In the Chinese zodiac, 2023 is the year of the Rabbit. In the world of sitcoms, 2023 is turning into the year of the Frasier. Most recently, news of Frasier Crane’s return to Boston where “Cheers” was set came as a surprise. Long-time “Frasier“ fans know the whole reason the spin-off was set in Seattle was to get Frasier as far away from Boston as possible.
Thanks to Kelsey Grammer himself, we know a bit more about why Frasier is back in his former city.
Recapping “Cheers” and “Frasier” History:
The journey of Dr. Crane started on “Cheers” during the third season. Set in Boston, this is when Frasier met Diane Chambers (Shelly Long) who had recently entered a psychiatric facility after a break-up with Sam Malone (Ted Danson). Frasier and Diane are about to be wed to end the third season, only to find out that Diane leaves Frasier at the altar to get back with Sam. Frasier later dates a woman named Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth) in season four only to encounter her again in season five and begin a romance together. They’d later get married an have a child together, Frederick. Lilith has an affair with a scientist in an eco-pod, leaves Frasier, gets back together with him, and stays with him until “Cheers” ended in 1993.
“Frasier” debuted after “Cheers” ended, and takes place six months after the finale of the previous show. Frasier and Lilith are now divorced, with Frederick living in Boston with his mother. Seattle is the city where Frasier was born and raised, where his father (the late John Mahoney) and brother (David Hyde-Pierce) still live. By the end of “Frasier” the good doctor has decided to move from Seattle and leave behind his career, brother, father, and friends in pursuit of romance. He had become romantically entangled with a woman named Charlotte (Laura Linney) who decided to move from Seattle to Chicago to try and restart her business.
Why the return to Boston, though?
Grammer has acknowledged Frasier’s past, and says his return to Boston is essentially Frasier’s “fourth act,” noting part of his life was spent in Chicago. Interestingly, this suggests that we’re not seeing Frasier’s third act, though possibly it will be eluded to in the revival. We seem to be skipping completely over that part of Frasier’s life to see what the psychiatrist is up to in Boston. According to Grammer, Frasier is back in the city because he never really found success there, according to him. A challenge!
There is an element of truth to all this. Frasier’s life did get horribly jumbled during this time. Not only did his relationship with Lilith fall apart but he did also attempt to kill himself, which probably didn’t do wonders for his psychiatric practice in the area. That being said, Frasier never expressed any musings at all about returning to Boston at any point during his time in Seattle. Various characters from “Cheers” did do guest spots on “Frasier” and Frasier did visit Boston in season nine, meeting a number of his friends at a hotel bar. The series actually did a pretty good job of making it seem like Frasier was fond of his time in Boston, but had no desire to return.
Possible “Cheers” reunion?
When Kelsey was asked about the bar itself, Cheers that is, his response to it was kind of mixed. He says that the bar may have gone out of business, but also that someone had visited it lately, so it may still be operational. As far as we canonically know as of this point, Cheers was still open, and being operated by Sam. Maybe Kelsey is just playing coy about a possible reunion episode. He didn’t say anything to confirm or deny the reappearance of characters from that series. Grammer did leave the door open for a guest appearance though should either Daphne (Jane Leeves) or Niles (Hyde-Pierce) want to return. We know their son, David (Anders Keith), is appearing in the revival series, so why not them?
If Frasier is actually looking to tie up some loose ends in Boston, one of the big ones could be Lilith. In the final season of “Frasier,” Lilith returns in an episode that shows how the two actually have come to get along quite well after their divorce. Perhaps Frasier could realize there’s something still there between them that is worth exploring. There’s also the relationship with his son Freddy, which was never a focal point in “Frasier” aside from an episode per season really. With plot details still not fully revealed, we only have hints of how episodes may play out, but these relationships are the only real loose ends that we know Frasier had in his life.
Two episodes have already been filmed, and audiences have been receptive to them, according to Grammer. We’ll have to see how the greater world will receive the revival when it eventually airs exclusively on Paramount+.
