Frasier Crane Would Hate Kelsey Grammer

Kelsey Grammer clearly loves Dr. Frasier Crane, hence why he keeps reviving the character for reboots and awkward corporate promos.

But if Frasier Crane somehow Last Action Hero-ed his way into the real world, I’m not so sure that the feeling would be mutual. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that Frasier would likely hate the Kelsey Grammer of 2025.

Recently, the famously right-wing Grammer endorsed Republican New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli. Grammer even narrated a new campaign commercial in which he bemoans how “we’ve lost our way” thanks to “crimes on the rise” — even though, according to the FBI, “New Jersey’s crime rates dropped in 2024.”

Grammer also repeated the transphobic talking point that we need to “protect our girls and preserve fairness in women’s sports.” That’s despite the fact that the Human Rights Campaign has pointed out that “transgender students’ participation in sports has been a non-issue” since “many states, athletic organizations, and governing bodies successfully balanced fairness, inclusion and access to play without any problem.” And even Scientific American has explained that there is “no scientific case” for excluding transgender athletes from women’s sports leagues.

But to be fair, none of these experts were in Money Plane.

We don’t need to guess how Frasier Crane would feel about someone participating in a conservative politician’s campaign commercial, because it was the premise of a whole Frasier episode. Season Two’s “The Candidate” found Martin Crane appearing in right-winger Holden Thorp’s ad, who Frasier refers to as a “self-serving fearmonger” and a “fascist” who is “like Himmler without the whimsy.”

The episode also pokes fun at Frasier and Niles’ liberal elitism (Maris sends all of her "servants" to volunteer for Thorp’s opponent). And while no party names are mentioned, the apparent Democratic candidate ultimately reveals that he believes he was the victim of an alien abduction. But even after that controversy costs him the election, Frasier never embraces the odious Thorp.

Actors obviously don’t need to share the same values as the fictional characters they play, but Grammer’s outspoken politics arguably clash with the core values that made Frasier so likable in the first place. 

For one thing, the show has often been heralded as a forerunner for more positive depictions of the LGBTQ+ community on TV. While the introduction of gay characters was almost always in the context of some kind of a farcical misunderstanding, as PinkNews noted, “Frasier, above all, found its strength in showing how homophobia and ignorance can be a source of humor, rather than queer people themselves.” Season Two’s “The Matchmaker,” in which Frasier accidentally gives his gay boss Tom the wrong impression of his sexuality, “won a 1995 GLAAD Media Award for Best Comedy Episode.”

The Daily Beast’s Nico Lang argued that Frasier was a “gay show for straight people,” specifying that the three episodes that form the “queer centrepiece of the show” (“The Matchmaker,” “Out With Dad” and “The Doctor Is Out”) were all written by “out gay staff writer Joe Keenan,” and pointedly didn’t make the LGBTQ+ characters the “butt of the joke.” 

Importantly, Frasier’s trademark compassion was evident in these episodes as well. For example, when Frasier learns that he’s been inadvertently dating conductor Alistair Burke (played by Patrick Stewart) in “The Doctor Is Out,” he remains empathetic and tender when breaking things off.

But Grammer has thrown his weight behind a political candidate whose aide recently told a crowd that Ciattarelli wants to “have a ban on same-sex marriage.” Ciattarelli later claimed that he does support same-sex marriage, although he previously voted “against a state bill legalizing same-sex marriage as a member of the New Jersey’s General Assembly in 2012.” 

And during his 2021 campaign he “vowed to roll back LGBTQ+-inclusive curriculum in New Jersey public schools,” “falsely claiming that ‘sexual orientation’ is being taught to kindergarteners and sixth graders are learning ‘sodomy.’”

Grammer has also publicly expressed his admiration for Donald Trump, stating that it’s “great to have somebody who actually means what they say” as president. But it’s hard to even imagine the level of contempt that Dr. Crane would have for Trump after he killed the government’s public broadcasting funding, considering that the doctor was such a loyal PBS supporter.

If the canceled Frasier reboot ever gets picked up by another network, maybe Frasier will suddenly be more into UFC fights than opera.