Not to pay a gourmet food bill or finance a status car, but because the snobby shrink believes he's worth it. And if NBC doesn't think so, then he and his cohorts on Frasier may find more generous friends elsewhere.
In other words, negotiations are underway between NBC and Frasier's production company, Paramount Television, for renewal of the long-running sitcom starring Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Frasier Crane.
Both The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times report Paramount wants $8 million per half-hour episode of the Emmy-winning Cheers spinoff, now in its eighth season. That would be a record sum for a sitcom. So far NBC has offered less than $5 million--a cut from what it has been paying.
NBC's rights to the show expire in September 2001. The Peacock net could have reached agreement with Paramount last spring but instead alienated the Frasier team by bumping the show from the "Must-See" Thursday night lineup in favor of NBC's inhouse production, Will & Grace. Matters are reportedly at an impasse, and NBC's hopes of concluding any favorable deal before the official 30-day negotiation period begins February 1 may be unlikely.
A network rep says the two companies are in negotiations, but had no further comment.
There are several factors fueling speculation that Frasier is courting rival networks, such as CBS, or even ABC. The cast and crew are still miffed about being shuffled over to Tuesday nights this season. Grammer was spotted dining out with top CBS honchos, Leslie Moonves and Nancy Tellem. The trend towards network ownership of shows is a vital part of current business practices. Although Frasier's move to 9 p.m. Tuesdays has been a success, the show's creative team felt slighted when dumped from the prestigious Thursday roster. But Frasier has continued to do well (it's the highest rated Tuesday night show on any network) and has garnered negotiation ammunition, outsmarting NBC's apparent hope that a drop in audience would make renewing the series cheaper.
"They didn't believe in the long-term viability of the show. We will make an effort to keep the show where it is. But if we have to do it, we think the viewers will travel with us. They followed us back to Tuesdays, and it's not too much to expect that they will follow the show to another network," one Paramount executive tells the Los Angeles Times.
Although sources say Grammer's tête-à-tête with Eye executives was merely to discuss projects being developed by the star's own Grammnet Productions, it is highly unlikely the Frasier renewal situation didn't slip into the conversation.
And Paramount is owned by Viacom, as is CBS, and Viacom could maneuver to put Frasier on its own network. Because NBC is the one major network not owned by a major studio, it has had to shell out huge fees to other companies to renew hit shows--for example, NBC paid Warner Bros. a record $13 million per episode to keep ER (after a price war boosted by CBS's apparent interest in the hit series) and the network also ponied up $6 million per episode to Warners to keep Friends (which is the record for a sitcom). NBC is apparently leery about paying another huge sum.
Of course, the network might not have a choice. With most of this season's shows crash landing, NBC may have to swallow its pride and pay up big to retain Frasier so it can promote next season's crop of programs around the dotty doctor's established name.