Warning! Spoilers ahead for the Frasier reboot episode 5.
The Frasier reboot does a great job maintaining established continuity, but one single line from Alan creates a clear age plot hole. Kelsey Grammer’s return as his iconic Cheers character takes place 19 years after his Seattle-based spin-off ended. Armed with new experiences, his Boston comeback introduces him to a host of new challenges including making up for his shortcomings as Freddy’s father. While he has to navigate this third act without the help of his Emerald City cohorts, he is reunited with an old friend from Oxford — Alan, who has no issues making sure that he gets his regular dose of reality whenever he gets overly dramatic.
When Grammer announced that he was working on getting the Frasier reboot off the ground, there was skepticism around it. The fact the original stars such as David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves turned down the invitation to return made it worse. However, Grammer, who not only returns as Frasier Crane but also produces the endeavor, is convinced that there are stories left to tell with his character. After several outings, the Frasier reboot episode 4 finally justified its existence. On its heels, however, is the series creating a plot hole that could have easily been prevented.
Alan Makes A Mistake About Frasier’s Age
In the Frasier reboot episode 5, “The Founders’ Society,” Frasier attends his very first Harvard function as a lecturer at the Ivy League institution. This is a shift in storytelling coming from episode 4, which tackles Freddy’s grudge against his father for belittling his job as a firefighter. Feeling out of place in his new place of employment, he joins Alan and Olivia in their bid to join the elite Harvard club called The Founders’ Society. In true Frasier fashion, however, things go awry when he gets overeager.
Seeing how Frasier hasn’t addressed his tendencies to mess things up for himself is quite saddening. Alan’s quip about how old they are makes this worse. However, Lyndhurst’s character fumbles it when he claims that they are in their ’60s. While it’s unclear how old Alan is exactly, the fact that he was at Oxford the same year as Frasier suggests that they are around the same age. Looking back at the character’s history in Cheers and the Seattle series, however, Alan’s estimation is incorrect.
How Old Is Frasier In The Reboot?
Grammer’s Frasier was a belated addition to the Cheers ensemble. He was originally brought in Diane’s rebound boyfriend after her split from Sam in season 3. Frasier was supposedly just 32 years old when he debuted in the hit NBC sitcom, while Grammer was a few years younger than his character at 29. Frasier stayed even after Shelley Long left Cheers in season 5 until it ended in 1993. By then, the character was already 40 years old. When Frasier returned to Seattle to restart his life, he turned 41 years old — a milestone that became the subject of the episode, “Fortysomething.”
After spending 11 years in the Pacific Northwest, Frasier was around 52 years old when the old series wrapped up in 2004. 19 years later, he returns to Boston after several years in Chicago, which is the starting point of the Frasier reboot. Given this, Grammer’s beloved elitist should be around 71 years old when he redeems himself in Boston. This makes Alan’s age quote in episode 5 erroneous.
What Frasier’s Age Means For The Reboot
Frasier’s small screen comeback marks his third and highly likely final act. This means that beyond this show, there’s no more opportunity to bring back the character in a way that will significantly tackle his personal arc. Given this, it’s imperative that the Frasier reboot finally gives Grammer’s character a definitive ending. Despite being the titular character of the old show, it actually did a much better job progressing the individual storylines of Niles and Martin. Both significantly grew over the course of the Seatle series, and by the end, they were both happily married. Frasier, on the other hand, was still looking for something stable.
Chicago ended up being good to Frasier after he not only won Charlotte but was also able to land a lucrative job as a TV host. Still, it left him wanting more, especially after she apparently left her for an unknown reason, and he decided that it was time for him to move on from Dr. Crane. The Frasier reboot is the last opportunity for the character to finally give him something he has long been yearning for, and hopefully, Paramount+ will deliver on that.
The Frasier reboot airs new episodes every Thursday on Paramount+.
