"Frasier" to end after eleventh season

Frasier: Time's Up

By Lia Haberman
E! Online

The therapy session's over.

Kelsey Grammer announced Tuesday on E! News Live that his alter ego, espresso-fueled pop psychologist Frasier Crane, would be taking down his shingle next May.

"It ends next year, and we've discussed it. We think it's time to let Frasier go off into some other world. Somewhere where his life goes on," said Grammer Tuesday. "But we'll end it with dignity."

And, according to the Emmy winner, he's been thinking about how to take his last bow for a while, even though he remains mum on the details. "We've actually talked it out…I've had an image for what the last show should be for the last 11 years, and so I think that's what we're going to do," said Grammer.

The news hardly comes as a surprise. After all, Dr. Crane's been dispensing his neurotic brand of wisdom for 10 years on the Seattle-based series, in addition to the nine years prior on Cheers. In fact, next season will make Grammer a record holder for playing the same character on prime-time television for 20 years.

"It's been a great run for me. I mean, it was really lucky. Twenty years...it's like being a cop, and then I'm gonna quit," mused Grammer.

The actor's long maintained that he wanted Frasier to match the longevity of its predecessor, Cheers, which was on the air from 1982 to 1993. (Dr. Crane joined the Boston barflies in 1984.) Next season will mark a match with the sudsy sitcom.

Earlier this year, Variety predicted that the show's license deal would not be renegotiated after it expired in 2004 due to a mutual lack of interest between Paramount, the show's producer and the Peacock.

Despite a record 30 Emmys and a respectable 12.6 million viewers this past season, the series had never recovered from its schedule flip-flop, when Frasier lost its Thursday-night slot to younger-skewing Will & Grace.

Even NBC programming chief Jeff Zucker admitted in January that the net has done the shrink show "no favors" this past season with its weak In-Laws lead-in.

In addition, the good doctor's show also comes with a hefty price tag. Grammer, 47, currently takes home $1.6 million per episode, making him the highest-paid performer in television history. (And that's without house calls.)

The big bucks are part of a deal NBC agreed to in 2001 to keep the spinoff series on the air until 2004 at the cost of about $5.2 million per episode.

But you won't find Grammer on the unemployment line. He's currently promoting his new project Gary the Rat, an animated series that bows on the would-be Spike-TV network Thursday. Grammer is credited both as a producer and as the voice of Gary, a sleazy lawyer transformed into a giant rat.

 

Typecasting, no doubt.

 

You'd think that Kelsey Grammer would be sick of playing the same character for 20 years.

 

Re: Re: "Frasier" to end after eleventh season

Sam, I had the strangest dream last night. I dreamed I moved to Seattle...

 

I've really enjoyed how Grammar has evolved the character over the years from a self-important, know-it-all who can't seem to settle for any woman despite their obvious qualities into a man who....uhm...maybe I better rethink this. Must be the money, I guess.

 

Frasier is still on the air?

Kidding aside, I just read something about how ABC is paying something like $80 million for Drew Carey and not broadcasting it next year. I think Frasier was also on a long-term contract, signed when it was on the downslide (like Drew Carey).

Some friends of mine from Great Britain said that a lot of shows there start with limited runs - something like they are set up for 12 episodes. Sometimes I wonder if that setup wouldn't work better for some of these sitcoms.

 

Bingo! When you get 1.6 million dollars an episode it's probably not that difficult to keep going through the motions.

It might come with a (small) price though. Do you think that Kelsey will ever get another acting gig that doesn't resemble Frasier Crane? It might hurt his ego if he can't find some more diverse acting roles.

 

Although I can't recall if he's ever done a dramatic role in movies or TV, I do know he's classicly trained stage actor. I suspect he'll try serious roles in the future...I think he'd be pretty good there. Any comedic roles will no doubt just remind everyone of the Frasier character ("DOWN PERISCOPE" anyone?)

 

He did a serious turn in a fairly recent DeNiro-Ed Burns movie, but I think it tanked.

 

"Fawlty Towers", considered by many to be the greatest British sitcom ever and arguably the best one from either side of the Atlantic, lasted a mere two seasons and 12 episodes.

Meanwhile, the spectacularly unfunny "Friends" is still lumbering on...

 

I'm not a big of "Friends," but it's not too bad. The worst thing about it is probably the influence it's had on TV (network execs on the lookout for knock-offs). Otherwise, it's a lot better than most sitcoms currently on the air, though that isn't saying much. It can be sappy, a bit bland, sometimes irritating, some of the acting is still subpar, and it still populates a very phony-looking and feeling NY, but there's usually something funny about every episode I've seen.

 

I'm glad Frasier is finally hanging it up. I used to love this show, great writing, great cast, but it has outstayed its welcome by a couple of years. It's very difficult to sustain a sitcom for this long, nearly all of the ones that last upwards of 8 years or so go downhill rapidly, IMHO. As far as Friends goes, last year was pretty bad, and should have been the swan song, heck, they should have ended it at least 2 years ago. Don't have much hope for the upcoming "last" season. Who knows, if they pay each of them 6 bazillion dollars an episode, and promise them each an Emmy, maybe they'll come back yet again.

Jeff

 

It's the writing. As of now all possible permutations of character interplay have been done many times over. Ditto for cute faces, skin peeks, and so on.

But the writing still does offer many surprises frequently. I wonder how little the writers get.