[This story contains spoilers from the season finale of Frasier, “Reindeer Games.”]
As the credits roll on the season finale of the Frasier revival, Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane — the title role he originated 39 years ago on Cheers — frustratedly conducts a string quartet of not-yet-classically trained child musicians through a rendition of “Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs.” How a bunch of kids ended up performing the series theme song is a classic Frasier conundrum.
In the episode, “Reindeer Games,” a series of mix-ups ensue as Crane “frasiers” hosting an elegant holiday dinner party (yes, “frasier” becomes a verb in this episode). The problem: He’s mistakenly hired an elementary school string quartet, ordered 24 Christmas trees and a live goose, and made the egg nog so thick that one of guests asks, “Is this flan?”
The comedic timing of each mishap plays like an orchestra, thanks to Grammer’s stellar directing. “Reindeer Games” is the third episode he’s helmed for the Paramount+ revival series, not counting the 36 shows he directed for the original series that aired from 1993-2004. When asked how he felt stepping back into the director’s chair, the multiple Emmy winner responded with a sly laugh, “I’ve been doing it for a long time.”
He also credits his intuitiveness as a stage actor, which Grammer says works best for comedies. “Sitcoms have always been sort of like going to the theater. They’re shot that way. It’s sort of like there’s a proscenium arch as there is in a traditional theater setting, and we perform for an audience,” he tells The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s the difference, mostly. The audience is understood, in most cases in single camera, especially in comedy, but it’s never actually there. In our situation, there’s actual living, breathing human beings sitting in the audience, and that’s the laughter we use. It becomes a bit of a celebration of the characters, honestly, and a celebration of the idea that we can all sit in a room together and have a laugh that extends out into the television world.”
Speaking recently — a few days after the SAG-AFTRA strike ended and before a BBC interviewer claimed Paramount+ publicists cut an interview short when Grammer spoke about his support of Donald Trump (Paramount+ has not commented) — Grammer talks about finally having his say on returning to the beloved character, continuing onscreen father John Mahoney’s legacy and giving American audiences what he says they really need: a good laugh.
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The Frasier season finale (streaming Dec. 7) also doubles as a holiday episode, which is brilliantly called “Reindeer Games.” Was there anything special about directing this particular show?
Well, it was the final one of the season, and it was our last chance at sort of cementing the world of Frasier, the new world of Frasier. It was nice to invite part of the old world in and have him have a bit of a connection with Roz [Peri Gilpin returns as a special guest star] and have Christmas be celebrated by love. It’s all about love. The whole revival is about love of the character, about the idea that we all love the laugh, that we love each other, and it’s a love fest all the way around. But in this episode, it was a joy to be part of it. We have had a sort of famous Christmas episode history with the previous incarnation. I directed “Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz” years ago, the one where Frasier pretended he was Jewish, and they had to hide all the things they celebrated about Christmas. Of course, Martin [played my John Mahoney, who passed away in 2018] loved Christmas so much that there was a house loaded with it.
Speaking of Martin, the bar in this Frasier is named for John Mahoney, who died five years ago. This is a really beautiful touch, but why was it important to honor him aside from the scripted references to him throughout the season?
He was such a big part of it and he was such a motivational part of the first show. There is the old [saying]: The father will become the son, the son become the father. I am now the father, and my son is the son. With the original show, the very first pilot was called “The Good Son,” and the first pilot for this season was called “The Good Father.” That’s the reason.
The bonding between Frasier and his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) really picks up the last episodes of the series. Was that intentional and what can we look forward to for possibly season two?
We haven’t really cracked a storyline yet for season two. We haven’t really gotten into that stuff, but we probably will fairly soon. I believe we have a home at Paramount+ for several years to come, and we certainly have several ideas for it. It’s just what’s fleshing out, and we’re not sure yet because the writers went on strike, then the actors stayed on strike, and everything just sort of stalled. At least we got the episodes in under the wire before we had to just lock down.
But where our future is, of course, we’re going to explore the relationship between the father and the son, and that’s natural. Then involve the other characters as well. Was it intentional? Yeah, of course. Because the first few episodes of any new television show, it needs to be sort dedicated to the idea of allowing the audience to fall in love with the new characters. I believe that’s finally started to take shape. Now we have the luxury of saying, well, let’s branch off into this area, branch off into that area, go a little heavier on this storyline, focus a little bit more on this member of the cast or members of the cast.
You earn that right after the first few episodes when you allow the audience to just simply become acquainted with the new people who are there and to understand the basis for the show. The basis of the show is that father-son relationship, but also Frasier’s new friendship, Frasier’s new life, his third or fourth act, arguably. That’s what we’re discovering. We’ve discovered that he’s probably a bit more mature, maybe still a little bit the same sort of nut, but he’s grown some for him to have been static, for us to have started right back into the same show from 30 years ago [when the show began] to jump right back into the same story would’ve been ridiculous. For a man to spend 30 years of his life and not age would’ve been ridiculous and not grow wiser in any way. We thought it was important to give him sort of a new set of clothes.
