Genuine question as a person who’s watched Frasier at least a dozen times, what’s making people hopeful that it’ll be any good?
I ask because the sequels to fan loved shows and movies over the past decade have all fallen short, seemed like cash grabs, don’t capture what made the original good or fun, etc. I really can’t think of any that worked out for me (viewership numbers aside). Am I being pessimistic unnecessarily? Are people being too hopeful? Idk. I’ve been burned before and am going in with that expectation.
It may be even better than the original, it may be worse than the original, it may have some good moments and be overall mid, but the point is we get more Frasier, and even if it is terrible, it doesn’t sully the previous 11 seasons of glory.
Maybe not the previous series’ glory, but they could still sully the overall IP with terrible writing choices. Choices that make people who watch the new series, then go back to try and enjoy the original series, but can’t because of the new events that are planted in their minds.
Of course, nothing at all like what I’m about to demonstrate below are likely to occur in the new series, but here are some – albeit – extreme hypothetical examples of what I mean:
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- Dr. Niles Crane was convicted of sexually assaulting a patient and is currently serving a prison sentence. --> Character ruined.
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- Daphne Moon died of ovarian cancer. --> Character irrevocably tarnished with sadness.
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- Martin Crane, a retired policeman, never forgave Niles for his convicted crime before he passed away. --> Father / son relationship sadly ruined forever.
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- Roz Doyle realized later in life that she’s actually a lesbian and has always struggled to find her sexual orientation. --> Completely out-of-character U-turn just to incite the audience’s emotions for better or worse.
I could go on, but you get the point. Once the audience knows things like this happen later down the line, it becomes much harder to look past them upon re-watches of the original series. Never underestimate the collateral damage of bad writing.
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Fraiser was a spinoff of a great sitcom that ended up being one of the greatest American sitcoms. As they have pulled it off before we hope they can again
In regards to this it worries me they’re trying the live audience sitcom format again. The last one I tried was that 90s show and I realized either live audience sitcoms should stay a thing of the 20th century, or I guess I aged out of it. On the other hand watching a non live audience format of Frasier might be too weird in a different way.
Back in Frasier’s day it made sense to spinoff a sitcom with another similarly filmed sitcom, I’m just feeling it’s a thing of the past and won’t hold up to modern comedy.
You’re definitely not wrong to think this way and I agree with everything you said. Furthermore, I’ve seen the trailer twice now and it has failed to wring out so much as a chuckle from me. Lastly, Kelsey Grammer appears to remain just as sharp and energetic as Dr. Frasier Crane as ever, but “Frasier”, the show, is so much more than Dr. Frasier Crane, the character. It’s the ensemble cast of the original series that makes the show. Now, almost none of the original cast, save for Peri Gilpin reprising her role as Roz Doyle for one episode, are part of this reboot. That leaves some seriously challenging work for the writers and new cast to earn the audience’s attention, affection, and respect. Frankly, I just don’t think it will work.
On top of all the negatives you mentioned, too much time has passed. Frasier was a spinoff from Cheers. A lot of the characters from Cheers made at least one appearance on Frasier over the years. But, Frasier has been off the air for nearly 20 years. Cheers for 30. The continuity is broken and basically means having to either A.) Introduce the character to a new audience who are not familiar with either Frasier and/or Cheers, or B.) Reintroduce the character to an audience who is and has high expectations given the quality of the old show. Kind of like you said, I do not envy the writers and I expect the reboot to be a flop. Hopefully I’m wrong.
These are great points I didn’t think of until now. Frasier’s best episodes revolved around the strong cast. Coming in 20 years later with a 99% new cast seems destined to not hold up well. The Crane Boy just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
I get that time marches on, but at a certain point, will the story actually reflect that, or will the disappearance of everyone simply be waved away with a line of dialogue? You’re right, the writers have an uphill battle on their hands.