Frasier 'faces the axe'

Frasier has been struggling with poor ratings

Frasier, the award-winning United States sitcom, could be scrapped because of spiralling production costs and a dip in ratings, according to a report.

The comedy, which started in 1993, had been one of NBC's biggest hits of the last decade, winning 21 Emmys and two Golden Globes.

Frasier has taken 21 Emmy awards, including five best comedy awards

But it may not return after the current production deal expires at the end of its 11th season in May 2004, US magazine Variety reports.

One of the show's stars, Jane Leeves, told the BBC's Liquid News: "We do have an end in sight now - next year.

"We're in year 10 now and we all signed on for year 11. We want to stop while it's still great, while people still want to see it."

Frasier producers pay seven-figure wages to the show's two stars, Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce, who plays his brother Niles.

It also has other production costs of $3.2m (£2m) per episode.

But the current series has suffered disappointing ratings in the US.

The show stars Grammer as fastidious psychiatrist Frasier Crane who lives with his cantankerous, blue-collar father Martin in Seattle.

New direction

The report of its impending demise comes after confirmation that the network's other long-running comedy, Friends, will also bite the dust next year.

Frasier grew out of the comedy Cheers, in which Grammer had starred as Frasier Crane since 1984.

Frasier broke records by winning the Emmy award for outstanding comedy show five times in a row, contributing to its 21-Emmy haul.

Grammer has said he wants to move to the next stage of his career, producing TV rather than starring in it.

His film career has never taken off, and in 2000 he took on the role of Macbeth in Broadway only for the play to close a week later.