Hands down one of my favorite TV shows of all time is “Frasier.” The now defunct NBC comedy (which you can still catch in syndication) was masterfully written starred some of the funniest actors around. The verbal sparring between Kelsey Grammer (Frasier Crane) and David Hyde Pierce (Niles Crane) was by far the most hilarious material I have ever watched (over and over and over again). Those two were simply brilliant on that show. Sigh. I really miss “Frasier.” While it will never be resurrected, I take solace in the fact that Kelsey Grammer will be returning to television this fall.
Grammer will be starring in a new FOX sitcom called “Back to You,” alongside Patricia Heaton (“Everybody Loves Raymond”). In the show Grammer and Heaton play fictional news anchors in Pittsburgh. (I love it already.) According to show producers, the series is based on the relationship between the two real life Emmy winners. Grammer’s character has just returned to the Pittsburgh station where Heaton, his former professional and romantic partner, remains a local celebrity.
The series’ creators are sitcom veterans Steve Levitan (“Just Shoot Me”) and “Frasier” writer-producer Christopher Lloyd, so you know that the dialogue between Grammer and Heaton will be witty and sharp.
The show should serve in direct contrast to FOX’s other “news show”– an unscripted reality program starring a former bikini model-turned-anchorwoman in Texas. “Anchorwoman” follows former WWE diva and swimsuit model Lauren Jones through a 30-day trial by fire as the newest anchor on KYTX-TV’s 5 p.m. newscast.
Granted, the series was created by the same guy who branded “American Idol,” still having worked in television news for more than 10 years I find the show’s premise disturbing. Hiring a buxom blonde who has zero news experience feeds into the stereotype that reporters and anchors lack substance. Jones’ hiring (show producers say she was chosen based on her looks and to fulfill her girlhood dream to anchor the news)laughs in the face of all the hard working “yes-I’m-standing-in-the-middle-of-this-hurricane-while-telling-you-to-remain-indoors” reporters/anchors who spend 14-hour days in the trenches to get a single 90-second piece on the air. No really, I’m not bitter—-after all, it is all about the ratings. Though, I will say this, I much prefer the prospect of watching Kelsey Grammer pretend to be an anchor…
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