Here’s How ‘Frasier’ Revival Paid Tribute to Late Star John Mahoney

Kelsey Grammer returned as the erudite Frasier Crane as the Paramount+ revival of Frasier debuted on Thursday, October 12.

The show was, of course, missing the late, beloved John Mahoney, who portrayed Frasier’s retired police officer father, Martin Crane, in the original 1993 series. Mahoney, known for his work in Say Anything, Hot in Cleveland, and on the stage, passed away in 2018 at the age of 77.

Here’s how the revival honored his legacy in the pilot episode: Frasier reveals to his friend and former mentor, Alan (Nicholas Lyndhurst), that his father recently passed away and his son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), didn’t attend the funeral. The episode culminates with a heartfelt conversation between Freddy and Frasier, addressing why the young man missed his own grandfather’s burial.

“I was about to get on the plane, and I was thinking about grandpa,” Freddy says with tears. “I just couldn’t do it.” He recalls that he was “in a bad place,” while his father wonders why he didn’t reach out to him for help.

Freddy then opens a gift that Martin wanted him to have — a flag that was flown over the state capitol in “honor of Detective Martin Crane for his service to the nation and his beloved city of Seattle.”

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“I’m going to miss him,” Freddy says.

Frasier answers, “Me too. He was a hell of a guy.”

The episode concludes with an in memoriam title card that says “In Loving Memory of John Mahoney,” with a clip of Mahoney as Martin from the original series. Check it out below.

Paramount+

When Grammer spoke to us ahead of the series premiere, we touched on Mahoney being named after a bar in the series. To which he responded, “[Grammer pauses, tears welling up.] Yeah, we wanted him in there. Forever.”

Frasier, Thursdays, Paramount+