The Frasier reboot is a more challenging endeavor than ever, thanks to one modern spinoff perfecting the original show's premise. The early 2020s have been an era of legacy sequels and television revivals, seeing everything from Scream to Sex and the City getting another chance on the screen. The same goes for Frasier, the critically acclaimed TV series about the eponymous Bostonian psychiatrist from Cheers moving back in with his ailing father in Seattle. Running from 1993 to 2004, Frasier was one of the first shows of its kind to succeed in spades, as it was a rare feat for a TV character to make a prosperous solo spinoff series.
Filming began in February 2023, but there is no release date confirmed for the Frasier reboot TV show as yet. The show will, at some point, premiere on Paramount+, joining the ranks of other revivals on the network like Criminal Minds: Evolution. The biggest news about the Frasier reboot is that several important characters, like David Hyde Pierce's Niles Crane, will not be in the series. Rather, a new Frasier cast has been announced, but even that is not the series' most significant challenge. In the era of reboots and spinoffs, one major series stands out for its overwhelming success, and Frasier will have to try hard to keep up.
Frasier's Revival Is Harder Thanks To Better Call Saul
Ultimately, the Frasier reboot has big shoes to fill thanks to the arrival and success of Better Call Saul. For quite a long time, Frasier was the shining example that studios looked to when it came to creating a prosperous spinoff based on a character from a parent series. After all, the Frasier TV show and its cast won 37 Primetime Emmy Awards over its eleven-year run. All of that was well and good until Better Call Saul hit the market, scooping up 48 Primetime and Creative Arts Emmys for itself. Better Call Saul arguably stole Frasier's crown in this respect, as the Breaking Bad spinoff became the perfect modern answer to what this type of show should be.
The Frasier reboot will now have to up the ante in order to succeed. Better Call Saul puts the Frasier reboot in a troubling position, as while the two shows are not competitors tonally, one arguably did a better job at pinning down its predecessor's primary intentions by going deeper into the spinoff character's psyche. While the two series are very different from each other, the Breaking Bad spinoff Better Call Saul has essentially taken Frasier's place as the exemplification of what a great spinoff series should be. Now that Frasier is returning to the screen, it will have to raise the bar that Better Call Saul has set.
What Frasier's Modern Revival Must Do To Succeed
The Frasier reboot must return to what made the TV show great - its characters. It is quite possible that scrapping the original gang of Niles, Roz, Daphne, and Martin has injured the spinoff's chances of success. Martin cannot return due to John Mahoney's sad passing in 2018, but news that David Hyde Pierce will not be involved certainly puts a damper on proceedings. The upcoming Frasier reboot aims to introduce a new cast including Jack Cutmore-Scott as Frasier's son, Freddy, and Nicholas Lyndhurst as old college buddy Alan. At its core, Frasier was always a character-driven sitcom, and bringing new characters into that mix is a big risk.
Better Call Saul did so well because it stayed within arm's reach of its Breaking Bad roots. There were plenty of character crossovers in Better Call Saul to remind audiences of the show's inevitable conclusion. Frasier was never just about Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Crane alone, rather, it was the ensemble that pushed the TV show to its celebrated status. In addition, the absence of Niles means the Frasier reboot would do well to follow Better Call Saul's lead by providing a more intriguing character study than what the series has done in the past.