In what must be a major slap in the face to Kelsey Grammer and the creators behind Hank, ABC is pre-empting the show on October 28th with the Halloween classic It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. Wait, it gets worse. It's pre-empting the show with a repeat of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown from the night before. Granted, the previous night will be the expanded, hour-long version, but still...Admittedly, opinions of Hank haven't exactly been stellar. Quite the opposite, in fact. While the show has not actually been canceled, it does not seem long for this world. Its only consolation is that it lasted longer than The Beautiful Life.
Kelsey Grammer will never be able to get away from Frasier Crane, much like Carroll O'Connor was never able to get away from Archie Bunker. It's a shame since Grammer is a better actor than that.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-17-2009 @ 1:42PM
bruce said...
If I were Grammer, I'd just go do a "The Sideshow Bob Show" Simpsons spin-off. It makes a lot more sense than "The Cleveland Show" and would get a lot more viewers than TCS (which I think is the worst thing to have the MacFarlane name on it - I love FG and AD but Cleveland Show just doesn't work for me for reasons I've set forth in other posts on here).
The only time Grammer has been able to succeed in a TV role other than Frasier is with Sideshow Bob - granted it's a cartoon but his voice work on it was stellar. Sideshow Bob is a great character and as far as I can recall, there have been no Simpsons spin-offs. I'd watch The Sideshow Bob Show. The name even has a nice ring to it.
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10-17-2009 @ 2:19PM
dan said...
As for Mr. O'Connor.... I seem to recall him being excellent in the "In the Heat of the Night" series....
At first, I would see "Archie Bunker", but honestly he was such an excellent actor, he totally broke that mold. All I saw was the southern cop after the first few episodes.
I suppose Grammar could too break the mold in the same way by playing a character witha different accent in a totally different spectrum of life... as Carroll O"Connor did with Heat of the NIght.
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10-18-2009 @ 2:11AM
Yolanda said...
Thanks for mentioning "In The Heat of the Night," which was an excellent drama and O'Connor (Along with Howard E. Rollins Jr.) was dynamic as Gillipsie. He also won an Emmy for his performance.
I think that his performance as Fraiser may have typecast him, but with the right vehicle, I think he can break away from it. It just takes time.
10-17-2009 @ 2:47PM
hotboudain said...
I think Grammar suffers from T.M.M. (too much money)
He's made so much from Cheers & Frasier that he seems to be unwilling or uninterested in straying too far from his comfort zone. Hank's not the worst show I've ever seen, but it's nothing I'll miss when it's gone either.
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10-17-2009 @ 3:11PM
Pingles said...
I'm not sure that's fair.
Chances are good that he is being given choices like this:
"Hey, I have a sitcom where you play the same character you've always played and I'll pay you $8 million a year!"
vs.
"We have a new show and would like you to play this supporting character that is a departure for you and we can pay you $250,000 a year!"
I'd like to think that I would choose my "craft" over a payday but it would be tough to pass on the big bucks.
10-17-2009 @ 3:17PM
windem said...
That's what I need to do - try another accent; yeah, that's it.
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10-17-2009 @ 3:14PM
Joe Siegler said...
Hank isn't nearly as bad as it's being said it is. Now I'm not claiming it's all that great. Back to You was better than Hank. But I have gotten some chuckles out of Hank.
The Ice Cream shop episode was actually pretty good.
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10-18-2009 @ 8:44AM
chris said...
@Joe Siegler
Seriously? Sigh..This show is cringe worthy in its awfulness. Next I guess you'll be saying that that Brothers isn't that bad either?
10-17-2009 @ 4:08PM
Edward said...
Maybe Grammer should give sitcoms a rest. Most sitcoms haven't been doing well lately anyways.
I would love to see him reprise his cameo role from Star Trek: TNG as Captain Bateson as the new Star Trek series...with Ron Moore producing it!
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10-17-2009 @ 6:09PM
Jeff N. said...
Yes, I think Kelsey Grammar should do dramas only for awhile to put distance between him and the Frasier Crane Character.
10-17-2009 @ 5:26PM
Owloo said...
ha ha I loves it, I will definitely watch Charlie Brown finaly something good in that timeslot ;)
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10-17-2009 @ 5:29PM
Owloo said...
I don't know, when I watched Carroll O'Connor as Chief Gillepsie on in the heat of the night, I really never thought hey its Archie.
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10-17-2009 @ 5:43PM
hotboudain said...
Especially when he started getting busy with a black woman...
10-18-2009 @ 9:08PM
Brian said...
Replace this thing with Better off Ted......
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10-19-2009 @ 12:47PM
Gina said...
Does this mean Zoe will come back to Eureka?
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10-19-2009 @ 12:55PM
Jimmy said...
Letterman had a great line a week or two ago. I don't recall the set-up, but the punchline was about being able to observe subtle differences in characters played by Kelsey Grammer.
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10-28-2009 @ 6:44PM
Marc said...
Kelsey Grammer is a victim of his own success. Frasier was such a great character and show and he has been typecast as such. People can't seeem to see him as anything else.
He hasn't done himself any favours as he is basically playing variations of the same character over again. In "Hank" and his previous effort "Back To You" he plays basically upper class stuck up guys.
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