According to Deadline, Paramount+ has finally given the greenlight to the long-gestating Frasier reboot with Kelsey Grammer reprising his role as the titular radio psychiatrist. A year and a half after the follow-up was confirmed to be in development, another season of Frasier is finally going ahead, courtesy of How I Met Your Mother writer Chris Harris and Life in Pieces writer Joe Cristalli. The revival will act as a direct sequel to the original series. Before the Frasier reboot arrives in the streaming-sphere, there are many classic episodes to check out.
The Matchmaker (Season 2, Episode 3)
Some of the funniest Frasier episodes wring their laughs out of the comedy of misunderstandings. In season 2’s “The Matchmaker,” Frasier tries to play Cupid when Daphne complains about being single and he meets KACL’s new Anglophilic station manager, who recently moved to Seattle after a bad breakup. Frasier invites his new boss over for dinner in the hopes setting him up with Daphne, without realizing he’s gay and thinks Frasier wants him for himself.
Everything Frasier says to Tom is misinterpreted as flirtation. When Tom mentions the lovely view from his apartment, Frasier says the view from the bedroom is better. When Tom asks if living with Martin affects his dating life, Frasier says his dad is always trying to steal his dates. When Martin eagerly invites Tom over to watch sports with him, Tom says, “Frasier warned me about you!” At a time when many ‘90s sitcoms were using “gay panic” as a source of humor, “The Matchmaker” won a GLAAD Media Award for its lighthearted satire of gay stereotypes.
The Innkeepers (Season 2, Episode 23)
Every time Frasier and Niles try to work together, it ends in travesty. In “Author, Author,” they try to write a book together and bicker so much that they don’t manage to get a single word down in time for the deadline. In “Shrink Rap,” they try to run a psychiatry practice together and end up in couples’ therapy. And in “The Innkeepers,” they try to save their favorite restaurant from going out of business by taking over the location themselves.
Despite their best intentions, Frasier and Niles suffer from perhaps the most disastrous opening night in the history of food service. Their entire kitchen staff quits, Roz and Daphne struggle to fill their place, and the bumbling valet drives a customer’s car through the wall of the restaurant. From start to finish, “The Innkeepers” is a pitch-perfect farce about everything going horribly wrong.
Ham Radio (Season 4, Episode 18)
In honor of KACL’s 50th anniversary, Frasier tries his hand at writing and directing a live, old-school radio drama in season 4’s “Ham Radio.” He pens an elaborate murder mystery entitled Nightmare Inn, gives himself the Poirot-esque lead role, and casts all his friends and colleagues to round out the rest of the ensemble. Frasier puts his cast and crew through rigorous rehearsals, but as soon as they go on the air, the play takes on a life of its own. Bulldog gets mic fright, Noel mixes up all the sound effects, and Gil goes off-script to keep his scenery-chewing monologue off the cutting room floor.
After causing his entire cast to walk out of the booth while making ruthless cuts on the fly to keep the play from running long, Frasier finds himself with seemingly endless minutes of dead air to fill. The script for this episode is a masterpiece of self-contained comedic storytelling and the actors knock it out of the park.
Dinner Party (Season 6, Episode 17)
The character dynamics of Frasier are so strong that an episode with a simplistic setup could end up diving deep into their relationships. In season 6’s bottle episode “Dinner Party,” Frasier and Niles attempt to organize a dinner party. But this party planning quickly becomes an eternal struggle as they argue over the guest list, try to find a date on which everyone is free and Martin is out of the apartment, and accidentally get themselves blackballed by the best caterer in town.
This would be a great episode for newcomers to start with. It perfectly exemplifies Frasier and Niles’ relationship and highlights the strength of the show’s writing. These writers didn’t have to leave Frasier’s apartment to tell a fast-moving story full of twists and turns, all driven by the characters and their insecurities.
Goodnight, Seattle (Season 11, Episodes 23 & 24)
At the end of its hit-and-miss 11th season, Frasier concluded its story with a perfect series finale, the two-parter “Goodnight, Seattle.” Everyone ends up in a great place: Martin marries his girlfriend, Niles and Daphne have their baby, Roz is promoted to running KACL, and Frasier leaves Seattle behind for a new opportunity in a new city. Martin and Ronee’s wedding presented one last opportunity for a social event plagued by disaster and misfortune. A poorly timed cannonball causes a vehicular pile-up, which involves a dairy truck whose stench of manure quickly envelopes the venue. Eddie swallows the rings, then Daphne goes into labor at the vet’s office.
Then, when all is said and done, Frasier bids a tearful farewell to his friends and family. He also says goodbye to his KACL listeners – and, by extension, his real-life audience – with a beautifully worded speech. This finale was so spot-on and satisfactory that the new reboot has its work cut out for it, boldly reopening the tale of Dr. Crane.