This is a list of the characters in Frasier (2023).
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Main Characters
Frasier Crane
Frasier Winslow Crane, M.D.
See here for his list of tropes. Freddy Crane
Frederick "Freddy" Gaylord Crane
"Let's find someone who has low self-esteem and is also on fire and see which one they run to first."
Played by: Jack Cutmore-Scott
Frasier's estranged son, who dropped out of Harvard to become a fireman.
See here for his characterization on his previous series.
- The Ace: Not only is he clearly very well-educated and versed in the fine arts (even if he mostly buries it), but he's also a well-built fireman, a suave and charismatic charmer who's great with the ladies and can even fix household problems like plumbing and wiring issues by himself.
- Ascended Extra: Freddy goes from an occasional recurring character in "Cheers" and "Frasier" to one half of his show's central relationship here.
- Characterization Marches On: In Frasier, Freddy very much resembled his intellectual parents but started to turn into a more "normal" kid as the series went on. His embracing of a blue collar lifestyle is still a surprising direction for his character to go.
- Deadpan Snarker: You can really tell that he was primarily raised by Lilith during his formative years, as he's inherited all of her sardonic observational wit and frequently employs it at every opportunity.
- The Gadfly:
- Passive-aggressively takes shots (literally) at his dad's distaste for the things he likes by buying an air hockey table for the dining room.
- When Frasier considers quitting his job at Harvard, Freddy launches into what is implicitly a verbatim repetition of the same speech Frasier gave him when he dropped out.
- Generation Xerox: He grew up to be more like his grandfather than either of his parents or his uncle. His fights with Frasier over decor even resemble Marty's fights with him over his chair.
- Genius Bruiser: A strong, fit young man who had been accepted into Harvard and (due to his upbringing) has an encyclopedic knowledge of psychoanalysis. He just happens to prefer the company of blue-collar people to eggheads.
- Hidden Depths: Invoked. He hides the true extent of his intellect from his buddies and only reveals hints at his academic knowledge when he's drunk and not as guarded. Drunkenness also reveals his skills at close-up magic, although that trait mostly annoys others.
- Insufferable Genius: He doesn't want to come across like one, but he sure as hell gets smug when he wins an argument.
- In Vino Veritas: He normally tries to be a more relatable everyman when he's sober, but his true smarts and scholarly acumen start coming out when he's got a few drinks in him.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: While he shares both his parents' intellectual giftedness and sharp wit, he's more of a man's man and prefers hanging out with a blue-collar friend group to the Ivy League crowd.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: He has a genuine love of intellectual pursuits but keeps it hidden out of a belief that it will alienate him from his firefighter colleagues. However, he'll pontificate on philosophy and speak in French when sufficiently drunk to the fascination of his buddies.Freddy: All I know is "fire hot, water cold"! But, uh, you didn't think there was something kind of stirring about the section tying Skinner's foundational behaviorism to Ernst Macht's view of mediating structures, or, like whatever
Fraiser: Why are you so invested in David's paper?
Freddy: I'm not, you are! What? Go Pats! Whatever, dweebs. - Platonic Life-Partners: He and Eve live together, and he helps with her baby; but there's nothing romantic going on.
- The Smart Guy: Among his firefighting friends, though he prefers not to show it off.
- Tragic Dropout: Double subverted. It's explained early on that he dropped out of Harvard (much to Frasier's disapproval and disappointment), but he insists to his father that it just didn't suit him or his interests. He reveals in "The B Story" that he actually greatly enjoyed Harvard and all the intellectual pursuits that came with it, but his parents' very high expectations made him feel like nothing he ever did would be good enough and thus soured him on the whole thing. He generally keeps his true intelligence a secret, being something that would come out when he's drunk or that he confided in David.
- Working-Class Hero: He aspires to be one, dropping out of Harvard and joining the fire department.
David Crane
David Crane
"I took a sleeping pill on the flight for my anxiety and I had to balance it out with three shots of espresso..."
Played by: Anders Keith
Frasier's nephew, the son of Niles and Daphne. He's currently attending Harvard.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Never quite on the same "page" as everybody else.
- Extreme Doormat: Subverted. It seems like David is too naive or cowardly to stop Alan from abusing him as a TA to perform demeaning and menial tasks for him, but David later explains to Frasier that it's the first time in his life that he's been entrusted with any real responsibility, and as such he's grateful for the validation despite knowing he's being taken advantage of.
- Generation Xerox: For both his caring-but-eccentric mother and his dorky, hypochondriac father; lampshaded by his uncle. He also exhibits Niles' haughty manner of speaking.
- Hero Worship: Treats his uncle like modern royalty, and gushes about the potential of forming a friendship with his cousin.
- Photographic Memory: He claims to have one.
- Straw Loser: Somewhat; he's a Harvard student, but he embarrasses himself on the first day of class, carries around a laminated list of allergies, and is completely out of his depth when it comes to women.
- Tuckerization: His first name was chosen as a tribute to David Angell, co-creator of the original Frasier who died in the 9/11 attacks.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: He laments about his father's high expectations and how he lives his entire life in fear that he won't live up to the Crane legacy.
