Frasier reboot WILL feature Niles, Daphne and Roz! Supporting cast do a U-turn as Kelsey Grammer reveals he’s ‘confident that they’ll come back’ despite previously being uninvolved
The news that a Frasier reboot was in the pipeline was somewhat bittersweet for fans when no mention was made of the classic sitcom’s supporting cast making a comeback.
But star of the show Kelsey Grammer has now backtracked on this, and revealed he’s certain his co-stars will return.
Speaking to Collider, the actor, 66, who plays the titular Dr. Crane, said: ‘We think we’re going to get most of the actors back, I’m certainly hopeful that we will, and I’m fairly confident that they’ll come back…
Great news! the Frasier reboot WILL feature original characters, according to star Kelsey Grammer
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0sNLiEauQHs%3Frel%3D0%26showinfo%3D1
‘We have a story to tell — that can actually be told with or without them, honestly — but I want them back because that’s what I always dreamed of.
‘I thought we should explore all their lives in their third act, and so that is my hope.’
Many were left upset when David Hyde Pierce, who played Frasier’s brother Niles, Jane Leeves, who played Niles’ eventual wife Daphne, and Peri Gilpin, who played Frasier’s producer Roz, were not mentioned in the announcement in February that Paramount+ had revived the iconic comedy.
Yet four months later and it appears they have been coaxed back to the fold after all.
Kelsey also teased an air date, adding: ‘We don’t actually have a date when we’re going to start filming. We’re still kind of breaking the story a little bit, we’re doing a polish now.
‘When will we see a Frasier? Probably in the first quarter of next year…’
Coaxed back? Many were left upset when David Hyde Pierce, who played Frasier’s brother Niles, was left out of the revival announcement four months ago
Also missing: [L-R] Jane Leeves, who played Niles’ eventual wife Daphne, and Peri Gilpin, who played Frasier’s producer Roz, were not mentioned in the announcement in February that Paramount+ had revived the iconic comedy
The cast also featured John Mahoney, who played Frasier’s father Martin Crane. But the veteran star died in 2018.
When announcing the commissioning of the Frasier reboot, Grammer said: ‘I gleefully anticipate sharing the next chapter in the continuing journey of Dr. Frasier Crane.
‘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.’
Notably absent: Frasier’s father Martin Crane was played by the late John Mahoney who died in 2018
Hyde Pierce previously said he had no interest in the role. He was asked by Vulture in 2017 if he would be involved in a potential Frasier revival, and replied: ‘No. And I don’t think they would want one.’
Since then, he has not commented again on it – even when it was brought up during a cast reunion on Zoom during lockdown.
Leeves, who is currently starring in medical drama The Resident, revealed she had no plans to depart if there was a Frasier revival – although made the comments before the official reboot announcement was made.
‘I have no idea [about the reboot], but I won’t be leaving The Resident to do that if it happens,’ Leeves told Entertainment Weekly. ‘There’s a lot of pieces that have to come together to make [the revival] happen.’
In 2018, Gilpin told a podcast: ‘It’s come up a few times over the years and from all kinds of places. I don’t know, I don’t know what’s going on with it, I swear to God… but what a great thing, that people are interested in it and people want to know, wonder what’s going on.
‘I’m wondering what’s going on. My agents and manager are really wondering what’s going on…’
She added to Metro in 2020: ‘[A reunion] is possible. Definitely. There is a lot of talk about it. I do think there’s something going on, but I don’t know exactly what it is or whether it will actually happen.’
Many fans have been in agreement that a reboot without the supporting players won’t work.
‘Without Niles in particular there is no show,’ said one Twitter user. ‘A Frasier reboot without David Hyde Pierce is like taking in a sumptuous meal at Le Cigar Volant and forgoing their exquisite Apple and Persimmon Tarte Tatin for dessert! It simply isn’t done,’ someone else ranted, using in-jokes from the show.
‘Frasier with no David Hyde Pierce? I think not,’ tweeted Imani Gandy, the Senior Editor of Law and Policy for Rewire News Group.
‘If there’s no David Hyde Pierce in this Frasier reboot I am puzzled as to why you’d even bother,’ wrote Laura Lorson, a radio producer at Kansas Public radio.
‘No David Hyde pierce in the Frasier reboot?’ asked one Twitter user. ‘Automatically makes it a flop sorry.’
Worried: Fans took to Twitter to demand Niles, Daphne and Roz be involved
‘I loved Frasier but to make a new series without David Hyde Pierce is unthinkable. Let it rest as the work of genius it was,’ wrote another.
‘Frasier is one of my favorite sitcoms ever, and there is literally no point in reviving this show if the only person to return is Kelsey Grammer,’ said radio host Josh Spiegel.
‘It’s important to me that people know we don’t care about Kelsey Grammer. Give us David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin or we don’t want it,’ wrote one Twitter user.
