‘Frasier’ Fans Ignored 1 of Dr. Frasier Crane’s Biggest Lies
Before Dr. Frasier Crane returned to life in Seattle, he lived and worked in Boston. As a major part of the Cheers cast, fans learned a lot about the psychiatrist. Plot holes are bound to happen whenever a spinoff features a well-known character. It certainly happened in Frasier. Fans, however, chose to ignore one major plot hole, while the show’s writers decided to play it up.
Frasier said his parents were dead in ‘Cheers’
Before Frasier, Kelsey Grammer portrayed Dr. Frasier Crane on Cheers. The longstanding comedy introduced the psychiatrist during its third season. In the Cheers universe, Frasier had a penchant for the finer things in life, but he could also hang back with the guys at the bar. He drank beer, watched sports, and liked to lie.
In Cheers, Frasier once said that both of his parents had died years before. He told his friends that they were both scientists. While he shared some tidbits with Sam and Woody, he didn’t go into too much detail about his life before landing in Boston. That was a good thing for fans. It made it easier to ignore the glaring plothole about Frasier’s parents once the spinoff premiered.
‘Frasier’ writers explained the plothole with ease
The show’s writers didn’t ignore the plothole. Instead, they easily explained Frasier’s dead parents. When Sam visited Seattle, he noted that Frasier had told everyone at Cheers that his parents had died. His mother, Hester, had actually passed, but Martin obviously had not.
Frasier explained that, at the time, he and Martin were largely estranged after an argument. He said it was easier to tell everyone he was dead. Fans quickly pointed out that the narrative fits with Frasier’s pettier personality traits. The psychiatrist made his father a scientist instead of a police officer for bragging rights.
Martin wasn’t the only character that got a major overhaul for Frasier. He was the only one that was risen from the dead, though. In Cheers, Frasier’s mother threatened to kill Diane Chambers. The Hester of Cheers was cold and detached. The Hester that the Cranes remembered in Frasier was warm and down to earth. Martin noted that while Hester enjoyed sophisticated activities, she was never a snob like their two sons.
Technically, Frasier was supposed to be an only child
Frasier told his buddies at Cheers that his parents were both dead. He was only marginally kinder when it came to his brother. Instead of suggesting he was dead, Frasier just never mentioned Niles. There is a good reason for that, too. For most of the planning phase of Frasier, the radio personality was an only child.
According to Mental Floss, a casting director pushed for the addition of a brother for Frasier when they noticed the resemblance between David Hyde Pierce and Kelsey Grammer. Admittedly, the on-screen brothers have similar facial features. Their chemistry is what helped make the series as successful as it was.
A Frasier reboot is in the works. While Grammer will be reprising his role, Pierce isn’t sold on returning just yet. John Mahoney, the actor who portrayed Martin Crane, died in 2018. No premiere date has been set.
