The Frasier Reboot Got Better
But Only a Little
One of the only parts of the “old internet” I kind of miss was the discourse around Game of Thrones. That show did so many things wrong and frustrated its most faithful viewers so consistently that there was something soothing in the drumbeat of comments online in which fans (and critics!) expressed their undying hopes that Benioff and Weiss knew they had messed up and would “address the issue” in a future episode. Or, even sadder, that the latest misstep—whatever it been, though odds generally leaned toward an unnecessary rape scene—was part of the plan, actually, and would pay off somehow down the line.
Did Benioff and Weiss know they had messed up? Did they care? Absolutely not. The issue would never be addressed. It was sweet, in its way, to see viewers who cared so much expressing their unshakeable faith in the moral clarity and storytelling powers of two absolute lunkheads whose understanding of the source material stopped at repeating, “Whoa, that’s badass,” after every event that’s supposed to make you recoil in horror.
“Please, you know what you did wrong, right?” the fan cries into the void, hoping showrunners will make adjustments in a later episode of a season that’s already shot, edited, and in the can.
There are shows that get better. Parks and Rec comes to mind. But if they do—and that’s a big if—they get better season over season, as the creative teams cycle people in and out and look back at what they made to consider how it could be improved. What I don’t think happens, particularly with comedies, is getting better over the course of a season. Maybe writers get a better sense of the characters or discover a dynamic that wasn’t initially obvious, but their fundamental story instincts and humor level are what they are.
And yet that devoted fan lives within me as well, holding out hope beyond reason that maybe, just maybe, this show could be the one where they saw the light and righted course four episodes in. So here I am returning once again to the agony of nü-Frasier to see if there was any improvement after the first two episodes. If you missed it, I recommend you read my review. Put briefly, it’s about Frasier moving back to Boston to take a teaching job at Harvard and reconnect with his son Freddy. A quick character rundown:
Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer): America’s fussiest psychiatrist has spent the years between original Frasier and this reboot hosting a Dr. Phil-style tv show, making him enormously wealthy and a national celebrity.
Frederick Crane (Jack Cutmore-Scott): Frasier’s son grew up to be a firefighter.
David Crane (Anders Keith): Niles and Daphne’s son grew up to be a dweeb.
Eve (Jess Salgueiro): Widow of Freddy’s firefighter colleague. Aspiring actress, has a baby, works at the bar, seems to have unlimited free childcare.
Alan Cornwall (Nicholas Lyndhurst): Fellow Harvard psych professor, old school chum of Frasier’s. Loves scotch and being catty.
Olivia (Toks Olagundoye): Psych department head. Highly ambitious and cutthroat, attracted to Freddy.
Why do all the men get last names but neither of the women? Ask IMDb and/or the showrunners!
NOTE: All grading plays by golden age AV Club rules where we’re following the standard the show has set for itself, not its objective quality. An A- episode of the reboot cannot be exchanged for an equivalent A- of Frasier Classic.
Episode 3: “First Class”
Synopsis: Frasier starts teaching at Harvard only to realize his students are only there for his star power. Olivia encourages him to play into the showmanship but he refuses to be a dancing bear. He shows Alan clips illustrating how his tv show went downhill and became pure fluff. In the end he compromises and leans on his persona a little to get them to engage with the coursework. In the B-plot, Freddy helps Eve rehearse for a theater audition.
Thoughts: Maybe I got the vitriol out of my system or maybe I’ve just properly calibrated my expectations but this was pretty good! The jokes by and large remain groaners but there were a couple good ones. Grammer can still sell these plots that rely on Frasier being conflicted over a minute ethical line he doesn’t want to cross. When Frasier is considering quitting his teaching job, Cutmore-Scott gets a big scene where Freddy throws back what his dad said when he left school; it isn’t great by any means but he seems to be getting more comfortable in the role and starting to have some fun. David has a similar scene that is much worse.
Literary References: David will be Sancho Panza to Frasier’s Quixote to show him around campus, Frasier will be Virgil for his students’ journey through psychiatry; these are the same formulation back to back
Hack Joke of the Week: “Alan is lazy, he doesn’t even finish anything he starts.” “And Frasier is….”
Remember When?: Freddy: “You quit your radio show, you quit your tv show, didn’t you and Uncle Niles have a restaurant once that you quit after like one day?”
Grade: B
Extremely Important: Frasier tells Alan the final straw that make him quit his tv show was endorsing a bronzer with the tagline “I’m glistening.” They stole one of my favorite tweets!!
Episode 4: “Trivial Pursuits”
Synopsis: Frederick invites Frasier to the fire station so he can see what being a firefighter entails and respect it more. In the B-plot, Alan and Olivia dispute a clue that cost them the win at bar trivia.
Thoughts: This episode is pretty tedious. Part of that is structure—with the opening trivia scene and then some fighting between Freddy and Frasier, it’s not until the 9 minute mark that Eve suggests he invite him to firehouse. But more the problem is that Freddy comes off as hypersensitive to his dad’s comments and therefore unappeasable. Otherwise, one of the other firemen is named Moose, which I have to assume is in honor of the dog actor who played Eddie?
