Tox Olagundoy as Olivia, Kelsey Grammer as Fraser and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Alan Photo: Chris Huston/Paramount+
News about that the much-loved comedy series Frasier, due to return nearly two decades after its original conclusion, has not been met with universal acclaim. No Niles, no Daphne, no Martin means the new series is in danger of being sidelined in one of the greatest sitcoms of all time, rather than a worthy sequel.
However, there is one reason for cautious optimism. It was announced in January — in a casting call that will mean more to British viewers than American ones — that the great Only Fools and Horses star Nicholas Lyndhurst will take on the lead role as the «drunk, British and larger-than-life» Fraser. college friend turned university professor, Alan Cornwell.
The advertisement stated that «Alan's mischievous traits could be exactly what Fraser could use to shake up his daily routine, while Fraser's thoughtful guidance could help Alan find some direction he was missing in his own life.» So it's kind of a bromance, and given the superiority of both actors, it could still prove to be a worthy continuation of the Fraser/Niles dynamic.
Despite the friendship that has developed between the two men, their personalities and working methods could hardly be more different. Grammer, whose off-screen life spanned everything from drug and alcohol addiction to the violent deaths of several family members, often behaved erratically and out of control on Fraser's set, prompting his co-stars to stage an intervention in 1996.
As his co-star John Mahoney once said, “He goes to somebody’s house, who you love, who is depressed, and just beating him up even more for his own good. And it was terrible.» Meanwhile, 62-year-old Lyndhurst is known as a private person. He won't attend the premieres of the films he has starred in and has changed his wedding date to keep it out of the papers.
But how did this unusual duo come about — one of whom is married a lot, a former Hellraiser, the other is a silent family man? Grammer and Lyndhurst first met when they appeared together in the 2019 revival of the ENO musical The Man from La Mancha.
Grammer told ITV that «we just fell madly in love with each other … since then we've been kind of crazy about each other and intend to work together for a long time to come.» He later elaborated: “I warned them in America. I said, «Wait until this guy comes.» You will be filming a scene with him and suddenly you realize that he just ran away. He is an extraordinary actor, dear friend. And I'm so glad he's a part of that.»
«We just fell madly in love with each other»: Nicholas Lyndhurst (far left) and Kelsey Grammer (far right) on Photocall for the film «The Man from La Mancha». Photo: Stuart K. Wilson/Getty Images
The star even suggested that Cornwell's character would be one of the main characters rather than a supporting character, meaning his co-star would be under pressure to live up to the hype. It is clear that Lyndhurst has comedic ability, but he is virtually unknown in America: only his villainous role as Uriah Heep in David Copperfield's 1999 television adaptation likely gained international popularity. Lyndhurst has yet to give any interviews and has not publicly commented on his involvement in the show's reboot. He has practically disappeared from the public eye since he and his wife lost their 19-year-old son Archie to acute lymphoblastic leukemia in October 2020.
Of course, there is a big element of Anglophilia in Fraser's appearance. Not only was one of the central characters, Daphne Moon Jane Leeves, a Mancunian (although Leeves played her with an incomprehensible accent), but the actor John Mahoney, who played Martin, Fraser and Niles' father, grew up in Manchester and emigrated to the United States. States at age 18.
Countless British actors have also made guest appearances throughout the series, ranging from Richard Grant and Robbie Coltrane as Daphne's two brothers, introduced in the series finale «Goodnight Seattle» and in the case of Coltrane featuring one of the strangest «English actors» . accents ever heard on screen.
There were solid and enjoyable performances by a pair of theater knights, Derek Jacobi and Patrick Stewart. Jacobi appeared in the episode «The Show Must Begin» in a charming self-parody role of Jackson Headley, a vain Shakespearean actor, while Stewart called the role of Alistair Burke, a suave gay opera director working on Frasier.
However, the show's Anglophilia runs deeper than its cast. For 11 seasons, Frasier reveled in its status as an intellectual comedy and made frequent intellectual references to English literature — befitting the snobbish pretensions of Fraser and Niles. It's hard to imagine any other American sitcom containing allusions to Chaucer and The Canterbury Tales and expecting audiences to get the joke without being spoon-fed.
However, much of the fun of Frasier lies in the consistently delightful way it cuts through the pomposity of the two protagonists, forcing them into farcical, dignity-destroying situations that often see their sizable egos knocked down. It's strongly reminiscent of all sorts of British humor, from Ben Travers' Aldwych farces to enduringly popular seventies sitcoms like Dad's Army, Porridge and Fawlty's Towers.
Fraser and Niles themselves fight throughout the show to be considered a great Anglophile by associating &# 39; old country» with sophistication and learning. In one of the episodes, Fraser states: “There is no greater Anglophile than me. All my suits are made in Savile Row. I write color through the letter «you»! Such moments are extremely interesting and provide an insight into the characters that any English viewer will immediately understand. However, casting Lyndhurst for the rebooted series may be more difficult than just Fraser casting another Brit. As Grammer commented, «While we were preparing the series, it suddenly occurred to me that we had never really seen Frazier in a relationship where he has a good friend.»
Frasier starts with Paramount+ October 12
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