How Frasier Got So Rich In The Revival

Contains spoilers for "Frasier" Season 1, Episode 2 – "Moving In"

Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) has always been well off, but the original "Frasier" series portrayed him as somewhat less wealthy than, say, his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce). The Paramount+ "Frasier" revival shows the good doctor moving back to Boston, and it soon becomes apparent that unless Niles — who doesn't appear here — has won the lottery in the intervening years, the older Crane brother is now likely to be the wealthier one. 

Don't let his newfound fondness for business casual fool you — Frasier is one rich sitcom protagonist. If the revelation that he's able to comfortably walk away from a TV show host job doesn't tip you off, the fact that he almost casually purchases an entire apartment building to stay close to his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) certainly indicates a considerable net worth.

So, how does a former radio show host suddenly have enough money to buy expensive real estate like he's playing a real-world Monopoly game? Episode 2 provides a clear clue about the source of these riches, courtesy of Freddy's firefighter buddies. The way these characters immediately recognize Frasier and treat him like a rock star is a pretty clear indication that his show-within-a-show was an extremely popular one ... and not just on some small-time local network, either, since this happens in Boston and he filmed his show in Chicago. Dr. Frasier Crane, in other words, is a national — or possibly even international — celebrity who's rolling deep in TV money.

Now we know that Frasier is rich. But how rich is he, exactly? 

One of the untold truths of "Frasier" is the way the character's wealth is more or less taken for granted. However, writer and executive producer Joe Keenan has shed information on the character's finances in an interview with Metro. "We think Frasier made a lot of money in private practice in Boston, and he had investments," he said. "What we imagined to be the salary of a local radio personality was perhaps a little bit inflated."

So, apart from his old radio salary, Frasier had a nice nest egg from his "Cheers" era and is a decent investor on top of it all. During his offscreen years in Chicago, he has a TV show for several years — potentially close to two decades, assuming he starts the gig soon after the first "Frasier" ends. Along with his popularity among the firefighters, this indicates that his fame and financial situation must have improved tremendously over time. While the fact that not everyone knows who he is proves that he's not an Oprah Winfrey-level household name, he should still have made daytime talk show host money at the very least. 

Of course, Frasier has done more than TV over the years. The first two episodes reveal that he's also written books, and whatever else he's been up to, it doesn't just enthrall the firefighter segment. An Ivy League university is also completely willing to fight to hire him. Oh, and assuming he's still a decent investor, he may have been able to further increase the considerable cash flow from the show, the books, and whatever other fame-empowered side hustles he's had going on over the years.

Combine all this, and ... well, you still wouldn't have a precise idea of his wealth, per se. Future episodes of the "Frasier" revival may very well reveal more on the subject, but with potentially close to two decades of lucrative TV fame under his belt, it wouldn't be impossible to think that Frasier's current net worth could be somewhere near Kelsey Grammer's real-life guesstimate of $80 million (via Celebrity Net Worth). That would definitely be the kind of fortune that'd allow for a whole Boston apartment building as an impulse purchase.

New episodes of "Frasier" premiere every Thursday on Paramount+.