Admittedly, I never really gave this show much of a chance when I was growing up and only decided to after hearing about it being revived for streaming as I wanted to compare them.
This one is much better than the new one but I also now consider it on par with Friends and Seinfeld of that era. In particular, the clever dialogue and word play is on another level and they were creative with comedic scenarios, though not to the level of Seinfeld.
The characters and actors who played them were also fantastic. I also like that it's set in a city besides NYC and LA (as well as Chicago and Miami). Too many TV shows are set in the same few cities while the US has so many. Each of the main sets were also very appealing, something I think is important for a sitcom but people don't think about it.
As for why an 8 and not a 9 or 10, I rarely give out 10s and also rated Friends and Seinfeld as 8. What brought it down most for me, and similar for those shows, especially Friends, was the drop in quality in seasons 8 onward. 8 was particularly bad but from that point on, Frasier and Niles are like absurd caricatures and don't seem realistic at all, especially Frasier. Seasons 3 to 7 are the best, followed by 2, 1, 11, 10, 9, 8.
The new series is barely similar to this one. Different city, different characters, only his son is a regular from the original (though played by a different actor). No Niles, Daphne, or Martin (but the actor who played him passed away a few years ago). That said, I think it's still decent, especially after the first few episodes that were pretty rough. My score has nothing to do with the new series though as there is a separate IMDB entry for it.
Trivia fact: The actor who plays Martin, John Mahoney, was English, moved to the US at 18 and said he worked on permanently changing his accent to fit in. Similarly, the actor playing Frasier's son Freddy in the new series is an English actor, except he just changed his accent for the show. I would not have been able to tell either were originally from the UK had I not read about it.
This one is much better than the new one but I also now consider it on par with Friends and Seinfeld of that era. In particular, the clever dialogue and word play is on another level and they were creative with comedic scenarios, though not to the level of Seinfeld.
The characters and actors who played them were also fantastic. I also like that it's set in a city besides NYC and LA (as well as Chicago and Miami). Too many TV shows are set in the same few cities while the US has so many. Each of the main sets were also very appealing, something I think is important for a sitcom but people don't think about it.
As for why an 8 and not a 9 or 10, I rarely give out 10s and also rated Friends and Seinfeld as 8. What brought it down most for me, and similar for those shows, especially Friends, was the drop in quality in seasons 8 onward. 8 was particularly bad but from that point on, Frasier and Niles are like absurd caricatures and don't seem realistic at all, especially Frasier. Seasons 3 to 7 are the best, followed by 2, 1, 11, 10, 9, 8.
The new series is barely similar to this one. Different city, different characters, only his son is a regular from the original (though played by a different actor). No Niles, Daphne, or Martin (but the actor who played him passed away a few years ago). That said, I think it's still decent, especially after the first few episodes that were pretty rough. My score has nothing to do with the new series though as there is a separate IMDB entry for it.
Trivia fact: The actor who plays Martin, John Mahoney, was English, moved to the US at 18 and said he worked on permanently changing his accent to fit in. Similarly, the actor playing Frasier's son Freddy in the new series is an English actor, except he just changed his accent for the show. I would not have been able to tell either were originally from the UK had I not read about it.