Frasier and Niles were always very different from their father, but the original show’s explanation of why makes less sense with the reboot.
In 2023, Frasier’s reboot is set to answer several questions about the original, but arguably the most compelling revelation comes in the shape of a debunked theory on Frasier and Niles’ origin story. Frasier’s reboot cast might not include the majority of the original stars, but his family do return, in the shape of son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) and his nephew (Anders Keith) as the revival flips Frasier’s premise of a father and son overcoming significant differences to live closely. In a perverse but karmic twist, Paramount+’s Frasier return recasts Kelsey Grammer’s radiotherapist as Martin Crane’s replacement.
Most of the best Frasier episodes played heavily on the idea that Frasier and Niles were idiosyncratic oddballs whose quirks were at odds with most of their fellow characters. And central to that premise was the idea of just how different the brothers were to their father, played by the late, great John Mahoney, who died in 2018. Martin was, of course, a retired cop and very much a working class man who had none of the airs and graces of his private school educated children, and their culture clash was at the root of some of the best comedy. In Frasier’s case, the apples fell in a completely different orchard to the tree, and while there was an explanation for that difference, the reboot now challenges whether it was ever really correct.
The Frasier Reboot’s Freddy Change Debunks A Big Theory
Frasier and Niles Crane took after their mother, Rita Wilson’s Dr Hester Crane, who died in 1987 (during the events of Cheers). Both apparently inherited her intelligence and tastes, rather than Martin’s more grounded tastes and aptitude for sport. On top of that, both Crane boys were sent to prestigious private school Bryce Academy, before going to an Ivy League college and an Oxbridge university in England (on separate sides of each divide). Their characters, tastes and personalities are presented in the original Frasier as being the product of their carefully crafted upbringing and the influence of their mother (though she was never a snob).
In Frasier, the original Freddy (played for the longest period by Trevor Einhorn) was very much cut from the same cloth as his parents: he attended Marbury Academy, was a clearly intelligent boy and even showed some of the specific quirks of his uncle Niles. In effect, Freddy confirmed why Frasier and Niles were the way they were: a combination of both nature and nurtured quirks. Frasier’s reboot trailer introduces the new Freddy, who dropped out of college to become a firefighter and take after his grandfather, who really refutes the idea that such early years development meant the Crane boys were fated to be so different.
Strictly speaking, because Freddy is so normal, and so much more like Martin, Niles and Frasier’s pretentious, affected characters can’t have just been because they went to the schools they went to, or that they were affected by their mother, because Freddy is nothing like his dad (or Lilith). His prestigious academy background didn’t build on his early quirkiness. And it seems that it was always a matter of choice.
Why Freddy Is So Different To Frasier
While Frasier’s reboot seems to debunk the idea that Frasier and Crane were effectively just products of their privilege, there is a hint in the original of why Freddy is so different to his father (and indeed his mother). Sure, the idea of him opting to drop out of college and become a firefighter doesn’t really fit with his Academy education – at least in terms of Frasier’s precedent – but his character changing so dramatically after he made that choice does somewhat make sense.
In Boston, during Cheers, Frasier was a far less pointy character: his pretension may have made him different to the likes of Sam, Woody, Norm and Cliff Clavin, but Frasier’s friend group did change his behavior. As the Frasier reboot’s trailer reveals, Frasier felt more like drinking beer in Boston, reflecting the company and the environment he drank in. It may be explained that Freddy choosing to turn his back on his father’s way of life led to Boston making him embrace more working class behavior. The difference between his change and Frasier’s, though, is that Frasier clearly acted less pretentious to fit in, using a created character – a deception – but Freddy is authentic.
That in turn suggests that Frasier’s entire shtick was always a matter of choice – and so must Niles’ have been. Faced with the stark contrast of Freddy in Frasier’s revival, Grammer’s titular hero may come to realize that he was never quite as authentic as he meant. And that delivers on Daphne’s decades old accusation that Frasier would “eat a worm if I gave it a French name”. That all changes Frasier and Niles’ origin story, while confirming something everyone always suspected: Frasier was a stick in the mud because he always wanted to be.
