Frasier Star Confirms Series Revival Is Still “In the Works”

The previously revealed Frasier revival is “still in the works,” according to longtime series star Peri Gilpin. In November, Kelsey Grammer, who played the titular Dr. Frasier Crane in eleven seasons of the Cheers spinoff that aired on NBC, said the revival was “ready to go” following comebacks for contemporaries Roseanne, Murphy Brown and Will & Grace. Months before the television and film industry was brought to a standstill amid the coronavirus crisis, Grammer anticipated the Frasier revival — which finds the famed former radio psychiatrist in “his next iteration,” exploring Frasier’s continued search for love and the connection with his son — would begin filming in spring 2020 for a possible debut in late summer 2020.

“There is a lot of talk about it. I do think there’s something going on, but I don’t know exactly what it is or whether it will actually happen. But it’s in the works,” Gilpin says in a new interview. “Do you know what I mean? That sounds like a big tease but I’m being teased too here!”

Earlier this month, Grammer and Gilpin participated in a virtual Frasier reunion with co-stars David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves and Dan Butler to raise money for The Actors Fund. John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane, the curmudgeonly father of Frasier and Niles Crane, died in 2018 at the age of 77.

“It was great to see them,” Gilpin said of the get-together over video chat. “We see each other regularly but not always… I don’t know the last time we were all together. Of course John’s not there and that’s awful, but it was good and for a really good cause.”

In a past appearance on In Depth with Graham Bensinger, Grammer was confident the Frasier sequel would happen, saying “a revisit to Frasier’s world is, I think, definitely going to come.”

“We’ll see how people respond to it because it’s not going to be in the same place. It’s not going to be in Seattle. It’s not going to be the same Frasier,” Grammer added. “It’s going to be the man in his next iteration, and hopefully that’ll be something people like watching. I think it will be funny. It’s still his search for love … I think that’ll always go on with Frasier.”

Additionally, the revival will be about “a connection with” Frasier’s son, the brainy Frederick, originally portrayed by Trevor Einhorn. Frasier ran for 264 episodes across 11 seasons between 1993 and 2004 on NBC, winning 37 Emmys.