I can’t say I’m remotely surprised. I’m a huge fan of the original series, and I rewatch the whole thing at least once a year, but the new one is pretty bad.

I absolutely hate what they did to Frasier’s son, and it kinda ticks me off that the original actor was available but not cast. Kelsey Grammer’s insistence that his character still hasn’t grown or changed in the intervening years was also a pretty dumb choice.

Grammer himself was great but the rest was average. There was no ensemble chemistry, which defined the first show.

I don’t think I even realized season 2 was released. Do Niles and Daphne ever show up?

The new show just really missed the mark. I think the premise was ok but nothing to be excited about. I really blame the writers, editors, and set design. The sets/camera were way too “happy-go-lucky”. I go to Frasier - partially - for the muted browns and nostalgic 90’s tones. I’m not saying they couldn’t move the show into the future, but they needed to know that their audience expected a “stuffiness” of the current era. I would have expected the modern reboot to still have that museum-quality to the spaces. No bright lights. No high-contrast. It should have been deep maroons, greens, and browns. They shouldn’t have had Frasier living in a college-dorm; his apartment looked like an overpriced art institute’s hallway.

I think the editing was ok, but it visually had the blown out tones I hate to see in modern sitcoms. It’s like everything is too well lit. Leave some to the imagination. I like some shadows. I don’t need to see every wrinkle or detail. I’m a sucker for film over digital, but I understand why they didn’t go with that - to my disappoint nonetheless.

The writing was simply sub-par. It wasn’t the worst it could have been. They had some good moments and some good jokes. But Frasier was all about the juxtaposition of real psychological drama. It’s about a man who thinks too deeply about relationships, but also struggles to connect with them. It’s a man who is constantly looking for validation in his rich, snobby, circles, but ultimately seeks the hearth of a cheap, good, hotdog at the end of the day. He was full of depth. His son, in this show, contained the multitudes, but was too self-aware to become the fault of them. Frasier was - again - the one lost in the mix of it all. I would have appreciated him being a bit wiser and his son a bit more naive.

I was ok with the casting. But the writing and visuals just put me off. As an avid fan, I’ll take any Frasier I can get. But I won’t rewatch the new show very often - if at all. Again, I think the actors did what they could with the material, but I think the production wasn’t done by true fans. The writers and editors just didn’t “get Frasier”.