Literary References: Frasier answers Les Fourberies de Scapin by Moliere for a trivia question; the correct answer is Weekend at Bernie’s. The clue Alan and Olivia dispute is who coined the phrase “All’s Well That Ends Well,” with Alan claiming it wasn’t Shakespeare but Thomas Middleton.
Hack Joke of the Week: Freddy: “Our job is many things—it’s challenging, dangerous, heroic—it’s not fun.” David [slides down firepole]: “Wheeee!”
Remember When?: At the firehouse, Frasier has a back-and-forth with a dalmatian that’s staring at him just like he used to with Eddie.
Grade: C
Episode 5: “The Founders’ Society”
Synopsis: Frasier, Alan, and Olivia attend a reception for candidates of The Founders’ Society, an elite Harvard club that’s a fast-track to the top. Alan gets a medieval gauntlet stuck on his arm and generally ruins things before he and Frasier have a heart-to-heart. In the B-plot, Freddy and Eve teach David how to talk to girls.
Thoughts: This sounds weird but this was the best episode yet because it had the fewest jokes. Up to this point most of them have had such long and obvious setups that they can’t help but be groaners; the writing here maintained a much lighter touch. The scene where David tries out pick-up lines and Freddy whistles them all down for being too weird builds a rhythm and has some spontaneity behind the line-reads; good stuff from Keith. The heartfelt scene between Alan and Frasier strains at profundity and just takes too long. The main problem with these episodes remains their being too long.
Literary References: Freddy is trying to have a quiet night in and read Little Women, as you do when you’re a hunky firefighter. The incongruity is the point though and they mine it for a couple decent jokes.
Hack Joke of the Week: Alan: “So we’re just trading jabs now, are we? Fine, then it’s time to throw down the gauntlet. [swings arm at ground to shake off his literal gauntlet; it doesn’t budge] Oh that would have been so good.”
Remember When?: Frasier: “I’ve always wanted to fit in. Back when I first lived in Boston, I was a regular at a bar and yet—” Alan: “Nobody knew your name?”
Grade: B+
Episode 6: “Blind Date”
Synopsis: Rivalry ensues when when Eve sets Freddy and Frasier up on blind dates on the same night and only one woman (June Diane Raphael) arrives. In the B-plot, Alan and Olivia attend a slapdash play Eve is starring in.
Thoughts: This one starts strong but loses steam pretty quickly. The initial bits of uncertainty and misunderstanding—which of them is June’s intended date?—felt fun and are doing classic sitcom things like characters missing each other by ducking in and out of rooms and enforcing cone-of-silence rules where nothing said in the kitchen can be heard in the living room. I liked when Freddy decides he’s just going to ask her who she’s there for but Frasier stops him, all but saying outright no, we’re doing a farce, you can’t ruin it by being normal. But the writers don’t know how to heighten the situation from that point so the whole thing sort of deflates. Part of the problem is the June character—no shade to June Diane Raphael, who is always a delight, but after some introductory dialogue her role shrinks to just sitting on the couch and looking pretty while the boys scurry around scheming. She could have had some quality that shook things up and made the Cranes react but the writers, as is their habit, just haven’t put enough thought into her. Additionally, this isn’t really a full thought but it’s kind of interesting that Eve functions as the plot engine in almost every episode—none of these people would do anything without her suggesting it.
Literary References: Freddy: “Man, I have no idea what’s going on here.” Frasier: “Yes it’s like I’m nine years old again, reading Kafka for the first time.”
Remember When?/Fact Check: Alan mocks Frasier for having been married three times and Freddy corrects him that he’s only been married twice, plus the time was left at the altar.” But Frasier has been married three times. Before Lilith he had a first, quickly ended marriage to a hippie named Nanette, who appears in Season 10 of Cheers played by Emma Thompson (!!!), then as a projection of his unconscious along with Lilith and Diane during the interminable “Lana or Claire?” storyline, and then in reality played by Laurie Metcalf in Season 11 of Frasier. The original series ended with him going to Chicago to be with Charlotte (Laura Linney); the pilot of the reboot confirms they were together in the intervening time—I guess technically I’m assuming they were married.
Grade: B-
Episode 7: Freddy’s Birthday
Synopsis: When Frasier catches Freddy at the bar with his mother Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), he learns Freddy has been hiding his visits with her because he doesn’t trust them to be civil with one another. Determined to prove him wrong they both attend his birthday party but fall into old habits of one-upmanship.