‘Frasier without Niles, Daphne and Roz would be like doing a Friends project without Rachel, Ross, Monica, Chandler and Phoebe,’ wrote another.
Talk of a reboot has been rumbling since 2019, with Grammer even spotted in London carrying a script.
The original show aired from 1993-2004, coming to a close after 11 seasons, having scooped a plethora of awards over its tenure for its writing and acting talent.
The new story won’t take place in Seattle, where it was originally set.
Grammer’s Grammnet Productions and CBS Studios had been working for several years on ideas, and Chris Harris and Joe Cristalli are said to be writing the revival. They have been running the Twitter account @FrasierContemp for several years that features lines and script pages of possible Frasier scenarios.
Harris and Cristalli will executive produce along with Grammer and Grammnet’s Tom Russo and Jordan McMahon.
‘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 and a brilliant creative plan from Joe, Chris and Kelsey. We can’t wait to reveal its next chapter on Paramount +’
In 2019, Grammer gave the first glimpses of insight into what the premise of the new Frasier would be.
He told In Depth With Graham Bensinger: ‘We’ve got it hatched. We’ve hatched the plan, what we think is the right way to go.
‘It’s not going to be Seattle. It’s not going to be the same Frasier, it’s going to be the man in his next iteration. Hopefully that’ll be something people like watching. But I think it’ll be funny.’
In 2020, amid one of the COVID-19 lockdowns, Grammer reunited with the cast for two Stars In The House streaming events supporting The Actors Fund.
The actors gathered and reminisced about their time on the show, clearly all still close and in awe of the fun they had.
Spin-off: Grammer famously originated the character on nine seasons of the classic NBC sitcom Cheers [pictured in 1987]
Reunion: Ideas were likely even more fleshed out after Grammer reunited with the cast last year for two Stars In The House streaming events supporting The Actors Fund
Frasier ended as the titular character packed up his job as a radio psychiatrist in Seattle, after being offered work in San Francisco.
His father got married, Roz was promoted, and his brother Niles and wife Daphne welcomed a baby son.
Frasier had been dating Charlotte – played by Laura Linney – who had moved to Chicago.
The last scene saw Frasier arriving on a plane to his new home city – only for viewers to learn at the last minute that he had decided not to move to San Francisco, and to join Charlotte in Chicago instead.
Fans have speculated that the new series will either pick up in Chicago, or take place somewhere altogether new. There is also talk that it will explore Frasier’s relationship with his son Frederick, who by this point will be a grown man.
Originals: There is also talk that it will explore Frasier’s relationship with his son Frederick, who by this point will be a grown man. The return of the character will no doubt pave the way for Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith to make a return to the series, played by Bebe Neuwirth
Frasier’s initial set-up saw him living with his father, who was struggling to live alone due to a hip injury, having been shot while he was a policeman.
Speculation has mounted that the new version will see a role-reversal – or see Frederick having to move in with Frasier.
Frederick was 15 when he last appeared on Frasier, in the episode High Holidays, and so would be 33 if the show returns in 2022.
Frederick was portrayed by Christopher and Kevin Graves in Cheers, and Luke Tarsitano for his first Frasier appearance, later swapped for Trevor Einhorn until the show ended.
The return of the character will no doubt pave the way for Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith, Frederick’s mother, to make a return to the series, played by Bebe Neuwirth.
This follows the likes of sitcoms Will & Grace and Roseanne being rebooted, with varied success.
Will & Grace returned in 2017, and lasted three seasons. An alleged back-stage feud between stars Debra Messing and Megan Mullally is said to have contributed to it coming to a close again.
Roseanne faced similar drama when the lead actress – Roseanne Barr – was axed from it one season into the revival for making ‘racist’ remarks.
The show managed to be reworked, killing off her character, and is still in production without her as The Conners.
The Frasier news also follows the recent announcement that Sex And The City is being rebooted for TV.
It will be titled And Just Like That… and star three of the main actresses – Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon – and is set to begin production in New York this summer.
The Friends cast also reunited for a one-off special last month, which saw the six main stars sit down on the old set and chat about their careers before, during and after the classic sitcom.
Where are the Frasier cast now?
What have the original Frasier cast been doing for the last 17 years since the show went off-air? Here, we reveal their varied fates and fortunes…
Dr. Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer
Then and now: Grammer has played the role of Frasier since 1984
Before Frasier, Kelsey Grammer had already made a name for himself on the show Cheers, in the same role. Frasier ended in 2004 after 264 episodes and dozens of awards.
Grammer also voiced Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons – a role he still retains. He has acted in major movies such as X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past and Transformers: The Age of Extinction plus TV shows Back To You, Boss and Proven Innocent.
Grammer has won a range of awards, including five Emmys, three Golden Globes and one Tony Award.
