BY FERNANDO GAGGERO
Frasier, one of the most successful sitcoms of all times, is coming back to the screens in October 2023.
While fans around the world are wondering whether their favourite actors will feature in the revival show, a Paramount+ teaser video already revealed that the new show will be set in Boston, and not in Seattle, the city that strongly identified the original series.
“It was a lot of fun having our city represented by one of the best and funniest TV shows in history,” said Brandon Cogo, a member of Facebook’s Frasier Fan Club, born and raised in Seattle, who lived there during the show’s entire run.
With Seattle’s skyline in its logo, the comedy portrayed the life of its characters in a city different to where the series was in fact recorded, Los Angeles.
During the show’s run (1993-2004), only one episode was recorded in Seattle, yet many viewers around the world identified Seattle with what they knew through the show.
“Other than the occasional mispronunciation of cities, it was pretty accurate. And the show where they filmed in Seattle was fun to see,” Cogo said.
“We also had Grey’s Anatomy ‘based’ here, among others,” Brandon said, who lived in LA for six years working as an extra on TV shows and movies, referring to the common practice of TV shows not necessarily being recorded in their setting.
Like in all great comedies, Frasier did the magic of capturing the viewer’s imagination with a mix of reality and fiction in its characters, and the depiction of Seattle was no exception.
I visited Seattle in 2010 and, as a Frasier fan myself, I could not avoid seeing the city through the eyes of the show where so many enjoyable scenes were set, and still living in my memory today.
So, as the reboot approaches, some of the original actors are confirmed for the new show and some are not, leaving a sense of loss in fans who had hoped to revive their memories through those now absent, including Seattle, which already feels like another missing character in Frasier 2023.
Journalism Writing | Diploma, Screen and Media – TAFE NSW, Ultimo – Sydney | Produced in July 2023.
Featured Image: Changing cityscapes from Seattle to Boston — Photos: Facebook Frasier Fan Club and SPO123/iStock