• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, August 24, 2023

Frasier Crane relocates to Boston as the long-awaited “Frasier” reboot finally gets a premiere date -- Thursday, October 12, on Paramount+.

The streaming service announced the date on Tuesday, and also released a handful of what the publicists call “first look photos,” one of which appears above.

In the photo, Frasier (played by Kelsey Grammer, now 68) is seen with his now-grown son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) and Freddy’s roommate Eve (Jess Salgueiro). In the old show, the boy Freddy was known by the more formal Frederick. 

It is a sign of the times that this new update of this quintessential network sitcom has been earmarked primarily for Paramount Global’s streaming service instead of a legacy broadcast network such as CBS, which Paramount Global owns.

With this move, Paramount Global is signaling its belief that the new “Frasier” has more profit potential as a streaming attraction than a network one. It is a streaming-first strategy. 

October’s premiere plan calls for the first two episodes of the new “Frasier” to premiere on Paramount+ on Thursday, October 12.

But five days later, on Tuesday, October 17, those first two episodes will be presented back-to-back on CBS starting at 9:15 p.m. Eastern. 

The unusual start time is due to an episode of “Big Brother” that is scheduled to run for an hour and 15 minutes, leading into “Frasier.”

Thus, the new “Frasier” will get some ad support on both CBS (at least for these two episodes) and the Paramount+ ad tier.

Whether it will also drive subscriptions to the premium, ad-free version of Paramount+ is anybody’s guess. 

Indeed, whether or not the new “Frasier” will be welcomed and embraced by millions as a special event, or be looked on as just another reboot of an old show (like “Mad About You,” “Will & Grace,” “Murphy Brown” and others) is also an open question.

Two sitcoms from the same era that have never reappeared as rebooted versions are “Seinfeld” and “Friends,” and both are said to be robust streaming attractions. (The fictional “reunion” of “Seinfeld” in the seventh season of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” doesn’t count.)

The rebooted “Frasier” took a long time to get here. The news that an updated version of the show was being discussed first broke back in 2018. 

Production started earlier this year around the beginning of February. That gave the show plenty of time to complete production of its 10 episodes before the Writers Guild went on strike May 2, followed by SAG/AFTRA on July 14.

In its 11 seasons on NBC, 1993 to 2004, the original “Frasier” won 37 Emmy Awards, second only to the 38 won years later by “Game of Thrones.” 

Acting and writing were among the categories where “Frasier” collected armfuls of Emmys. The show won for Outstanding Comedy for five consecutive years.

The cast was among the most storied in all of television starting with Kelsey Grammer in the title role -- psychiatrist Frasier Crane. 

David Hyde Pierce played his persnickety younger brother Niles Crane, also a psychiatrist, and John Mahoney was their dad Martin Crane.

Peri Gilpin played Roz Doyle, the producer of Frasier’s advice-driven radio talk show, and Jane Leeves played Daphne Moon, Martin’s live-in physical therapist. Martin, a retired Seattle police officer, still felt the effects of being shot in the hip in the line of duty and walked with a cane. 

Bebe Neuwirth played the recurring role of Judith, Frasier’s ex-wife and mother of Frederick.

The new “Frasier” has Frasier Crane relocating from the Seattle setting of the original show back to Boston, where the character was first introduced on “Cheers” in 1984.

The press release from Paramount+ did not mention whether Niles, Roz, Daphne or Judith would show up in Boston to pay Frasier a visit. John Mahoney died in 2018. 

In their absence, there are always his old friends from the “Cheers” bar, where everybody knew his name and likely still do.