Thoughts: It’s pretty hard to be objective with this one because Lilith is such a great character and Neuwirth is such a great performer and it just made me happy to see her again. Putting her on screen throws into relief how much less sharp the writing is here—although the writers do an okay job of capturing her voice and recreating her jabbing dynamic with Frasier, it also shows their creative limitations as they go back to the same well repeatedly on certain jokes. Lilith and Frasier have their inevitable heart-to-hear make-up conversation at the end and, because the two have so much history, it really works. Also, Lilith repeatedly asking Alan who he is is very satisfying—stop claiming to be Frasier’s best friend, we don’t know you!
Literary References: Opening line: “If you ask me, that staging of Turandot was a Turandon’t.” Frasier’s birthday present to Freddy is a pen owned by JD Salinger because growing up his favorite book was Catcher in the Rye. Alan: “That’s amazing, think of all the books he didn’t finish with that pen.” Good joke!
Joke of the Week I Kind of Liked: Lilith: “Is that Rorschach wallpaper?” Frasier: “Yes, what do you see?” Lilith: “I see someone trying too hard.”
Remember When?: Nothing specific but Lilith’s mere presence kind of makes the whole episode a remember when.
Grade: A-
Episode 8: The B Story
Synopsis: In pursuit of full professor status, Frasier attempts to schmooze Harvard’s provost but Alan’s antics and an allergic reaction end up convincing him that he’s an out-of-control alcoholic instead. In the B-plot, David has a meltdown over receiving his first ever B on a paper; Freddy, who becomes intellectual when drinking, helps him rewrite it, but the rewrite only merits a B-.
Thoughts: I’m starting to feel bad about how mean I was to Cutmore-Scott in my original review. Once the show got him out of “I hate my dad” mode he became much more charismatic and occasionally charming. God help me, I think I kind of enjoyed this one.
Literary References: David’s paper is on BF Skinner. Freddy: “You didn’t think there was something kind of stirring about the section tying Skinner’s foundation of behaviorism to Ernst Mach’s view on mediating structures?” Lol looks like this is lifted straight from Wikipedia (ctrl+F “mediating”).
Hack Joke of the Week: Freddy [drunk, pontificating to friends]: “Whereas Kierkegaard argued that life is struggle, so the very act of searching for his son is nothing more than a reclamation of purpose—but, once completed, life loses all meaning.” Tiny: “Wow, and I thought Finding Nemo was just about fish.”
Remember When?: N/A
Grade: B+
Episode 9: The Fix Is In
Synopsis: Freddy wants to help out around the house so Frasier lets him fix the building’s broken buzzer. But then Freddy cuts a very small hole in the wall to trace a leak and Frasier freaks out. In the B-plot, David becomes Alan’s TA, an arrangement Alan twists into making David his butler.
Thoughts: Ugh, we return to father and son squabbling, which is the worst. I’m back to declaring Cutmore-Scott “Officially Bad.” At least there’s a scene where Andy Daly plays a plumber that’s passable. Also Eve has the same stroller for her baby that we have; she’s supposed to be broke but I know how much that thing costs!
Literary References: Frasier asks David to bring him his book on Stephen Sondheim but David brings him by Susan Sontag. “Who could confuse these two?!”
Joke of the Week I Kind of Liked: Eve: [looking at the hole Freddy cut in the wall] “It’s fine, you just need a tiny poster of Rita Hayworth to cover it.”
Remember When?: Freddy: “You have no idea how hard it is to explain to a woman I’m a grown man living with my dad.” Frasier: “Right, I couldn’t possibly imagine what that’s like.”
Grade: D
Episode 10: Reindeer Games
Synopsis: Sad about his first Christmas since Martin died, Frasier decides to throw a big party. The party goes off the rails through a series of oversights—ordering 24 Christmas trees, a live goose, etc—but then Roz (Peri Gilpin) shows up! In the several subplots, Alan and David try to slip various Christmas references into casual conversation, Eve watches a Hallmark movie, and Olivia and Moose hook up.
Thoughts: The Hallmark movie jokes unlocked something about the show for me, which is that it has a strong Hallmark vibe to it. The way jokes are telegraphed from a mile away, the way characters bluntly explain each others’ feelings and behaviors—it’s all, as David Roth and Jeb Lund would say on Christmastown, rather overdetermined; David (the character) also definitely fails the Voight-Kampff Test, dude is clearly a replicant. Anyway, it’s nice to see Roz even though she has like three lines and they are mostly the aforementioned feelings explaining; if we’re playing Spot the Angel, she is definitely it. This was weirdly most nothing episode of the reboot; I’m struggling to conjure any feelings about it either way.
Literary References: N/A
Hack Joke of the Week: Tie! 1) Freddy: Dad, just focus on the big picture.” Frasier: “I’m trying, but I can’t see the florist for the trees!” 2) Frasier: [discovering he’s been delivered a live goose] “Freddy, come quick, my goose is *not* cooked!”
Remember When?: Frasier has boxes of Martin’s old Christmas decorations, including the dancing Santa he threw off the balcony in Seattle. Separately: Frasier: “Crane parties have always had their little setbacks—a dead seal, a bird on the head, a bed through the ceiling, a corpse.”
Grade: B