Kelsey Grammer’s “Frasier” revival is about paying respect to actor John Mahoney, who died in 2018 at age 77, and Martin Crane, the beloved character Mahoney portrayed in the original NBC series from 1993 to 2004 prove.
Mahoney played a crucial role in the success of the Seattle-set series as an unpretentious retired cop and father to his fussy psychiatrist sons Frasier (Grammer) and Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce).
“It was clear how much of an impact both John himself and the character Martin Crane had on everyone around him,” says Chris Harris, who co-created the “Frasier” reboot with Joe Cristalli. “For Kelsey, honoring that legacy was a priority.”
The welcome begins with the new Boston bar that Frasier frequents in the revival series, called Mahoney’s Taproom, with a painted sign reading “since 1940” (Mahoney’s year of birth). Another homage is Frasier’s son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), a down-to-earth firefighter from Boston who is significantly inferior to his grandfather Martin.
But Mahoney and Martin’s tributes were particularly notable at Thursday’s Paramount+ premiere (the first two episodes air Oct. 17 at 9:15 a.m. EDT/PDT on CBS). Here’s how:
Frasier arrives in Boston after Martin’s funeral: “We’ll miss him”
The real reason Frasier comes to Boston is to mend ties with his son Freddy, who was raised primarily by his mother Lillith (Bebe Neuwirth), Frasier’s ex. Freddy had missed Martin’s recent funeral. But when Frasier arrives at Boston airport, his friend Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst), a Harvard professor, asks how the funeral was.
“Emotionally,” Frasier replies. “But it was a good farewell. We will miss him.”
Later, Frasier gives more details about the funeral (off-camera), which had been entirely planned by the meticulous Martin. As Frasier tells it, there was a farewell to the police and key moments from the original series’ characters. There was a toast from Martin’s former housekeeper Daphne (later wife of Niles, played by Jane Leeves) and “Ave Maria” sung by sports regular Bulldog (Dan Butler).
Frasier concluded by acknowledging Grammer’s thoughts on Mahoney
In one of the final scenes of the premiere, Frasier presents Freddy with the flag that flies over the Washington State Capitol “in honor of Detective Martin Crane,” who was also a veteran.
“I’ll miss him,” says Freddy.
“Me too,” Frasier replies. “He was a great guy, hard to follow.”
“Cheers” creator James Burrows, who directed many of the original episodes of “Frasier” and the first two episodes of the revival, says filming the scene was emotional for everyone. Frasier’s words “absolutely” represented Grammer’s view of Mahoney, Burrows says; “John was wonderful. We all miss him.”
Cristalli says there were multiple takes of the healing scene, including versions in which Grammer was “in tears the whole time.”
Mahoney ends the episode by saying, “It all works out.”
An “In Loving Memory” segment at the end of the episode recognizes script supervisor Gabrielle James, who worked on both “Cheers” and “Frasier.” James died in December 2022 at the age of 88.
The actor Archie Lyndhurst, Nicholas’ son, is also well known. Archie tragically died of a cerebral hemorrhage in September 2020 at the age of 19.
The final scene is a short vintage clip of Mahoney as Martin in his trademark flannel shirt in front of a roaring fire. “It’s all working out,” Mahoney says simply and with a smile.
“You can create memories with the simplest lines,” Burrows says of the final nod to Mahoney. “It’s very effective.”
Cristalli says that at the end they wanted to take one last look at the lovable actor in his most admired role.
“We wanted to hear John talk,” Cristalli says. “He talks about life in general, but also about the relationship between Freddy and Frasier. It’s like, maybe everything doesn’t always go the way everyone wants, but it will work out if you just keep working at it.”