Eve
Eve
"As an actor creating characters is what I do. Oooh, maybe I'll gives myself an accent!"
Played by: Jess Salgueiro
Freddy's roommate, a bartender and aspiring actress.
- Bad "Bad Acting": She's seen preparing to try out for a local stage production but she doesn't show much talent.
- The Bartender: Her paid profession as opposed to her aspiring one of actor. She seems a great deal more skilled at this one.
- Large Ham: A big reason for her Bad "Bad Acting" is that Eve's natural tendency is to go for the most dramatic reading possible—when Freddy wants her to pretend to be his girlfriend, Eve initially proposes doing it with an accent, after Frasier has already heard her normal speaking voice. Later, when Frasier asks her profession, she declares that she is a Private Detective despite the fact that telling him her real job would obviously be the simplest story.
- Platonic Life-Partners: She moved in with Freddy to save money and raise her son, but the two aren't romantic.
- Struggling Single Mother: She's in her late-twenties, broke and the father of her child is dead. Frasier and Freddy help out as much as possible.
Olivia Finch
Olivia Finch
Played by: Toks Olagundoye
"As they say, a 'no' is just a yes in a trenchcoat."
The head of Harvard's psychology department.
- Contrasting Sequel Protagonist: For Roz in the original show. Like Roz, she's a snarky down-to-earth colleague (though in this case, Frasier's superior rather than his assistant); but unlike Roz, who had a new date each week, Olivia is unlucky in love, and desperately wants a relationship but isn't good with men.
- Determinator: Goes after what she wants, to the point where her personal motto is, "A no is just a yes in a trenchcoat".
- Eating the Eye Candy: When she sees Freddy for the first time.
- Fangirl: In her younger days, she was a "Craniac".
- The Glorious War of Sisterly Rivalry: She regularly talks about her sister, who's the provost at Yale, and how she wants to one-up her sibling by any means necessary.
- High-Powered Career Woman: Very ambitious and dedicated to her career, though it doesn't leave much in the way of a personal life.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: In "The Founder's Society" she reveals she can play dumb when needed. After Alan and Frasier talk in front of her in Latin about tossing her under the bus to secure seats in a prestigious club, she feigns not understanding but speaks Latin fluently. She then points them to a random older white waiter claiming he's the Dean and not to approach without her. When they go do that, she finds the real Dean and has a pleasant conversation with him and secures a membership for herself.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: She and Alan let each other know how much they despise one-another all the time. They also go out for drinks together after work.
Alan Cornwall
"Tenuuuuure!"
Played by: Nicholas Lyndhurst
An old college friend of Frasier's, who now teaches at Harvard.
- The Alcoholic: Though his taste may be more refined than most of his archetype, his primary goal in most scenes is solving any drama so he can get to the booze.Alan: This is the most fun I've ever had sober.David: You've had eight whiskeys.Alan: British sober.
- Apathetic Teacher: Doesn't remember his students' faces and blows off lectures.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: While burnout is clearly part of what's made him what he is today, he's apparently always had a problem applying himself. Frasier notes that Alan has never finished anything, to which Alan responds by beginning a comeback that quickly shifts into mumbles and grumbling followed by simply trailing off and losing interest in the conversation.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He acts like an apathetic boozer most of the time, and keeps his pet cat around the office, but there's a reason he was able to earn tenure in the psych department.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character: To Martin. They’re both elderly, lazy people who have clearly seen better days. While Martin was a pretty low brow and a proud average Joe, Alan is more cultured and is working at an exclusive location.
- Deadpan Snarker: Gives the Crane brothers a run for their money in this department.
- Jaded Washout: He's well beyond the point of caring and is ticking time off until retirement thanks to tenure.
- Mirror Character: Much as Niles in the original series began as a Frasier who never had the humanizing influence of the Cheers gang in his life, Alan is a Frasier who stayed in academia and gradually burned out.
- Parental Abandonment: Heavily implied on his part; somehow, Alan's four children do not count in his mind as having kids.
- Pet the Dog: He's crabby and sarcastic to most people, but adores his cat, calling her a "dear friend".
- In "The Founder's Society" he also admits that the one person he cares about (apart from his cat) is Frasier, seeing him as his best friend and telling him that they can still make something out of the ruined night by hanging out and getting drunk.
- Really Gets Around: Implied; when Alan declares that Frasier's difficulties with Freddy are why he never had kids, Frasier points out he's had four.
- Remember the New Guy?: Much like fellow mirror character Niles. He's presented as an old friend of Frasier's from college — and never appeared before in the original Frasier or even Cheers, despite this series returning Frasier to Boston, where the latter was set. This is lampshaded in "Freddy's Birthday", where Lilith has absolutely no idea who he is, even though he was a guest at her and Frasier's wedding.
- Ultimate Job Security: To Olivia's chagrin. While an obvious exaggeration of how tenure works, it's implied Alan does the bare minimum amount of work he needs to do to force Olivia to put up with his antics and make going through the (extremely lengthy, potentially grueling) appeal process to get him fired not worth it.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With his boss, Olivia. She insults his age and laziness, while he insults her lack of a love life. They also enjoy going out after work together.
