Frasier” fares better when Grammer heads to the Cambridge campus. After meeting with an old pal from Oxford (Nicholas Lyndhurst), a striving administrator (Toks Olagundoye) talks Crane into joining the Harvard faculty. It’s here that “Frasier” shines, as Grammer attempts to navigate the world of academia and ingratiate himself with the upper echelon.

One of the show’s funniest side plots is the revelation that Frasier hosted a “Dr. Phil”-esque show while in Chicago. This gives the show’s writers an excuse to make Frasier even wealthier than before, and deeply aggrieved when his Gen Z students expect their lectures to feature “Maury”-style theatrics.

Since this review is for Boston.com, it’s also worth noting that the Boston-ness of the “Frasier” reboot is surface-level, but still elicits some easy chuckles. Frasier has never heard of “Big Papi,” is irate that no one pronounces “Celtics” correctly, and casually denigrates the entire Tufts student body with the type of withering one-liner that was the original sitcom’s bread and butter.

A few of Freddy’s BFD pals even try out a Boston accent, though only comedian and Beverly native Jimmy Dunn (playing a firefighter named Moose) completely succeeds. 

If you were hoping for a full-blown “Cheers” revival, you’re out of luck. Beyond a few knowing remarks about a bar he used to frequent, “Frasier” is set in a new Boston with only echoes of Dr. Crane’s past. Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) will apparently show up at some point, but she isn’t around in the first five episodes, and it’s clear that the “Cheers” gang won’t play a central part in the series.

It’s unfair to compare the “Frasier” reboot to its predecessor, an award-winning stalwart in NBC’s sitcom slate throughout the 1990s and early 2000s. On its own, the show has enough charms to make it an easy watch while you unwind after a long day of work. But without the co-stars that made the original “Frasier” “Must See TV,” the 2023 “Frasier” reboot is more “Watch it if you already have Paramount+ TV.”

Watch “Frasier” (2023) streaming on Paramount+. CBS will also air the first two episodes on Tuesday, October 17.

Kevin Slane

Staff Writer

Kevin Slane is a staff writer for Boston.com covering entertainment and culture. His work focuses on movie reviews, streaming guides, celebrities, and things to do in Boston.

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