When the original Frasier debuted in 1993, it could have been just another spin-off of a popular show that only reminded fans of what they were missing. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) got his start sitting at a bar in Boston on Cheers, but Frasierdecided to shake everything up by leaving that completely behind. Frasier moved all the way across the country to Seattle, and rather than being all about the titular character, became a hilarious ensemble series. You can argue that Frasier Crane wasn’t even the most popular among them.

After eleven seasons and countless Emmys, Frasier left NBC in 2004. Last year, however, it returned on Paramount+. Just like it had done decades before, Frasier decided to shift everything, moving back to Boston, and outside of an appearance by Peri Gilpin’s Roz Doyle, not bringing back the original cast. This time, the strategy didn’t work. Frasier’s brother, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), Niles’ wife, Daphne (Jane Leeves), and his father, Martin (the late John Mahoney), were all badly missed. The Frasier reboot could have saved itself with another great cast of characters and more brilliant writing, but instead, viewers got a paper-thin series that was a shadow of the past. Sadly, Season 2 of Frasier is more of the same. It’s not the worst show on TV, but that’s not high praise when the Frasier of the past was one of the greatest shows ever made.

It’s the Same Old Frasier Crane in Season 2, Mostly for the Worse

A large part of the original Frasier revolved around how bad its titular character’s love life was. A guy who hosted a radio show, and whose advice helped thousands of listeners, couldn’t get his own life in order, all while his neurotic brother, Niles, found forever love with Daphne? It made for a humorous conceit as well as an interesting series finale at the time, with Frasier deciding to take a risk and move away for love. Season 1 of the Frasier reboot found him back in Boston and alone again. That could have been promising as well, with Dr. Crane nearing seventy and still looking for his soulmate in his twilight years, but instead, the series delivered the same bumbling guy. Season 2 of Frasier is no different, with Frasier going on dates with women who aren’t meant for him but exist solely so we can laugh at the failure. One scene even sees Frasier pretending to get an emergency phone call to get out of a date. That might have been funny decades ago, but now it’s been done ad nauseam in other shows.

There is an interesting development in Season 2, with Frasier meeting a bartender (played by Patricia Heaton of Everybody Loves Raymond and The Middle fame) that might come to mean more beyond the handful of episodes that were available for review, but while it might be fun to see two ’90s sitcom stars together on screen, will it go anywhere? It’ll most likely be the usual strong passion at first, followed by a quick breakup and the sulking routine, at which point Frasier will then fall for someone else. That’s the overall problem with the reboot. It adds nothing new and has no reason to exist other than nostalgia, and with pretty much only Frasier himself coming back, there’s not even much of that.

The first season of the Frasier reboot had its flaws, but it was built on a strong premise, with a lonely Frasier returning to Boston to reconnect with his son, Frederick (Jack Cutmore-Scott), a down-to-earth firefighter who he has nothing in common with. While he’s trying to build that bond, Frasier and Freddy are also trying to get over the loss of Martin, just as the audience is. What went on around them might have been pretty weak, but that first season had heart. Season 2 of Frasier is simply going through the motions.

‘Frasier’s Side Characters Don’t Help Carry Season 2

As previously mentioned, the original Frasier was such a huge success because of its supporting cast. David Hyde Pierce won four Emmys as Niles Crane, creating a character just as iconic as Frasier himself. The show fired on all cylinders so well that even the dog became a big star. Sadly, the reboot doesn’t have that. There is a clone of Niles’ son, named David (Anders Keith), who provided some laughs in Season 1, but has nothing to do this time around apart from sitting in the background and cracking the occasional joke. The best use of the character is when he reads texts from his dad to Frasier; since Niles can’t be there to bicker with him, David will be his voice. Not only is that not very interesting, but it’s also a reminder of what we’re missing without Pierce around. Frasier tries to build a funny supporting cast in its reboot with some of Dr. Crane’s work colleagues, like the aloof Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst) and the high-strung Olivia (Toks Olagundoye), but they aren’t Niles and Daphne.

The overall problem with the reboot is that it suffers when Frasier isn’t on-screen. He could disappear for multiple scenes in the old show, and it was fine, but now Grammer needs to be part of everything, or the series automatically becomes less interesting. The supporting characters that do manage to hold interest are Frederick and his friend Eve (Jess Salgueiro); it’s telling that the most interesting plotline in Season 1 was theirs, rather than Frasier’s. Eve’s not just another girlfriend, but a single mother who lost her firefighter boyfriend, and Freddy’s friend, in a tragedy in the line of duty. That leads to a lot of emotion between the two, and moments of Freddy being there for Eve’s young son, but within what was made for review, their dynamic is barely explored anymore outside of one poignant episode.

Frasier is at its best when it’s trying to mean something through its characters. Sadly, it doesn’t do that often. Gilpin’s Roz is back as a recurring character this season, and it’s a joy to see her, but the first time we do, she’s just a sidekick in a subplot. You can feel how much Frasier is struggling, and even hear it with the studio audience. Laugh tracks were once common in sitcoms, but now feel like a bygone relic. They still exist in the Frasier reboot, but there’s no reason for them to, because the audience rarely rises above a chuckle. Still, there is a hilarious episode centered around Frasier’s nearly insane agent, Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris), who had the audience roaring, so credit can be given where it’s due. Most of the time, Frasier is unfortunately a rather simple and subdued comedy, something you watch in bed to fall asleep to, or put on in the background while you scroll through your phone. If Frasier returns for a third season, the show needs to change things up with a different format — and one that ditches the laugh track. The Frasier reboot is playing it extremely safe, and if this is all it’s got, it’s time for the show to officially sign off.

Frasier Season 2 premieres September 19 on Paramount+ in the U.S.

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