I was never the biggest fan of Cheers, but when it eventually ended and the word went out that there was to be a spinoff series, like most people I expected it to be about Sam and/or Diane, maybe Norm. Hell, even Cliff could pull that off! But when I heard it was to be the quiet, occasional character of psychiatrist and sometime husband of Diane, Frasier Crane, who was to get his own series, well, I scoffed. I did. I scoffed and then I scoffed some more. Nothing quite as ludicrous perhaps as Family Guy's Cleveland getting his own show decades later, but it was to me a strange decision.
Shows what I know! After thirty-seven Emmy Awards during its eleven year run, Frasier has become one of the "50 greatest TV shows ever" as listed by TV Guide, and is on record as being the most successful spin-off comedy ever in the history of television. Already a minor star, the show made a household name and superstar out of its title actor, Kelsey Grammer, and his supporting cast in the show, most notably his father, played by John Mahoney and his brother, played by David Hyde Pierce. Frasier would later semi-reprise his role on The Simpsons as evil criminal mastermind Sideshow Bob, with his fellow actor appearing in one episode as ... his brother.
Many people don't "get" Frasier, and while I can understand this from one point of view, it makes no sense from another. Certainly a more highbrow comedy show, Frasier eschews (you can tell it's highbrow when I'm using words like "eschews", can't you?), in general, the pratfalls, bad language, sex and zany situations that characterise many other comedies, though at times it does descend into basic French farce. Frasier was always more concerned with the relationship between its characters --- that of Frasier with his father, Niles, his brother with their live-in nurse Daphne, and, er, Martin's relationship with Eddie, his dog. It was in many ways a gentle comedy: nothing too abrasive or acerbic about it, but not on the lines of British shows like Last of the Summer Wine or Open All Hours. Really, in terms of "gentle comedy", it didn't really have any peers other than its parent show, as usually American comedy seems to be more concerned with a more direct, in-your-face kind of thing, though maybe the likes of Roseanne? But I digress.
Frasier tackled a lot of society's problems: he was, after all, a psychiatrist and also a radio show host, and many of these ended up hitting close to home for the characters, as they realised that their own problems mirrored those of the ones they were trying to give advice to.
A lynchpin of the earlier seasons is Niles's pursuit of Daphne, a courtship that began awkwardly and continued for seasons, until he finally managed to marry her. But unlike many shows where where the will-they-won't-they is resolved things go downhill, Frasier the show never really lost that spark and right up to the end there was a chemistry between the characters. Truth to tell, and not unpredictably, Niles was to find that marriage to his "goddess", once the only thing occupying his waking, or sleeping, mind, was in reality not always as heavenly as he would have expected it to be.
So, then, the characters, which really didn't change much if at all from season to season:
Frasier Crane, played by Kelsey Grammer.
A psychiatrist coming off the back of a bad marriage, Frasier leaves Boston (where Cheers was set) and comes to Seattle, where he decides that instead of setting up private practice he will do what he can to help people by hosting a radio talk show in which the callers can phone in and he will give them advice and try to help them. Of course, it doesn't always work out how he had intended.
Martin Crane, played by John Mahoney.
When Frasier moves to Seattle his father is living alone, having been shot in the leg and had to retire from the police force, but his other son Niles is concerned that he cannot look after himself, so after some to-ing and fro-ing Martin comes to live with Frasier. The first season is replete with their attempts to make the best of a bad thing and try to live with each other in as much harmony as possible, which in the early stages is, well, not much.
Niles Crane, played by David Hyde Pierce
Niles is Frasier's younger brother, and fastidious to a fault, almost neurotic in fact. He will automatically brush a chair before he sits in it, if it's in a public place, has very strict guidelines about what he can eat (he's allergic to much) and a habit of falling for domineering women, most of whom end up trying to ruin him. His life gets even more complicated the day he comes over to see the woman his brother has hired to look after their father, live-in British nurse Daphne, and falls immediately in love with her.
Daphne Moon, played by Jane Leeves
Originally from Manchester, Daphne brings the "zany humour of the British" --- huh? Shows how much the writers knew about the Brits! --- to the show, when she is hired to look after Martin, and almost instantly becomes the love interest and romantic goal of Frasier's brother, Niles. Daphne of course, as you might expect with two men in the apartment --- neither of which get totally on with the other --- becomes a sort of mother figure, knocking heads together when they need to be knocked, and consoling and sympathising when that is what is required.
Roz Doyle, played by Peri Gilpin.
Almost diametrically opposed in temperament to Daphne, Roz is an outgoing, carefree manhunter who is employed by the station as Frasier's producer on his show, but the two soon become fast friends. However, the worlds they live in are so far apart that the one becomes a great foil for the other, Roz usually serving to show Frasier how pompous he appears to outsiders. She forms a loose alliance with Martin, as Frasier's father is nothing like him and he takes to her immediately. While Frasier drinks only the finest sherries, Martin prefers a beer, and when his two sons order fancy coffees like lattes and cappuccinos with silly names in their favourite coffee house, Martin is fond of reminding people "I'm a regular Joe and I like my Joe regular!"
There are other characters who are introduced later, some of whom remain through seasons, some of whom don't. As with my other writeups I will introduce these as they come into the storylines.
Although Frasier is, or can be seen as, a highbrow comedy for the intelligentsia, it is not above poking fun at such elitist ideals. Frasier's innate pomposity and arrogance are more often than not punctured by a wry remark from Daphne or a sharp look from Roz, or indeed something Martin remarks when he remembers what they were like as children. Even Eddie, the dog who initially starts off as, and mostly remains, the bane of Frasier's life and a constant stain on his expensive carpets and furnishings, can bring the snobby shrink down to earth.
