A ‘Frasier’ revival: Kelsey Grammer to reprise iconic role
A ‘Frasier’ revival: Paramount+ is officially moving forward with its revival of “Frasier,” the “Cheers” spinoff that ran for 11 seasons (1993-2004) on NBC. What’s more, Emmy-winning actor Kelsey Grammer will be reprising his role as psychotherapist/radio host Dr. Frasier Crane, whose appearances in three different series (“Cheers,” “Frasier” and once on “Wings”) make him one of TV’S longest-running characters.
There’s been talk of a “Frasier” reboot for quite some time — since 2018, to be exact, when reports first surfaced that Grammer and CBS Studios were in early talks. Grammer has also been pretty open about his interest in bringing the show back — in 2019, he was even photographed walking around with a binder that was clearly marked “Frasier.”
Paramount+ (formerly CBS All Access) entered the picture earlier this year, and now it seems a creative team has already been assembled. Chris Harris (“How I Met Your Mother”) and Joe Cristalli (“Life in Pieces”) will write and serve as executive producers alongside Grammer, Tom Russo and Jordan Mcmahon. Russo and Mcmahon head up Grammer’s production company, Grammnet Productions.
Little else was revealed in Paramount+’s big announcement; there was no mention of storyline or episode count, only an assurance that Frasier was back and “more exactly the same than ever.” David Hyde Pierce (“Down
Kelsey Grammer as seen in “Frasier”
With Love,” 2004) was reportedly in talks to return as Frasier’s brother, Niles, and it would be tough to imagine “Frasier” without Daphne and Roz, played by Jane Leeves (“The Resident”) and Peri Gilpin (“Scorpion”), respectively. Sadly, John Mahoney (“Moonstruck,” 1987), who played father Martin, died in 2018.
Don’t expect this new installment of “Frasier” to air anytime soon, though, because one of Grammer’s next projects is an ABC comedy from “Modern Family” creator Christopher Lloyd. That one is set to air in the 2021-22 season.
Autobots, roll out: Two new Transformers series are coming our way later this year, courtesy of Nickelodeon and Netflix.
Toymaker Hasbro and its production company, Entertainment One (eone), are behind these new animated projects that are aimed at younger viewers. Nickelodeon’s still-untitled series comes from executive producers Ant Ward and Dale Malinowski (both of “Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” fame) and Nicole Dubuc (“Transformers: Rescue Bots”). It was handed a 26-episode order and will introduce a new species of Transformers.
The second series, the one heading to
Netflix, does have a title because it’s based on the Transformers: Botbots toy line. The streamer has ordered 20 episodes, which will be centered on everyday objects that come to life at night in a shopping mall.
“Transformers: Botbots” has been described as a lighter counterpart to Netflix’s other Transformers series, the anime-inspired “Transformers: War for Cybertron,” which caters to an older audience. “We are delighted to partner with Netflix to bring an all-new Transformers story to life and explore a whole new universe with ‘Botbots,’” said Olivier Dumont, president of Family Brands at eone. “Transformers storytelling has expanded into so many new avenues, and we can’t wait to surprise both existing fans and new fans coming to the franchise for the first time with these fun bots who are definitely more than meets the eye.”
Known as the studio behind “Peppa Pig,” eone was acquired by Hasbro in 2019. It is also prepping an animated My Little Pony series that will continue the story introduced in a feature film set to land on Netflix later this year.
Into the past: It feels like it’s been years since HBO announced it was working on a TV adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger’s novel, “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” In fact, it has been years — at least three — since the project first landed at HBO. Fans will be relieved to know the series is still moving ahead, and as reported by Variety, it recently found its two leads. “Game of
Thrones” star Rose Leslie, who stole the heart of Jon Snow (Kit Harington, “Pompeii,” 2014) onand off-screen, is set to play the role of Clare, while Theo James (“Divergent,” 2014) will play her time-traveling husband, Henry.
Former “Doctor Who” and “Sherlock” showrunner Steven Moffat is leading this TV adaptation, and that’s part of why anticipation is running high for this project. Moffat riffed on the novel’s concept of “messy” time travel in the memorable “Doctor Who” episode “The Girl in the Fireplace,” and even more so with the character River Song, so it should be interesting to see his take on the original material that clearly made a big impression on him.
If you haven’t read the book or seen the 2009 film, “The Time Traveler’s Wife” is a love story about a couple whose relationship is often made messy by the husband’s uncontrollable ability to travel through time. Per HBO’S official synopsis: “It’s not a superpower, it’s a condition — he can’t help it. Sometimes, when Henry is stressed or worried — and sometimes for no reason at all — he loses his grip on the current moment and falls naked into the past or the future. One minute he’s making breakfast, the next he’s naked at a hoedown in 1973. He can be stuck there for minutes or months, he never knows. His life is a rollercoaster of constant danger and white-knuckle survival. Until one day he meets a beautiful redhead in the library where he works. Her name is Clare Abshire and although he’s never seen her before, she claims to have known him all her life …”
“The Time Traveler’s Wife” is currently in pre-production.