A director on the upcoming Frasier reboot has detailed how the show will honour John Mahoney following his death.
The actor, who played Frasier’s father Martin Crane across the original show from 1993 to 2004, died at the age of 77 in 2018 due to complications from throat cancer.
In the pilot episode of the upcoming reboot, which sees Kelsey Grammer return in the title role, Mahoney’s character receives a special tribute.
“It’s a wonderful scene at the end of the show,” director James Burrows, who helmed the first two episodes of the revival, told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s about two-and-a-half, three minutes without any laughs. You’ve got to be brave to do that.”
He was my father. I loved him. pic.twitter.com/3mGcyEMxoy
— Kelsey Grammer (@KelseyGrammer) February 7, 2018
The actor’s legacy also lives on in the reboot’s neighbourhood bar, which is named Mahoney’s.
Burrows detailed how Frasier’s relationship with his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) in the reboot attempts to “tap into” the same dynamic between Kelsey and Mahoney on the original show.
“There’s a lot of Martin in Freddy,” Burrows said. “[Showrunners] Joe [Cristalli] and Chris [Harris] specifically wanted Frasier to deal with his son… because the relationship with Kelsey and Mahoney was wonderful. So they tried to tap into that, and I think they succeeded.”
The reboot’s cast also includes Nicholas Lyndhurst as university professor Alan, Toks Olagundoye as Alan’s colleague Olivia, Jess Salgueiro as Freddy’s roommate Eve, and Anders Keith as Frasier’s nephew David.
Alongside Grammer, Bebe Neuwirth and Peri Gilpin also reprise their roles, Lilith and Roz respectively, from the original series.
Frasier premieres October 12 in the US and October 13 in the UK on Paramount+.
