Let’s hope whoever floated a reboot is listening.

This Sunday, 16 September, marks the 25^th anniversary of the premiere of Frasier on NBC, which would go on to host 11 seasons of a sitcom widely and justifiably regarded as one of the greatest of all time. 14 years since the finale was watched by over 33 million people, including by many on a live broadcast on a giant screen in Times Square in New York, Frasier has been the subject of much discourse again in 2018. The sad death of John Mahoney (Marty Crane) in February prompted a flood of memories and tributes from his former co-stars, while there has been plenty of talk more recently about a potential reboot, much of it coming from Frasier Crane himself, Kelsey Grammer. Grammer has seemingly been both hot and cold on the idea, responding enthusiastically to the suggestion that the Frasier/Marty relationship might be replicated by Frasier and a grown-up version of his son, Frederick, in any potential new offering, but also sounding a note of caution about the whole thing when saying: “Honestly, I’m not sure it’s something I really want to do". In its original form, one of the things that made Frasier so funny and so relatable in the first place was his constant agonising over decisions in his daily life. At times, his judgement proved spectacularly wrong – most famously in the brilliant ski lodge episode – but when Frasier trusted his gut in relation to the most important issues in the show, he was normally proved right. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1SFqeB0dk Clip via Nathan Harbert If Grammer has any sense, he’ll follow the example of his alter ego and trust his instinct that a Frasier revival is “not something I really want to do”. It’s not to say that Frasier couldn’t and wouldn’t be a success if a reboot ever was to happen. Millions of people still watch the original show, on Netflix in the US, for example, and on Channel 4 on this side of the world, where the show has been repeated on a loop in the mornings for years. The fanbase, obviously, is there. The reaction to the merest hint of a reboot would suggest that the appeal is there. Support from TV networks in the US would likely be forthcoming. The origins of Frasier, itself spawned from one of the all-time great sitcoms before eventually becoming its superior, would suggest that it is capable of succeeding against the odds. And yet… The history of television is littered with shows that outstayed their welcome. The Simpsons is the most infamous example (and a particular source of angst for this author) given the way that its output from pretty much the turn of the millennium has tarnished the genius of what went before. Family Guy, LOST, Seinfeld, The Big Bang Theory (which, somehow, got 12 seasons... 12 seasons!) and Arrested Development are further examples of shows that stayed at the bar well beyond closing time. In fact, it’s far more difficult to identify shows that actually ended at the right time or before things had a chance to go awry; Fawlty Towers, Father Ted and The Office (UK) being notable examples, although the fact that none of them lasted beyond three seasons should be taken into account. Outstaying its welcome is an accusation that could even be justifiably levelled at Frasier itself, which suffered a decline in quality following the (successful) conclusion of Niles’ pursuit of Daphne, which had sustained the show for the first seven seasons. The decline wasn’t as steep as the one suffered by some of the shows mentioned above, but, barring occasional moments of the old genius (including the finale) the fare offered up from the eighth season onwards was more tossed salad than scrambled eggs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4HRP10F_Rk Clip via My old channel There’s no doubt a part of every Frasier fan that would like to see it revived, as much out of curiosity as anything else. But it was the same for Joey after Friends came to an end, and look what happened there. Spin-off shows have a patchy track record of success, but a successful spin-off of a successful spin-off? It's practically unheard of. And, like it or not, the comparisons will always be there. Could a Frasier reboot possibly produce the same dynamic between the main characters that made Frasier so great in the first place? Could it possibly have the same level of wit, the same level of charm, the same level of brilliant comic timing that makes the original as watchable now as it was when it was first aired a quarter of a century ago? In this day and age, where instant gratification is so prevalent, would it even be given the time and space to flourish? Grammer himself knows all about the pain of having a show cancelled, with political drama Boss lasting just two seasons as recently as 2012. All of those concerns should be rendered moot in any case because a reboot simply shouldn't happen. The best present Frasier fans could receive on its 25^th birthday is not a revival for the wrong reasons, but an acknowledgement that, as sitcoms go, it pretty much doesn’t get any better than this. Now, I’m listening.