Let us speculate wildly about the 6 Frasier reboot ideas Kelsey Grammer is reportedly considering
Among the many TV reboot ideas constantly being churned out by Hollywood these days, few have produced more elaborate, acrobatically shoulder-straining shrugs than the prospect of a Frasier revival. Even for people who actively self-identify as Frasier fans—presumably spurred by a combination of the three Ns (Netflix, nostalgia, and Niles)—actual enthusiasm for the project is rare outside of a demographic best identified as “Actually, literally Kelsey Grammer.” And yet, it is 2019, and so the cosmic ballet must continue, with Grammer caught walking around London a few weeks ago with a folder with “Frasier” printed on it, and a facial expression best described as “Hey, ask me about my Frasier reboot plan.”
Or, rather, plans: Per Deadline, Grammer revealed this week that there are not just one, but six different ideas currently brewing to bring the reign of tossed salads and scrambled eggs back to the airwaves. Now, in Grammer’s telling, the members of this sextet of conceptual brain bombs are all kind of similar, differing mostly in which city they might plop Dr. Crane down in this time—the original series saw him bailing on Seattle in favor of Chicago—and how they might best attempt to re-capture the energy that the late John Mahoney brought to the show as Frasier’s cranky, no-nonsense father Martin. This is clearly a blatant smokescreen, though; you don’t contemplate the rich narrative tapestry of the Frasier Cinematic Universe without truly plumbing the depths of where your balding, wine-fevered muse might take you.
And while we have literally no inside track whatsoever on what these six different projects might entail, we do have a boundless imagination in our brains, the Frasier Wiki open on our browsers, and a weekend afternoon to kill, so let’s take a stab at it: Here are our best, good-faith guesses for the six Frasier reboot ideas:
F.R.A.S.I.E.R.
In the dark future of Seattle, 2096, only one thing is certain: F.R.A.S.I.E.R. is listening. A city-wide surveillance system whose totalitarian aims are masked by the golden-throated voice of the city’s favorite radio psychologist of yesteryear, the Freeform Radical Anthropomorphic pSychological Intervention and Elimination Reconnaissance system seeks to solve the city’s mental problems—whether they want it to or not. Only the grizzled-but-sassy aging radio producer who once fielded his calls understands the threat the system poses; when she comes across a British waif who claims to have the power to see the future, will Roz and her half-human, half-canine companion Ed-E be able to turn the tide? Hour-long drama, HBO.