New ‘Frasier’s Most Nostalgic Episode Was a Major Bummer

The Frasier reboot feels decidedly different from the original show, not just because Kelsey Grammer is older and it’s hard to look at him the same way post-Money Plane, but also thanks to the change in setting. Frasier 2.0, of course, takes place in Boston — or at least some kind of alternate universe Boston in which Cheers doesn’t exist for some reason.

But this week, Frasier made the bold move of sending Dr. Crane back to his hometown of Seattle. This is what fans have been waiting for, right? The episode certainly leaned into the nostalgia of its premise, shoehorning a second title sequence into the beginning of the show to reflect Frasier’s return to the Emerald City.

But what did this trip actually do for the show? Not a whole lot. Frasier couldn’t reunite with Niles and Daphne, owing to the fact that David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves chose not to participate in the reboot. Instead, we learn early on in the episode that the couple has moved to Sedona, Arizona, where Niles owns his own vineyard. Okay, sure. 

The only living characters left for Frasier to reunite with are his former KACL co-workers. Well, two of his former KACL co-workers: Bulldog and Gil. Ignoring the fact that Bulldog and Freddy somehow don’t recall ever meeting each other, we learn that the sports show host has recently come out of the closet. He’s still a toxic bro, but “just into dudes now.” Seems like a pretty radical development for a character who was a significant part of the original series. But “Thank You, Dr. Crane” is only interested in treating these characters as nothing more than nostalgia triggers with familiar catchphrases and running jokes. The bulk of the episode is really about Frasier learning that he gave bad advice to a past caller.

The episode’s unsubtle theme is that nothing ever stays the same. KACL is practically falling apart in 2024, and Frasier’s beloved Café Nervosa has been “updated” with tacky decorations and leather couches. Of course, this may be partly due to the fact that all the props from the original Nervosa set were auctioned off just last year.

The storyline seems conspicuously engineered to allow for Roz to become a recurring character on the new show. Grammer admitted as much in an interview back in September, stating that the episode was written because “we wanted to make (Roz) part of the show … and so we had to get her out of Seattle.” So Roz eventually realizes that it’s time to “move on” because “KACL isn’t what it was.” 

The problem is that the show wants to have it both ways — pleasing fans with familiar faces and locales, while also underscoring that Seattle sucks now and Boston’s totally where it’s at! 

Also, is the suggestion that attempting to revisit the past is a futile endeavor really an argument that the Frasier reboot of all shows wants to invite?

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