After 11 seasons, ‘Frasier’ signing off on NBC

The cast and producers of NBC’s long-running, comedy hit “Frasier” formally announced that the show will conclude this May after an 11-season run.

Although one executive producer said he hopes the still-unwritten final episode will be “stylish, classy and a little on the quiet side,” he also took shots at how the network is treating “Frasier’s” ending.

David Lee, one of “Frasier’s” creators, told a group of reporters on the Paramount lot where the show is taped that he and others feel slighted by the attention NBC is focusing on its other exiting sitcom hit, “Friends.” He singled out network promo ads referring to “Friends” as the best television show ever.

“I’m not happy with the lack of respect from the network,” Lee said. “The show has won more Emmys than any other show. This is a delicate area, but ... are these the promos for a comedy? They’re more like the promos for a soap opera.”

The show’s star Kelsey Grammer, who has played the role for 20 years, starting on “Cheers,” took a more conciliatory approach. “Friends,” he said Monday, has been “a juggernaut and ‘Frasier’ was shuffled off in recent years. And that’s just the way it is in television.... We’ve been paid well and got to work on a show we all loved for a long time. Just because [NBC] didn’t run a promo on Friday doesn’t change any of that.”

“Our love and respect for ‘Frasier’ has never wavered,” said NBC Entertainment President Jeff Zucker at Monday’s luncheon. “In recent years, it’s been difficult for it to be an island unto itself on Tuesdays. ‘Friends’ is the most popular comedy on television and nothing has come close to it, but now that we know the end of ‘Frasier’ is upon us, that will be reflected in promos as well.”

There had been some talk of keeping the show going for a 12th season but in December the network decided to call it quits.

“We all feel there’s life left in these characters,” noted Christopher Lloyd, another of “Frasier’s” executive producers and creators. “But that’s what you want to feel at the end. You want the audience to say ‘It’s so sad to see them go, but we’ve seen enough of these guys.’ ”

“Frasier” had lost popularity, but remained a mainstay on Tuesday nights for NBC, averaging 11.1 million viewers a week.

NBC was paying Paramount, the show’s producers, an estimated $5.2 million per show.

Grammer this season ties James Arness of “Gunsmoke” for the longest stretch an actor has played a single character in prime time. The actor said what he loves most about his character is that Frasier Crane “loves wholly, fully, quickly and impulsively and that’s what makes him charming. He’s an optimist still looking for love.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.