Ever since it was revealed that Paramount+’s Frasier revival would be set in Boston, there’s been speculation about whether the new show will ever show Dr. Frasier Crane revisiting Cheers, his old watering hole. While the new Frasier’s premiere episode did see Kelsey Grammer’s title character admitting he used to spend too much time “at a certain bar” back in the day, that’s been the extent of referencing the show that paved the way for the original Frasier spinoff. Now Grammer has shared his reasoning for why the Cheers bar won’t appear in the revival, and I have mixed feelings about this.
With just a few episodes left to go until the Frasier revival’s first season concludes, Grammer spoke with Variety about his work on the new show Paramount+ subscribers can easily stream. Interviewer Michael Scheider brought up how director James Burrows, who co-created Cheers, helmed many episodes of the original Frasier and returned to direct the revival’s first two episodes, believes that the new series should never show the Cheers bar again. Grammer agrees with this, saying:
I actually think he’s right about that. I don’t think we should do that. We don’t want to desecrate a national monument. I’m not sure how we can have it live up to anything but a desecration. I think we honor it by excluding it.
I understand Kelsey Grammer’s point of view on this. Cheers, which ran from 1982 to 1993, remains one of the most popular television comedies after all this time. Between reruns still airing on conventional TV and the show being available to stream both on Paramount+ and with a Hulu subscription, people of all ages continue to enjoy the stories centered on characters like Sam Malone, Carla Tortelli and Norm Peterson. Grammer is correct that Cheers is a TV “national monument,” so I get why he’d be worried about tarnishing the show’s image if bringing back the Cheers bar on the new Frasier didn’t end up turning out well.
That being said, once again, Frasier Crane is living in Boston again! I get that it’s a big city and he doesn’t want to spend a lot of time at Cheers anymore, but are you telling me that he wouldn’t even stop by this place that used to mean a lot to him at least once? Grammer was on Cheers for nine of its 11 seasons, so that’s nine years of Frasier enjoying drinks and good company in that place. Even if Frasier believes he wasn’t his best self back in those days, I find it hard to believe that he wouldn’t at least peek his head in to see how the bar is changed.
Basically, I’m hoping that Kelsey Grammer and the other people behind Frasier change their minds and decide to include the Cheers bar at some point, even if it’s only for episode. That’s assuming, of course, that the new Frasier is renewed for another season. With just three episodes left to go until this first season is over, there hasn’t been any word one way or the other about the show’s future. If it continues, and if the Cheers bar does permanently stay off the table, then hopefully we can see Frasier Crane reunite with some of his Cheers cohorts at a different location.
New episodes of Frasier premiere on Thursdays, but if you’re looking for other small screen entertainment to view, find out what the rest of the year has to offer with our 2023 TV schedule, or get a head start on next year with the 2024 TV schedule.
