New ‘Frasier’s Producers Track Reddit’s Reactions to Each Episode

The Frasier reboot just wrapped up its second season, although it has yet to be picked up for a third by Paramount+. Dont worry, we have a feeling that the misadventures of Dr. Frasier Crane will never end, even if that means that Kelsey Grammer has to personally go door-to-door and perform one-man episodes of Frasier in every living room in America.

In some ways, the second season of Frasier 2.0 was a big improvement on the first, namely because it didn’t feel like it was desperately trying to justify its existence at every turn. But while Season Two included some of the most effortlessly Frasier-like episodes, it also gave us the most contrived attempt to recapture the magic of the original — the episode in which Frasier visits his old KACL studio.

While that episode arguably didn’t work at all, less conspicuously nostalgic episodes, like the penultimate “Murder Most Finch,” were able to tap into a vibe that felt of a piece with the classic series.

The online Frasier community is obviously very passionate (some fans even devote their non-waking hours to the show), and there have been a lot of ups and downs in terms of reactions to the reboot. Well, it turns out that the people making it have been observing everything.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Frasier showrunners Joe Cristalli and Chris Harris revealed that they felt like they had finally found their rhythm in the second season. “The first season for every show is about finding the characters and realizing, ‘Oh, we thought this character was here, but it’s actually over there.’ Or, ‘we thought that these two had a sniping relationship, but it’s one of mutual respect,’” Harris explained.

While noting that audiences are “much savvier now,” Cristalli also admitted that he checks in on the Frasier subreddit to see how fans are reacting to each episode. “I keep, very trepidatiously, wandering into Reddit to see what they think,” Cristialli revealed. “Most of the Reddit subreddits I’m on are the Frasier superfans, because that’s who you impress.”

Cristialli, who landed the gig thanks to his online Frasier fandom, found that the reactions were actually improving as the season progressed. “When Episode Four or Five of this season aired, somebody there was like, ‘Oh, this is the best one they’ve done.’ And then the next week I see them say, ‘Oh, no, wait, this is the best one they’ve done.’ And then one after that was like, ‘Oh my God, they figured it out.’”

Cristialli concedes that the Reddit users are a “small sample” of the overall viewing public, but he still said that it was helpful to check in with them: “We found, hopefully, the footing in the voices of a lot of these characters in a way that’s starting to gel that even the most skeptical Reddit user hates to admit, and that it’s okay.”

Hopefully, their devotion to Reddit posts will mean that future seasons of Frasier will finally address the fact that it’s just a computer simulation in the Star Trek universe.