Supporting Characters
John (UNMARKED SPOILERS FOR PILOT)
The infant son of Eve and her deceased fiancé, who was Freddy's best friend.
- Tuckerization: The character may have been named after John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane in the original Frasier.
Tiny, Mousse, and Smokey
Freddy's buddies from the fire department.
- Bruiser with a Soft Center:
- They're loud, strong, boisterous firefighters; but they're also emotionally sensitive and value the healing that comes from psychiatric work.
- After mistaking David for a neglected orphan, Tiny, Mousse, and Smokey go out of their way to make him feel special and even buy him a bike.
- Butch Lesbian: Smokey, a female firefighter who acts as boisterous as the men and mentions having had a wife.
- Dumb Is Good: Noted by Freddy; they're not exactly sharp, falling for the "long-lost dad" ruse and then not questioning why he already lived with and had the same surname as his dad if they only just found out each other existed. But they're friendly people whose whole job is to save lives and put out fires.
- Genius Ditz: They're pretty spacey but, as detailed under Hidden Depths below, they each have areas of brilliance. Tiny is very emotionally intelligent, Mousse is a culinary genius, and they're all good at bar trivia and (while not being experts) enjoy psychology lectures from both Frasier and Freddy.
- Gentle Giant: All three of them; Tiny is the largest and most effusive, Mousse is loud but friendly, and while Smokey is the shortest, she's still a stocky Boisterous Bruiser with a heart of gold.
- Hidden Depths:
- Mousse's nickname is revealed not to be for the big, powerful moose; but the dessert mousse, as he has a lot of culinary knowledge and specializes in desserts.Frasier: Take That! Occam's Razor.
- The crew are a competitive quiz team and demonstrate a deep knowledge of trivia. They are also fascinated by philosophy and listen with rapt attention whenever Freddy gets drunk and starts lecturing.
- Mousse's nickname is revealed not to be for the big, powerful moose; but the dessert mousse, as he has a lot of culinary knowledge and specializes in desserts.
- Ironic Nickname: Tiny, the largest of the group.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Smokey lost her wife to another woman, but at least tries to be supportive of her.
- Large and in Charge: Tiny is the biggest, and at least socially seems to be the group's ringleader.
- Lower-Class Lout: Subverted; they're working-class, loud, and come across as kind of dumb at first glance, but they're pretty emotionally-intelligent and all have areas of brilliance.
- Meaningful Name:
- Smokey is a firefighter.
- Mousse makes a fantastic mousse; and he physically resembles a moose.
- No Indoor Voice: Mousse in particular screams a lot.
- No Social Skills: Mousse is a notable example because he's actually aware and trying to work on it, thanks to watching Frasier's show. He steamrolls people in conversations, but he wants to stop.
- One of the Boys: Smokey is the only girl in the group, but it's not brought up and Freddy refers to her as part of "the guys".
- Tuckerization: "Mousse" may be a play on "Moose", the name of the dog who originated the role of Eddie in the original "Frasier".
Monica Finch
Olivia's as-of-yet unseen sister, who works at Yale.
- Always Someone Better: To her sister.
- The Ghost: So far in the series, she's only been mentioned by her sister.
- Sibling Rivalry: She and Olivia have been competing their whole lives.
Margaret Scratcher
Alan's pet cat, whom he sneaks into work with him.
- Morality Pet: Probably the living thing Alan is nicest to.
- Named After Someone Famous: Her name is a pun on Margaret Thatcher.
Lilith Sternin
Played by: Bebe Neuwirth
Frasier's ex-wife and Freddy's mother. See also tropes from Cheers and Frasier.
- Deadpan Snarker: Old age has not dulled this part of her personality. Nearly every line she speaks is a dry, deadpan remark on whomever she is speaking to. When Frasier is her topic, she gets venomous, too.
- Not So Above It All: She spends Freddy's birthday competing with Frasier over who the better parent is, leading to a public and embarrassing scene that gets them both kicked out of the party. She later admits that, while she and Freddy had always been close, Frasier being back in town made her feel that was being threatened.
- Open-Minded Parent: While Freddy bristles at Frasier's disappointment with his life choices, he remains quite close to Lilith, suggesting she was more (in her own way) understanding and supportive.
- They Call Me MISTER Tibbs!: When David calls her "Aunt Lilith" she glares at him for a moment and he corrects himself to call her "Dr. Sternin."
Roz Doyle
Played by: Peri Gilpin
Frasier's former radio producer at KACL in Seattle, and one of his best friends. See her character sheet from Frasier here.
- The Bus Came Back: She surprises Frasier on Christmas to help him grieve Martin's death.
- The Gadfly: She warmly teases Frasier when she arrives with a joking "You look like crap." Given their very close friendship, it actually brings a smile to his face.
- Platonic Life-Partners: She's virtually Frasier's sister in all but actual blood, and she flies across the country at a moment's notice to support him in his grief.
