The executives at ViacomCBS are hankering for toss salad and scrambled eggs, hoping for a revival of the hit sitcom Frasier. As Variety reports, the company is in early talks with star Kelsey Grammer for a reboot that would air on Paramount+, its rebranded streaming service set to replace CBS All Access.
Frasier was the Dave Grohl to Cheers’ Nirvana; a spin-off from a beloved cultural institution that went on to outlast the original. Starring Grammar, David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin, and John Mahoney, who died in 2018, Frasier ran from 1993 to 2004, winning a record-breaking 37 Primetime Emmy Awards and taking home five consecutive trophies for Outstanding Comedy Series. At a time when far less successful franchises have been brought back from the dead, Paramount must be drooling at the mouth.
For Grammer’s part, he’s been trying to reboot Frasier for years. You might think nothing will stop this from happening, but there are some issues that may have both sides dialing their psychiatrist. For two peak seasons Grammar was the highest-paid actor on television, taking home $1.6 million an episode for a total of around $32.5 million a year. Variety hears that the whole retuning cast is looking for “pay comparable to what they were making at the time the show ended,” which might break the bank for a streaming property intended for Paramount+. Still, with both sides interested, it might not take too much therapy to work past their issues.
Update: Deadline has more details on the proposed project. Paramount+ is eyeing a 10-episode order which would co-star Pierce. As both Grammer and Pierce are attached to other projects at the moment, production likely wouldn’t get underway until 2022.
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In other reboot news, Sex and the City is returning (without Kim Cattrall), MTV is bringing back MTV Cribs, and Peacock recently ordered a second season of their update of Saved by the Bell.
