When beloved nineties sitcom Cheers characters family, it raised a number of questions, not least of which was why Frasier and his brother Niles both spoke so differently to their father, Martin. Despite their supposedly being father and son, and from the same Seattle area, they appeared to have entirely different accents and ways of speaking. But was this an error in casting, or was there a logic behind it?
A spin-off of the incredibly popular Cheers, Frasier saw the character relocate to his Seattle home, living alongside his equally pompous brother Niles, and their much more down-to-earth father, Martin. Frasier was first introduced in Cheers as a somewhat snobbish, upper-class type, who stood apart from the rest of the bar-dwelling Boston gang in that series. As such, the role was given to Kelsey Grammer who, as with other roles such as Sideshow Bob in The Simpsons, was able to make the character appear somewhat posh and refined through his strong, theatrical, British-sounding accent. This helped distinguish him from the rest of the more traditional Boston-raised, working-class characters populating the bar at Cheers.
When Frasier ended up getting his own spin-off series, therefore, it was only natural that the producers of the series would want to retain this kind of dynamic, it often having made for great comic contrasts. Having opted for Frasier to this time be butting heads with his family, it might have seemed a natural creative choice for them all to look and sound similar to himself. But instead, the series creators chose to give Frasier’s father, Martin, played by John Mahoney, the kind of down-to-earth, working-class personality and accent as the characters in Cheers had, with the explanation for this being that both Frasier and Niles had both taken after their late mother, as well as benefiting from the privileges of a private education.
Traditionally, it might have seemed like a more solid choice for Frasier’s brother Niles to provide this kind of comic contrast, but instead, the series creators opted for him to be even more posh-seeming than Frasier, at once making Frasier seem normal enough to be placed as the series lead and to get some truly great oddball comedy from the two bouncing off each other. In having Martin be the one who’s that bit more down to the earth, the series cleverly has Frasier being most at odds with the family member he’s then living with, with each having entirely different educations and cultural tastes to the other. But more than this, the series was able to derive some real drama from the revelation that Frasier and Niles had lost the parent they were closest with, something which truly helped the series to stand out from other sitcoms.
Martin’s accent, alongside his background of working as a cop, or his love of baseball, was a subtle twist in the casting for the series which helped to distinguish him from both his son’s, their more refined natures being emphasized both by his presence, and that of the other cast – gossipy Roz, and Daphne, who, though British, hails from Manchester, almost sounding less like the usual British stereotype than the two brothers do. This range made for Frasier's perfectly balanced comedic cast, each of whom was able to bounce off each other in an entertaining way and ensure that Frasier reached the same level of success as Cheers had before it.
Had there not been that level of balance in the cast, Frasier might well have seemed far to one note, and the characters that appeared would have had very little impression on viewers. As it was, the series creators were able to create just the right level of conflict and comic mismatches to make the characters feel both real, and engaging. With John Mahoney having sadly ed, this cast won’t be returning with the planned series reboot that’s been announced, but the series writers will certainly be keen to replicate this strong mix of characters for the new series.