You get a spin-off, you get a spin-off, EVERYBODY GETS A SPIN-OFF. That’s about how it feels these days in modern television. Whether network or streaming, even fresher ideas usually end up interconnected thanks to fan demand and a showrunner in common making the legalities work. You’ve got legendary crime procedural franchises such as Law and Order and NCIS having no short of spin-offs in constant rotation, some even eclipsing the parent show’s success and longevity, like Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
In the world of sit-coms, this is less common, but a standout franchise started with a bar where everybody knows your name. Cheers began in 1982 and ran for 11 seasons. Part-way through the run, the spin-off Frasier was born. That also ran for 11 seasons. Kelsey Grammer starred as the titular character Frasier Crane, a former series regular on Cheers. After his father’s health takes a downward turn, Frasier moves cross-country from Boston to Seattle to take care of him. By take care of Martin (John Mahoney), Frasier hires a live-in nurse, Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves). Over the 11 seasons, he also reconnects with his brother Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce).
Eventually, Niles and Daphne would date and marry (after many many bumps in the road) and have a son, David, in the series finale. When the show rebooted in 2023, David, now a young adult, joined his uncle’s return to Boston after Martin’s death. Anders Keith plays the grown-up David. Keith talked with Metro about his character’s reception as well as if David could be getting his own spin-off treatment.
“Sure! Yeah, why not? I’m not going to say no to that.” Keith views David as a blank slate in his young adult years. He’s a bit anxious, like his father before him, with the hyper attention to detail that seems to be common in both Frasier and Niles, but there are excentrictities that could also be attributed to his free-spirited mother (and even more free-spirited maternal grandmother.) “I think there’s potential with the character, especially because, again, he’s a young guy, we haven’t really decided what he’s going to do.“
Both Frasier and Niles are licensed psychiatrists. Frasier used his credentials to run a talk radio show during Frasiers 11 seasons where Niles had a more traditional practice. Now that Frasier is back in Boston, he’s teaching. All are very bookish acamdemic type roles, ones that, at least for now, David seems to be following along to pursue. Keith does wonder, with the possibilities so wide open, if David is “going to follow in uncle Frasier’s footsteps, in Niles’ footsteps, his mother’s footsteps – which I think could be interesting – his cousin… who knows?”
His cousin, Frasier’s son, Freddy, was one a lot like Niles and Frasier, and David. We saw him as a child on Frasier when he’s shuffled back and forth between coasts. As an adult, Freddy took a page out of his grandfather Martin’s book and became a first responder. Freddy’s now a firefighter, and the switch from academic to civil service, it seems could also be a possibility for David Crane. “There’s lots of paths he could take,” Keith says. “[A]nd we don’t quite know that yet. I think it would be good.”
“As a college student, you experiment with many things – maybe he joins a club, he tries a new hairstyle, tries growing a mustache, he goes to a party and realizes he’s in over his head. I think that would be fun to see some part of him at school”
The sky seems to be the limit for Keith. He poses another scenario for David suggesting, “Frasier has to come get him from a frat party, or something like that? It could be good. That’s more what I mean in terms of experiment, figure out life.” You can catch Anders Keith as David Crane on Frasier, streaming on Paramount+ and who knows? Maybe David will get his own spin-off one day. Stay with Collider for the latest updates.
Frasier (2023)
- Release Date
- October 11, 2023
- Cast
- Kelsey Grammer , Jack Cutmore-Scott , Nicholas Lyndhurst , Toks Olagundoye , Jess Salgueiro , Anders Keith , Brittney Baxter , Jimmy Dunn , Kevin Daniels , Renee Pezzotta , Owen Lloyd , Amy L. Workman , John Bucy , Cheyenne Perez , Parvesh Cheena , Peri Gilpin , June Diane Raphael , Peter S. Kim , Danice Cabanela , Patrick Rafferty , Monique Edwards , Gogo Pandit , Chris Farah , Nora Yates , David Theune , Tangie Ambrose , Annette Shar , Shon Levi , Robert Barela , Eben Ham , David Dean Bottrell , Don Lake , Nike Doukas , Jacqueline Obradors , Annie Abbott , Jessica McKenna , Bebe Neuwirth , Vince Wilfork , Michael Saltzman , David Sargsyan , Stefanie Yunger , Amari McCoy , Patricia Heaton
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 2
- Creator(s)
- Joe Cristalli , Chris Harris , Glen Charles , Les Charles
- Streaming Service(s)
- Paramount+
