With the renewal of the Frasier revival for season two, Kelsey Grammer feels justified in the creative decisions made for the reboot.
After Frasier’s successful return and a Season 2 renewal, Kelsey Grammer feels vindicated. During the series’ For Your Consideration event on April 9 in Los Angeles, Grammer spoke with PEOPLE about how he felt following news of the show’s second season. Alongside reprising the beloved quirky psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane, Grammer serves as an executive producer for the series, directing several of the first season’s episodes.
The Frasier revival premiered on Paramount+ in October, with new episodes airing weekly until December. In February, the show’s fate was decided, with Paramount+ announcing a sophomore season renewal.
“It feels great, it feels great. And my wife [Kayte Walsh] reminded me today, she said, ‘You know what? A month ago you didn’t think, ‘I’m just going to be picking this up again.’ Because Paramount+ has been going through its whatever, and so we were out of the loop. And communication doesn’t exist like it used to in the old network. At least the network relationship I used to have, was one that was pretty open and we communicated a lot. So this has been an interesting time. So she said, ‘Go enjoy tonight, have a nice time. Because now you’ve got things like this to moan about that aren’t related to, ‘Oh my God, I’m never going to work again.'”
Kelsey Grammer on Frasier’s Future
Grammer has famously portrayed Dr. Frasier Crane since 1984, when the character was introduced in Cheers. He reprised the role for Frasier; the Emmy Award-winning series concluded in 2004 after 11 seasons. Almost two decades later, Grammer would be back in Frasier’s shoes, leading the Paramount+ reboot. But this time, things were different. Frasier had departed Seattle, relocating to Boston following his father’s death. Grammer was also the only original cast member to return in a starring role (Bebe Neuwirth and Roz Gilpin returned in guest-starring roles to portray Dr. Lilith Sternin and Roz Doyle, respectively).
“There was a sense of, I’m trying to think of the right word, vindication,” he says. “In my heart, I thought, ‘I know we can do this and I know we can do it really well.’ And I didn’t want to do what some of the other shows had done, sort of come back and be the same show. I thought this all played exactly how it was meant to be. And Frasier’s still alive, and he has a new story to tell and a new series of people to do it with, and it’s been fantastic.”
If Grammer has his way, there will be plenty of stories to tell about Frasier. During a previous interview, discussing his hopes for the future of the series, Grammer shared:
“I think we should go to another 100 episodes at least. There’s enough groundwork laid between these human beings; they are wonderful characters. I want to see where they go. And I want to see what happens to Frasier.”
While the revival series has earned mixed reviews, there’s still one thing that holds up for fans and critics, alike: Grammer’s performance as Dr. Crane. If Grammer can keep his momentum as Frasier, he may just get his wish. The Frasier revival stars Grammer, Jack Cutmore-Scott, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Jess Salgueiro, Toks Olagundoye, and Anders Keith.
