Oh, baby… I hear the blues a’calling. And it’s not just me: hundreds of thousands of Frasier Crane fans have started singing the same song. It’s been that way ever since the revival of the hit Seattle-set sitcom was announced, intensifying as it became clear that no one, bar Kelsey Grammer, would be returning. Instead, the Frasier reboot, expected to premiere on Paramount Plus later this year, will drop Grammer’s finicky psychiatrist into a different milieu, alongside a completely new cast. As far as gambles go, it’s a big, potentially legacy-tarnishing one, which many people have already dismissed out of hand. There’s one question almost nobody seems to be asking: what if they actually pull it off?
Over the past week, the first casting news has surfaced, and it hasn’t exactly assuaged the doubters. The first actor to be announced was Only Fools and Horses’ Nicholas Lyndhurst – an actor of demonstrable sitcom pedigree, but one who has hardly had a role in years. Lyndhurst is playing Alan Cornwall, a university professor and old college friend of Frasier’s. He almost seems a better fit for one of Daphne Moon’s insufferable “Mancunian” relatives. It was also announced that the role of Frasier’s son, Frederick, had been recast. No surprise there, of course – fans weren’t exactly clamouring for the return of former child star Trevor Einhorn (though roles on Mad Men and The Magicians have ratified his adult acting chops). Stepping into the part would be Jack Cutmore-Scott, the star of the ABC crime drama Deception. It’s no disparagement to say that, to most viewers, he represents an unknown quantity.
