We’ve been circling news of a Frasier reboot like bloodlusting sharks, gnawing at every remark, every offhand comment for that tossed salad and scrambled eggs. Sadly, things weren’t looking so bright for the revival when last we checked in with Kelsey Grammer, but the actor’s chat on last night’s The Late Late Show is rich in ideas and optimism. Grammer said a “group of writers” are currently in talks about the project, which he calls “the third act of Frasier.”
Grammer also offered a few potential plot details, confirming that they want to keep the “same group of characters” around, but “in a different setting.” He also says the death of John Mahoney, played Crane patriarch Martin, will likely factor in. “Something has changed in their lives. Certainly John Mahoney died over a year ago and we would probably deal with that a little bit with dad being gone,” Grammer said.
Frasier’s return could find in him in Chicago, Grammer says, reminding us that that’s where the series’ finale found him. He sounds more confident, though, in Frasier having moved on from his career in radio. “He’s passed the radio show,” he said. “He might be an art dealer, he might be a professor. We don’t know yet.”
“The first principle is that it is a different story, basically,” he asserted, which falls in line with Grammer’s previous comments about not wanting to “redo what we once had.”
See his comments in full below.