More Tossed Salad And Scrambled Eggs, Please

There’s no getting around it–these are challenging times.  Just ask any member of the Secret Service or any legal immigrant or pet owner in Springfield, Ohio.  Or anyone who thinks those subjects deserve equal time in our minds.

Thankfully, we are also starting to get a trickle of new seasons of original series at the time of year we used to get an onslaught of them.  CBS broadcast is saving most of the arrows in their quiver for a mid-October premiere week, save for a stray tease that scheduling arcs and NFL football adjacencies provide.  That’s the primary reason we were gifted with a new SURVIVOR last night and will have a “sneak preview” of the reimagined MATLOCK this weekend, events that have shared a summer-long promotional arc that is only now hitting its zenith of ubiquity.

Missing from all of this was what for me was and is one the strongest possible arrows Paramount Global has in its arsenal anywhere–the critically acclaimed, and one would assume statistically successful reboot of FRASIER, whose second season drops today on Paramount+.   I was fortunate enough to have once again attended a taping of one of this season’s episodes earlier this summer, and as regular readers know I find few experiences more pleasurable these days than having the chance to see a live taping on a storied Hollywood lot.  I loved my opportunity to see a Season 1 taping so much that I was compelled to reoffer my experience, and my personal plea for a renewal, at year’s end.   And this time around, the weather was MUCH better.

There are a few new wrinkles both with the story arc and on Kelsey Grammer’s beaming face–actually, they’re more old than new.   CINEMABLEND’s Adam Holmes explained how what at the time was a stunt casting evolved into something more:

When the Paramount+ subscription-exclusive Frasier revival aired its first season last year, only two other familiar faces from the original Frasier also stopped by: Bebe Neuwirth’s Lilith Sternin and Peri Gilpin’s Roz Doyle. The latter appeared in the Season 1 finale, and once Season 2 starts airing on the 2024 TV schedule, we’ll see Gilpin reprise Roz in multiple episodes.

First, when I was speaking with showrunners Chris Harris and Joe Cristalli, I asked the men if it was always the plan for Roz to be featured more if Frasier got renewed for a second season, as well inquired about how they came up with her narrative for this batch of episodes. Harris told me the following:Kelsey and obviously Peri have such a great relationship. It was always the idea that we would bring her on a little bit more. The first season… obviously we did bring her in for the last episode, but we wanted to make sure that we established our own characters first. And then also, we wanted to make sure we had an organic way to bring her in, that it wasn’t suddenly like we were just jamming in a character from the old show for no reason. Joe, Kelsey and I, we all worked together to make sure that there was a natural reason, and what we came up with is that Roz’s daughter Alice is now studying at Risd in Providence not too far away, so she is going to be around in Boston more. We actually get to take advantage of that in some fun ways where Alice, in a couple episodes, starts to become a little bit part of the group, and we get to explore even more of this next generation of characters from the original series.

TV LINE’s Meredith Jacobs teased that there may be still more upcoming with the return of Roz:

“We’ve done some smooching,” Kelsey Grammer says (but remains coy) when TV Insider brings up a photo of his character (Frasier C(r)ane) and Peri Gilpin‘s (Roz) that has been released for Frasier Season 2…Cristalli, too, dodges the question about the two friends who do have a history. “It definitely looks like they’re kissing for sure, 100 percent looks like they’re kissing, and Freddy [Jack Cutmore-Scott] and Eve [Jess Salgueiro] do look shocked to see what they think looks like them kissing,” he says. Executive producer Chris Harris agrees, “It does look like they’re kissing a lot. There’s something going on.”

But as the executives in charge, including my friend of more than 40 years who is one the other few links between the original 264-episode series that ended 20 years ago and this new iteration, will be quick to remind, this is a new time, a new city and a new generation.  I had the pleasure of spending a few moments with Salgueiro, as lovely a person to talk to as she is to look at, and she immediately expressed both awe and gratitude for how much she has learned and evolved since being plucked from relative obscurity to her role as, arguably, this version’s Roz–the loyal, attractive but essentially platonic bestie of an F. Crane.  She also expressed admiration for how some of her co-stars were managing, a relative secret which the LOS ANGELES TIMES’ Whitney Friedlander broke to her readers yesterday.   I’m happy to say not only is the classy and articulate Toks Olagundoye healthy, her character is now being evolved into a more multi-dimensional capable of garnering laughs via insecurities and time-tested sight gags.  The episode I saw taped, which will air next month, featured the introduction of her referenced sister, rival and Yale legend Monica Finch, played by CBS sitcom veteran and game player extraordinare Yvette Nicole Brown.  I’m a huge fan of Brown’s, and let’s simply say Toks matched her talents in every way.  (Friedlander even let on she loves word games as much as Brown does, so I’m fully sold).

