Relocated, but Not Unseated

It’s been said that no man is an island. But increasingly, it seems, a television show can be.

Such may be the lonely lot of “Frasier,” the Emmy-winning NBC sitcom, which began its eighth season in a new time slot, Tuesdays at 9 p.m.--the program’s fourth relocation during its historic run.

So far this fall, “Frasier” has been the embodiment of what networks refer to as “appointment viewing”--a show that brings people to it at a preordained hour, irrespective of the programs that precede or follow it. Its two broadcasts have averaged25.3 million viewers, more than double the audience for “3rd Rock From the Sun” in the half-hour before it and more than 40% higher than those televised after it.

“Frasier” has also better than double the ratings of time-slot rival “Dharma & Greg,” even though ABC holds a wide viewership advantage from 8 to 9 p.m. with “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”

Such results challenge the perhaps dated notion of audience flow--that is, viewers staying trained to one network throughout the evening. Yet, the truth is, being surrounded by unappealing fare can take its toll on even a proven hit--a thought that hasn’t been lost on the “Frasier” cast.

“The only thing we can actually think about, because it’s the only thing we can control, is the quality of the show we’re doing,” said star and producer Kelsey Grammer, flanked by co-stars David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney and Jane Leeves after running through an upcoming episode in the show’s Paramount sound stage.

“As it turns out, you can strand us in the desert of whatever night you wanted to and at least some people, the people who think our show is worth a look, would be there, they’ll find it. They’ve proven that to us now, and I’m grateful to them.”

Beginning tonight, “Frasier” gets a new companion as “Dag,” a sitcom starring David Alan Grier, premieres at 9:30 p.m., with “The Michael Richards Show” and “3rd Rock” still leading off the night.

Before the season opened--when NBC had the already canceled new sitcom “Tucker” penciled in Tuesdays instead of “3rd Rock”--the assumption was that NBC’s Tuesday lineup would struggle; however, “Frasier” has more than held its own, providing the cast a sense of vindication after losing the 9 p.m. Thursday berth star-producer Grammer enjoyed on “Cheers” before “Frasier” inherited what seemed to be its birthright two seasons ago.

Grammer did little to hide his eagerness to obtain the “Must-See TV” anchor position, nor his frustration last spring when NBC announced plans to move “Will & Grace” and “Just Shoot Me” to Thursdays. So far, “Will” is averaging fewer viewers than “Frasier,” but the third-year show is performing well enough among the youthful demographics advertisers covet to help NBC justify a decision the network has characterized as building for its future.

Relaxing in shorts near the set, Grammer ascribes his own motives to NBC’s move--among them the fact “Will & Grace” is produced by the network, which stands to make a fortune off selling the reruns to TV stations.

Grammer conceded that he feared the latest shift might cause a precipitous audience decline that could lead to “Frasier’s” untimely demise. “I was very upset about that,” he said.

Based on the initial ratings, Grammer expressed cautious optimism regarding the way the switch appears to be working out. Yet, while it breathes a sign of relief, the cast still feels somewhat betrayed by being sent packing again after all the scrutiny that surrounded the move to Thursdays, filling “Seinfeld’s” sizable shoes.

“My big disappointment in the move to Tuesday night was that, in the seventh or eighth season, most shows do start to drop off in quality, the audience starts to drop off in interest, and that could easily have happened to us,” Pierce said. “It didn’t, and how nice it would have been for the network to believe in the show enough” to leave it on Thursday nights.

In addition, worries persist that struggles for the programs surrounding “Frasier” could gradually sap some of its strength. As Leeves put it, part of Thursday night’s power has always been that there were at least two or three shows people made a point of seeing.

“If there’s only one thing they want to watch, they may go out. You never know,” she said.

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While most long-running shows have experienced some cast defections by this stage in their life cycle, the “Frasier” quartet remains in place--fully understanding, they say, that the sort of material they are presented each week is not readily available in other media, including film and theater.

“It’s not only so much fun, but it’s also such an honor,” Mahoney said. “I truly feel since we’ve been on the air, there hasn’t been a half-hour to match us.”

Added Pierce, “We know how good we have it, both in terms of the people we work with and the stuff we get to work on.”

Indeed, Grammer contends that “Frasier’s” enduring popularity is directly attributable to the dearth of top-notch comedy elsewhere in prime time. A sea of largely forgettable sitcoms, he suggested, has kept viewers coming back to “Frasier.”

“The quality of the newer shows that are going on is so blindingly beneath what sitcoms can and should be that our stock has been raised,” he said. “It’s much more clear to everyone that watches television that this is an extraordinary show, and so many of the others aren’t.”

So far this season, the plot has largely centered on the aftermath of Niles (Pierce) and Daphne (Leeves) professing their love for each other, and the consequences of that mutual admission. Any bedroom scenes, however, have been postponed until a seven-months pregnant Leeves gives birth, which has added a certain degree of difficulty to the production.

“We’re doing ‘The Muppet Show,’ ” Pierce quipped of the camera angles employed to hide Leeves’ figure.

Already the only program--comedy or drama--to win the Emmy for best series five times, “Frasier” is the fifth-most honored series ever and, with a just a handful of additional statuettes, would match the 29 Emmys amassed by “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.”

If Grammer has his way, there will be time to do so. He reiterated his goal of seeing the show run at least 11 seasons, matching the duration of “Cheers.” “I always thought, the day we started the show, it should be the same run as ‘Cheers,’ ” he said.

It’s also his preference, having apparently survived the latest scheduling change, for the show to finish out its life span--however long that may be--right where it is on Tuesday nights. Whether the network obliges, the cast and audience seem to agree “Frasier” has plenty of life left in it.

“The only time we’ll say goodbye is when it’s no longer fun, or if the shows aren’t good anymore,” Grammer said. “And we’re not there yet.”

“Or,” added Pierce, “they change the locks on our dressing rooms.”

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* “Frasier” airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. The network has rated tonight’s episode TV-PG (may be unsuitable for young children).