In a wave of television announcements, new streaming service Paramount+ revealed that it plans to revive hit sitcom Frasier, starring Kelsey Grammer, twenty years after it originally concluded.
“Having spent over 20 years of my creative life on the Paramount lot, both producing shows and performing in several, I’d like to congratulate Paramount+ on its entry into the streaming world,” said Grammer. “I gleefully anticipate sharing the next chapter in the continuing journey of Dr. Frasier Crane.”
CBS Studios and Gramnet Productions, Grammer’s own production company, are producing the much-anticipated revival, which was first floated in 2018.
“Frasier is one of the most acclaimed comedies in modern television history and truly defines premium storytelling,” said CBS Studios president David Stapf. “There has long been a call from fans for its return, and that call is now answered thanks to the amazing Kelsey Grammer reprising his iconic role of Dr. Frasier Crane. We can’t wait to reveal its next chapter on Paramount+.”
Kesley Grammer first played the pretentious-but-loveable psychiatrist on Cheers, starring Ted Danson, from 1984 to 1993, before headlining his own show, wherein he moved to Seattle to care for his ageing father, played by the late John Mahoney. The show chronicled his struggles there as a radio psychiatrist, and his relationships with his brother Niles (David Hyde-Pierce), producer Roz (Peri Gilpin), and his father’s live-in carer Daphne (Jane Leeves). The series won 37 Emmys, and made Crane one of the longest running and most successful characters on American television.
It is currently unconfirmed if any of the other original cast will return, although American newspaper Deadline reports that David Hyde-Pierce has been approached.
The Frasier revival, alongside Cheers, the original run of Frasier, and a host of other comedies, will be available on Paramount+, which officially launches on March 4th.
Words by Issy Flower