So while there may be more anticipated and groundbreaking stuff coming out, it’s these familiar faces and notes that are particularly attractive to fans like moi.  Emotions best articulated by the likes of THE TELEGRAPH’s Michael Hogan:

Tossed salad and scrambled eggs are firmly back on the menu. The risky reboot of classic comedy Frasier (Paramount+) is back for its sophomore season and going from strength to strength. Longtime “Craniacs” might still yearn for the original but this charming revival delivers a hit blend of highbrow humour and lowbrow buffoonery. As we return to Boston academia, Dr Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and his boozy best buddy Professor Alan Cornwall (Britain’s own Nicholas Lyndhurst) are preparing to celebrate “Ham Day”. In a bid to relive a memorable meal from their Oxford days and mark 40 years of friendship, the endearingly pretentious pair have ordered an 18lb acorn-fed jamón ibérico. What could possibly go wrong?  Naturally, nearly everything. 

Or Josh Bell of TOM’S GUIDE:

There’s nothing groundbreaking or modern about the reboot of the classic sitcom “Frasier,” and that’s what makes it so appealing. While some other revivals of vintage TV series attempt to update their formats or storylines to fit with the latest TV trends, “Frasier” remains stubbornly old-fashioned, much like its title character.  The reboot’s second season premieres this week on Paramount Plus, but aside from a few uses of current technology, it could easily have aired on NBC 20 years ago during the sitcom’s initial run.

And the fact that praise of equal platitude is coming both from a critic from a storied British daily and a U.S. fan site at the same time speaks volumes to why my biggest complaint and frustration about FRASIER 2.0 is the fact that Paramount Global and CBS Studios still insist that this is something that should be relegated to a 10-episode order and a struggling streaming service.

New episodes will again drop on Thursdays, the same night where the original aired as part of NBC’s storied “Must-See TV” lineup and a strategy which CBS eagerly adopted as their own once THE BIG BANG THEORY established its sea legs.  The latest iteration of that show, GEORGIE AND MANDY’S FIRST MARRIAGE, will debut next month as part of that much-hyped premiere week, thankfully in front of a live studio audience as was BIG BANG.  It will then prop up the current kewpie doll of CBS management, GHOSTS.  And then–well, MATLOCK.

Can anyone explain to me with a straight face why FRASIER isn’t being slotted at 9 PM as part of an actual comedy block on a fully distributed broadcast network, with a larger order consistent with what the talent both in front of and behind the camera are capable of delivering–and have for decades?

That “exclusivity” window for Paramount+?  We didn’t see even a passing reference to how large the Season 1 audience was, so one can assume the numbers were merely good.  A concurrent same-day launch on CBS, with a fully integrated sales force selling multiplatform impressions, would undoubtedly expand the size and reach of the show’s viewership.  That’s how MAX is launching THE PENGUIN tonight.  Not that everything MAX does these days is utter brilliance, but they’re still ahead of Paramount+ on every known metric.  And MAX promoted THE PENGUIN almost as aggressively as CBS is promoting their premiere week.

Any pious hopes that this version was going to be seen as a streaming gem with an opportunity to actually win awards like THE BEAR and HACKS went by the wayside with the results of this week’s Emmy Awards voting.  In this day and age, voters aren’t as likely to consider FRASIER in the same league, despite their efforts to the contrary over the summer.  That effort got me a photo with Kelsey, but unfortunately not much hardware.

I am certain Kathy Bates is not a cheap ticket, nor is her demographic appeal any more millennial-tilting that Grammer’s.  I am also sure that at least one other half-hour somewhere in their arsenal may have deserved a shot at being on a fall schedule.  Heck, given the cost-cutting and cutbacks that are fast becoming the order of the day at Paramount Global, they could have easily slotted in last season’s episodes of FRASIER in a second half-hour for a spell.

I suppose I should be more grateful for the fact that the show came back for a second season at all.  Not many streaming series do, and certainly not many reboots of sitcoms.  Anyone see that second season of HEAD OF THE CLASS or PUNKY BREWSTER?

But neither of those shows had the impact and staying power of FRASIER, nor the auspices of the current team and cast to reinvent itself as enjoyably as they have.  And I would merely ask the powers that be (at least for now) at CBS–dontcha think 18-20 of these could have been done, especially while for the time being you still own the lot?

After all, tossed salad and scrambled eggs (not to mention a centuries-old ham) are a pretty appetizing spread, but in smaller quantities they’re not that filling.

Until next time…