The 90s are back but sitcoms such as Frasier, should stay in the past
◆ The original comedy series is so good that I don’t want to see the reboot
The nineties seem to be having something of a comeback. From fashion (including baggy or ‘mom’ jeans, slip dresses, bomber jackets and scrunchies) to music and film, there’s a real sense of comforting nostalgia for some (me included).
TV has not been missed out either. If it weren’t for smartphones, broadband and social media, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d stepped back into 1995 when you switched on the TV on Saturday night to find Gladiators on.
With this harking back, come the remakes which include Streetmate, Blind Date and The Crystal Maze.
Sitcoms from the 90s remain popular too, with Friends being streamed by just about everyone.
While I love Friends, my comfort watch is Frasier, which ran from 1993 until 2004 on Channel 4 in the UK.
It tells of the ups and downs of its namesake main character and his brother Niles, dad Martin, friend and radio producer Roz and housekeeper Daphne (and some hilariously farcical situations), and it’s a gentle, funny look at life, class and the emergence of the coffee scene we now take for granted.
It’s still being shown, on endless repeat, on Channel 4 in the morning. I have it as a series record on my Tivo box (another thing that reminds us it’s not 1995) but to watch it when it airs would have the feeling of a quiet, contemplative day off school.
As with most successful sitcoms, it’s the mix of the cast that keep audiences returning, not just the main star. For me it’s David Hyde Pierce as Niles with his eccentricities and pitch perfect slapstick, silent comedy (the episode titled Three Valentines where, through a series of calamities he ends up passing out at the sight of blood, having started a small fire), that’s the highlight.
I’ve not been able to watch the new Frasier (one streaming service I don’t have is Paramount+) and I am not sure I will if I have the chance.
While I’ve heard good things about new characters such as Nicholas Lyndhurst’s Professor Alan Cornwall, some things were just right the way they were, and, as such, should stay in the past.
Like the original Frasier… and scrunchies.