He’s officially listening! A revival of the sitcom Frasier starring Kelsey Grammer has been confirmed
Theatre star: Grammer pictured in 2019 attending the afterparty for the Man of La Mancha press night
Grammer has been married four times and has seven children with three women.
He first married Doreen Alderman in 1982 and they had one daughter called Spencer, now 5. However, it ended in divorce in 1990.
Two years later, Grammer married Leigh-Anne Csuhany in 1992 – but their marriage only lasted a year. Tragically, Csuhany suffered a miscarriage following their divorce.
He later married TV star Camille Grammer in 1997 and they have two children together – daughter Mason, 16, and son Jude, 13. But they divorced in 2011.
Grammer married his current wife Kayte Walsh, a former airline hostess who hails from the UK.
Wife number four: Grammer married his current wife Kayte Walsh, a former airline hostess who hails from the UK
They share his fifth, sixth and seventh children – Faith, six, Kelsey, four, and Auden, two. He also has a daughter with ex-girlfriend Barrie Buckner called Greer, 27.
Grammer and Kayte have been married for eight years and he recently revealed to Conan O’Brien on his late night TBS show that Kayte’s name is tattooed in his ‘pubic region’.
Daphne Moon, who later becomes Daphne Crane, played by Jane Leeves
English rose: The premise for the show paved the way for Frasier to hire British Daphne Moon [Jane Leeves], a physical therapist-cum-housekeeper, whom Frasier’s brother Niles [David Hyde Pierce] became obsessed with
Jane Leeves played the Mancunian physiotherapist Daphne Moon.
Jane has remained in the entertainment sphere since the end of Frasier.
Between 2010 and 2015, she played Joy Scroggs in the TV Land Comedy, Hot In Cleveland. The series ended in 2015 after six seasons and 128 episodes.
Then and now: Jane Leeves has remained in the entertainment sphere since the end of Frasier. Pictured: Jane Leeves in Frasier (left) and in 2020 (right)
The English-born actress is currently starring in medical drama The Resident playing orthopedic surgeon Kit Voss.
Leeves is married to Marshall Coben, a TV executive. They have a daughter Isabella and a son Finn.
Her Frasier co-star Peri Gilpin was present at Isabella’s birth and is her godmother. Meanwhile, David Hyde Pierce is one of Finn’s godfathers.
Dr. Niles Crane, played by David Hyde Pierce
Then and now: David Hyde Pierce starred as Niles Crane, Frasier’s brother in the sitcom (left). Since Frasier ended, Pierce (right) has gone on to have an illustrious career in the entertainment industry and has spent a lot of time acting on stage
David Hyde Pierce starred as Niles Crane, Frasier’s brother.
Since Frasier ended, Pierce has gone on to have an illustrious career in the entertainment industry and has spent a lot of time acting on stage.
He starred in the stage production of Spamalot and in 2006 he played Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in the musical Curtains.
A year later, Curtains opened on Broadway and he won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his performance.
Pierce came out as gay in 2007 and married his long-time partner Brian Hargrove in 2008. He is a godparent to Jane Leeves’ son Finn.
Roz Doyle, played by Peri Gilpin
Then and now: Peri Gilpin starred as Roz Doyle (left) in Frasier and was the producer of Frasier’s radio show. After the show ended, Gipin (pictured right in 2019 appeared on the ABC Family drama Make It or Break it.
Peri Gilpin starred as Roz Doyle in Frasier and was the producer of his radio show.
After the show ended, Gipin appeared on the ABC Family drama Make It or Break it.
For her role, Gilpin received the highly commended Gracie Award in the category of ‘Outstanding Female Actor in a Supporting Role in a Drama Series’.
Gilpin and her co-star Leeves, who are great friends, ran a production company together after Frasier ended. They even had a project involving an American remake of the British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley with Kirstie Alley in a starring role.
Gilpin has also appeared in the TV series Medium and Desperate Housewives and has has appeared on Law and Order: Criminal Intent.
Her most recent film role was 2019’s Benjamin.
Martin Crane, played by John Mahoney
Missed: The sitcom co-starred John Mahoney as Frasier’s father Martin, who passed away aged 77 in 2018, following a four-year throat cancer battle. Pictured: Mahoney in 2001 (left) and Mohoney playing Martin in Frasier
The sitcom co-starred John Mahoney as Frasier’s father Martin, who passed away aged 77 in 2018, following a four-year throat cancer battle.
In 2000, Mahoney was awarded a SAG Award for his work on the show, and was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes.
Besides starring in the hugely popular sitcom, John also had a lucrative film career, with roles in productions including The American President, Say Anything… and Eight Men Out.
Most recently, John had a recurring role in Hot In Cleveland, where he appeared as Roy in six episodes between 2011 and 2014, alongside Leeves.
Source: Read Full Article