Whenever in the company of anyone of "quality" or learning, Frasier will always make sure to shoehorn in a reference to his education at Harvard, and despite being very well off indeed, he will not baulk at haggling over the price of things, often to a quite ridiculous level. He could talk about himself for hours, and often his perceived superiority will land him in trouble with, you guessed it, hilarious results.
Frasier ran for eleven years and eleven seasons, from 1993 to 2004, and when the final episode was screened Kelsey Grammer reached the momentous milestone of becoming the longest-running character on primetime TV, and was also at one point the highest paid actor on American television. Not bad for a bit-part actor in a comedy show!
1.1 "The good son"
Having left behind his life in Boston, along with a failed marriage and a son he hardly gets to see, Frasier Crane moves to Seattle to try to start afresh. Unwilling to replicate his old pattern though, he resists setting up in private practice in the new city and instead opts to be the "phone-in" psychiatrist on a radio station. The series opens with his relating the circumstances which led to his move. He then meets his brother Niles for coffee. Niles, if this is possible, makes Frasier seem almost bearable. He's superior and condescending, and yet we will grow to love him as the series progresses. He's also quite fastidious, almost to the point of being neurotic about cleanliness. Here we see him dusting down a chair with his handkerchief before he will deign to sit in it.
Niles has come to meet Frasier to tell him about their father, a retired cop who he worries should not be living on his own. He has had another fall, and Niles has made arrangements for him to be moved into a convalescent home. Frasier of course will not hear of it and so is manipulated into allowing him to move into his new apartment. There's a great scene just before the father arrives where Frasier is playing his piano. He hears the doorbell, stops playing, closes the lid of the piano, trudges to the door like a boy dragging his feet, takes one last, despairing look back at his apartment, knowing it will never be the same for him again, and opens the door.
Things don't exactly go swimmingly. Though Frasier pretends he wants his father there Martin knows he is not welcome, and is embarrassed that it has been decided that he cannot be trusted to be left alone. He brightens up however when his favourite chair, which he has had brought over from his apartment, arrives. Frasier is aghast: the thing is a nasty, split-pea green monstrosity that clashes with everything he owns. Martin however counters this argument by reminding his son that he has just this moment been talking about the "eclectic" nature of his own furnishings, none of which match each other, so he can't complain about Martin's favourite recliner.
But worse is to come. As Niles makes a hasty exit he throws out a bombshell, asking his father if he has mentioned Eddie yet? Frasier almost collapses. Not Eddie! Dear god no, not Eddie! Please! Turns out Eddie is Martin's little Jack Russell, this being the final straw for Frasier, who meets Niles a week later and tells him it is not working out. They're going to have to go with Plan B, and organise a place for their father in that nursing home Niles was talking about. They're still not happy about it though, and Niles suggests hiring a homecare worker.
Again, things do not go well. Martin is not happy with any of the applicants, until finally Daphne Moon, an English girl, comes to the apartment and he instantly warms to her, mostly it would seem due to her cheeky disrespect of Frasier and his furniture. She also takes a liking to Eddie, and Martin hires her on the spot. However there is a problem. She seems to have misunderstood the job; she thinks it's a live-in position whereas Frasier points out it's only part-time. Martin says he'd be happy for her to move in but Frasier isn't having it. This leads to a knock-down row as Frasier goes on about how much he's given up and sacrificed in taking his father in, while Martin is annoyed to see that he's being considered a burden, a responsibility. Frasier stalks out, and Martin goes to feed Eddie. The atmosphere is thick with resentment.
Later, Martin unexpectedly phones in, saying he has a problem with his son. In a roundabout way he manages to apologise while also making Frasier realise that he too needs to cut his dad some slack.
QUOTES
Yes, every line in Frasier is quotable, but here I'll try to restrict myself to those that are really funny, or which reveal something about the character of those who speak them, or those they are spoken about.
Frasier: "I miss Frederick like the dickens of course. You know he's quite the little sportsman: plays goalie in the pee-wee soccer team. Chip off the old block."
Niles: "You hated sports."
Frasier: "So does he!"
Niles: "We would be willing to help you pay for a homecare worker."
Frasier: "A what?"
Niles: "You know: someone who cooks and cleans, and can help dad with his therapy."
Frasier: "These angels exist?"
The dry wit of Roz
If one person keeps Frasier grounded, then three do, but at work it's Roz Doyle, the straight-talking, no-nonsense producer who sees him as an overbearing, pretentious windbag (turns out she has good instincts) and who misses no opportunity to deflate him with a cutting remark. Here I'll be looking at some of these.
Frasier (in full flight as he gives advice to a caller): "Well I think we lost him."
Roz: "No, we cut to news thirty seconds ago!"
Frasier: "How did I do?"
Roz: "Well let's see. You dropped two commercials, left twenty eight seconds of dead air, scrambled the station's call letters, you spilled yogurt on the control board, and kept referring to Jerry, who had the identity crisis, as Jeff!"
Lupe Valez: To cheer Frasier up, Roz tells him the story of Lupe Valez, a movie star in the thirties who was determined to go out on a high. Her career having hit the slide, she decided to kill herself and leave a beautiful corpse. Unfortunately she failed in her initial attempt, vomited up the pills, slipped and hit her head on the toilet, killing herself and being found the next day with her head down the pan.
THANKS FOR CALLING
From the beginning, Frasier featured many guest stars who would voice callers on his show, Here I'll be pointing these out as they occur.
Claire is voiced by Linda Hamilton, of "Terminator" fame
Russell is voiced by Griffin Dunne
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