Frasier to end 11-year run

NBC has announced that its five-time Emmy-winning comedy, Frasier, will conclude at the end of its 11th season, according to a spokesperson.

Kelsey Grammer's 20-year run as psychiatrist Frasier Crane – a character introduced during the third season of Cheers – ties James Arness of Gunsmoke for the longest stretch an actor has played a single character in prime time television.

The series won the Emmy for best comedy for five straight years, from 1994 to 1998, and averaged 11.1 million viewers a week. Its eleven season run ties the duration of Cheers, from which Frasier was spun off.

The end of Frasier means that NBC will experience the absence of two comedies that have carried its ratings for the past decade. The final episode of Friends will also air in May.