In returning to playing Dr. Crane, how do you feel about the term “reboot,” or what term would you like it to be referred to, as you say this new chapter of Frasier? Co-creators Joe Cristalli and Chris Harris view it as a spinoff, they told THR.
We really think of it as a new Frasier. We don’t really think of it as a reboot, because we haven’t rebooted anything. It’s just a character that has not fallen from grace. He’s still a loved and beloved character. And one we really love playing.
When the original Frasier aired, it was appointment TV. But now there’s so much vying for people’s attention. Were you nervous about people finding the show and reconnecting with Dr. Crane?
I wasn’t nervous about it necessarily, just that in a new world, we have a new set of viewing habits. I figured we’d promoted it pretty well. I thought there were some loyal audience members around who were really kind of hungry for revisiting the character, because we haven’t really done comedy like that in quite some time, and I think there’s a hunger for it. I do think there’s a real appetite in America for what is a comfortable way to sit and watch some funny people and just have a good laugh. And it doesn’t have to be vicious or mean or self-effacing in any way. It doesn’t have to be sensational or particularly vicious toward another person. These are forms of entertainment that I don’t actually jive with. I’m pleased to offer the kind I love, which is about a family and about fun and about a group of people who are fond of each other, who go through their travails and are recognizable to most people because they are the travails of everybody. It’s similar territory for everyone.
Were you upset that a lot of the original Frasier cast members did not want to return?
I wasn’t upset. I had tried to get everybody back because that’s what I thought was the right and faithful thing to do. I wanted to remain faithful to them. But them not wanting to do it was fine. Certainly, their choice. Actually, it led us to some choices that we wouldn’t have done, probably, and I was very happy that we did them. I’m very happy that we ended up in Boston. That never would’ve happened if the rest of the cast had come back.
You’ve said in past interviews that when you work on screen, you tend to rewatch yourself to make sure that you haven’t missed anything. Did you do that this time around?
I’m pretty involved in the editing and stuff, so by definition, I am doing that. In comedy, I watch, and when I’m doing drama, I don’t bother watching because I just know what’s most important is the heart. If you felt it, “it’s probably right,” then it probably got caught by the camera. And then I would usually talk to the cameraman and say, “What’d you think?” And he’ll say, “It’s there. Don’t worry about it. Move on.” In comedy, you can miss the slightest nuance of a word and then the people will miss the joke. I am quite cautious about the way I shoot, and about the way I edit and perform in the sitcom arena.
In 2015, you founded Faith American Brewing Company. Are there any correlations in making beer that align with being a mainstay in Hollywood?
Oh, dear. Well, you know what? It’s funny. It may have to be more difficult to get a beer off the ground. I mean, I’m drawing a sort of guerilla warfare. I’m showing up at different bars around New York and New Jersey, the only two states we’re in right now. I’ll show up and pull pints and talk to people, spend a couple hours in a bar, and sort of make the deal that if I come, they’ll keep the beer on. We’ve had great success in Atlantic City, and I’m the grand marshal of the Atlantic City Christmas Day parade on Dec. 2nd this year.
Congratulations!
So bit by bit, the beer is being recognized as something that’s worth checking out. I mean, it is really more about that than anything else. Most people drink it, they like it. It’s a good beer. That’s what’s great about it, I mean, I’m not embarrassed to go promote it. It’s something I’m very proud of, and I never thought I’d fall in love with beer, but I have.
Will it be served at Mahoney’s?
It’s in the background. Any shot you’re looking at, somebody tending bar, there’s usually a little barrel that says Faith down the bottom of it. It’s down the vertical of it. It’s a tap handle. It’s the Calico Man flavor that we have, which is an IPA. But yeah, there’s a tap handle there.
Back to Frasier, in the initial promotion of the series return, the logline said… “Frasier had an old dream or two to finally fulfill.” Do you believe that he did that this season?
Oh, well, he’s going to. What’s interesting about that was that became the logline after I went home and had a dream. After we knew that the legacy cast was not going to return, we dismissed all the things we discussed. That night I went, “Oh, Frasier has to go back to Boston. He has to go back because he hasn’t fulfilled his destiny there.” He didn’t fulfill his potential. He left Boston feeling like he was a bit of a failure. He’d had a failed marriage or two, and he hadn’t landed Diane. He had lived with frustration, all sorts of stuff there. He did not become the guy he thought he would become when he went to school at Harvard. Now he’s back…
Now he’s back.
… and he’s figuring out what that’s going to be.
Frasier is now streaming all episodes on Paramount+.
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