The original character I missed most in the revival was Frasier.
I can come up with a lot of reasons why I think the Frasier revival fell flat. The writing. The supporting cast. The lack of some of the original cast (yes, mainly David Hyde Pierce). And each of these things could be discussed at length.
But it was when I was thinking about the depth that Niles brought to the original run that it occurred to me that I missed Frasier in this revival almost as much as I missed Niles.
The character of Frasier Crane has changed, in part due to how they wrote the character this time around, and in part due to how KG plays him. And I accept that a character would certainly change in 20 years, but I don’t think Frasier changed for the better.
In the 90s and 00s, when Frasier was in his forties, he had a balanced personality. His snobbiness was countered by his compassion. His shallowness was buoyed by his capability to feel. He had some pretty big character flaws, but those were made up for by his capacity for authenticity and tenderness.
But Frasier in his 60s, in Boston, doesn’t feel balanced. It’s like his “television career” changed him for the worst.
He no longer has depth. He’s overly self-absorbed, shallow, cynical and predictable. The richness his character had in the first run was what made me find him lovable, if not pretentious. But in this new iteration, I find he’s just a shallow caricature of the character Frasier Crane and my enjoyment of him in the original show isn’t there in the Paramount chapters that just aired.
If I’m going to watch Frasier, I want to see Frasier. Not a shallower, less endearing version who just happens to share his name.
I can come up with a lot of reasons why I think the Frasier revival fell flat. The writing. The supporting cast. The lack of some of the original cast (yes, mainly David Hyde Pierce). And each of these things could be discussed at length.
But it was when I was thinking about the depth that Niles brought to the original run that it occurred to me that I missed Frasier in this revival almost as much as I missed Niles.
The character of Frasier Crane has changed, in part due to how they wrote the character this time around, and in part due to how KG plays him. And I accept that a character would certainly change in 20 years, but I don’t think Frasier changed for the better.
In the 90s and 00s, when Frasier was in his forties, he had a balanced personality. His snobbiness was countered by his compassion. His shallowness was buoyed by his capability to feel. He had some pretty big character flaws, but those were made up for by his capacity for authenticity and tenderness.
But Frasier in his 60s, in Boston, doesn’t feel balanced. It’s like his “television career” changed him for the worst.
He no longer has depth. He’s overly self-absorbed, shallow, cynical and predictable. The richness his character had in the first run was what made me find him lovable, if not pretentious. But in this new iteration, I find he’s just a shallow caricature of the character Frasier Crane and my enjoyment of him in the original show isn’t there in the Paramount chapters that just aired.
If I’m going to watch Frasier, I want to see Frasier. Not a shallower, less endearing version who just happens to share his name.