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Frasier

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Frasier
Image:Frasier Logo.JPG
Frasier title screen

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Genre Sitcom
Running time 24 minutes
Creator(s) David Angell
Peter Casey
David Lee
Starring Kelsey Grammer
David Hyde Pierce
John Mahoney
Jane Leeves
Peri Gilpin
Country of origin Image:Flag of the United States.svg United States
Original channel NBC
Original run September 16, 1993–May 13, 2004
No. of episodes 265
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

A highly successful spin-off of the the television show Cheers, Frasier is a situation comedy that aired on NBC for eleven seasons from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The show was critically acclaimed and won a record 39 Emmy Awards during its run.

The series starred Kelsey Grammer, reprising his character of Dr. Frasier Crane, alongside actors David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney, Jane Leeves, and Peri Gilpin.

Contents

[edit] Creators

The show was created by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee. It was produced by Angell, Casey and Lee (Grub Street Productions) in association with Paramount Television. Angell, Casey and Lee had also written and produced Cheers and created Wings.

[edit] Cast

The main cast of Frasier (from left to right) David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin, Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, John Mahoney and Moose

Regulars:

Recurring guest stars (see Minor characters on Frasier)

Niles' wife Maris is a recurring character who is never seen. The fact that she is never seen becomes something of a running gag on the show.

[edit] Storyline

Dr. Frasier Crane is a psychiatrist who hosts a radio talk show in Seattle on KACL 780AM (named to honor the show's creators: Angell, Casey, Lee and with K being the default for stations west of the Mississippi). His friend and producer is Roz Doyle. Their colleagues include sports show host Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe, eccentric food critic Gil Chesterton and "geek" Noel Shempsky.

Frasier's father, retired police officer Martin Crane, comes to live with him after he was shot in the line of duty when he interrupted a robbery in progress. Martin is looked after by his Mancunian health care worker, Daphne Moon, who becomes the love interest of Frasier's brother Niles Crane, also a psychiatrist, who is as stuffy and pompous as Frasier (possibly more so). Niles' love for Daphne is a theme for many episodes of the show.

Niles and Frasier Crane are very much alike, having the same job, social standing, and similar personality traits.

Completing the lineup is Martin's dog Eddie (a Jack Russell Terrier) who responds with alacrity to the other characters but stares uncomprehendingly at Frasier. When not hosting his radio program, Frasier drinks coffee at the Cafe Nervosa, supposedly located on Pike and Third. The Nervosa, as the characters call it, is a central part of the show; it is featured in almost every episode. It is often where an episode begins, or where important plot events take place. The outside of Cafe Nervosa is shown in only a few episodes, including the season finale of the first season, My Coffee with Niles.

Much of the humor is derived from Frasier's search for romance. Social class conflict is also featured throughout the series, particularly with nouveau riche Frasier and Niles and their blue-collar, ex-cop father. The sibling rivalry with his brother; the pomposity and vanity of Frasier as a celebrity, intellectual and patron of the local Seattle arts scene; and various misunderstandings between the characters that, frequently, escalate into absurd crises.

[edit] Records

  • The series won 39 Emmys during its 11 year run, which is more than any other primetime show; Grammer and Pierce each won four, including one each for the final season. The series holds the record as of 2004 for the most consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series, winning five from 1994 to 1998.
  • Grammer played Frasier for twenty years, tying the James Arness portrayal of Marshall Matt Dillon on Gunsmoke in terms of character longevity in primetime American television. The record for all of television is held by Helen Wagner, for her portrayal of matriarch Nancy Hughes on the soap opera As the World Turns. Ms. Wagner has been playing the role since the show's first episode in 1956.
  • Grammer was briefly the highest-paid TV star in history, reaching a salary of $1.6 million per episode for the last two seasons; his record was surpassed by Ray Romano within a year.

[edit] Critical reaction

In a retrospective review in The Radio Times Guide to Television Comedy, Mark Lewisohn called the show a "comedy masterpiece", noting the following:<ref>Frasier from the BBC Guide to Comedy</ref>

  • From just three studio-bound locations - Frasier's fine apartment 1901 in Elliott Bay Towers, with its panoramic view of Seattle; the KACL studio; and the perfectly named Café Nervosa, where Frasier, Niles and the others meet for coffee - truly great comedy was wrought.
  • [T]he producers remained determined to keep Frasier adult and sophisticated: the scripts were literate, the plots tight and the one-liners extremely funny and incisive. The writers were never afraid to use classical references in the lines or make jokes about subjects that many of the viewers wouldn't have experienced.

[edit] Episodes

Main article: List of Frasier episodes

[edit] The series finale

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On May 13, 2004, the series finale of Frasier aired. It was watched by 25.2 million viewers.[citation needed]

Several circumstances led to the decision to end the series:[citation needed]

  • The high cost, which amounted to $75 million for the last season;
  • The series had matched Cheers in number of seasons, a goal Grammer had for the show
  • The changing broadcast time of the show. It was moved several times, and had to compete against very popular shows like American Idol and 24.

Special guest stars in the series finale included Wendie Malick, Aaron Eckhart, Anthony LaPaglia, Robbie Coltrane, Richard E. Grant, Laura Linney, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Beals, and Michael Perusse. Many of the show's writers and producers can be seen in the radio station watching Frasier give his last broadcast.

The last show was dedicated to David Angell, one of the creators of Frasier, who, along with his wife, Lynn Angell, died on American Airlines Flight 11, a victim of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001.

[edit] Running Gags

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  • In many earlier episodes, Daphne claims to be psychic, and reveals her "psychic readings" to people. In one episode, she is removed from a celebration of Frasier's 1,000th show for claiming she is an alien and has psychic powers.
  • Also in earlier episodes, Niles' crush on Daphne comes out in many episodes, and by the time he divorces Maris, and begins to court her, everyone already knew about it.
  • Frasier and Niles are constantly subject to social pressures, often striving to become members of everything and anything upscale and exclusive. Many times, this has gotten them into messy situations, including trying to move up "rooms" in an exclusive day spa, or buying and selling caviar to move up the social ladder.
  • Maris, Niles' wife is the show's only unseen character. She is often regarded as being very skinny, weak, and pale. In one episode, Roz asks Niles why he has his arm around a lamp in a photo, to which he responds "That's not a lamp, that's Maris." Maris is also known to be a major victim of social stigma, not unlike Frasier and Niles.
  • Roz is constantly known to have been trampy and sleeping around in her past. Once she messes up an interview at rival station KPXY because of the knowledge she slept with, or so she thought, the interviewer, Woody Wiswell.
  • Frasier and Niles are, in most episodes, known to have completely opposite personalities from their father Martin. This fact is the butt of many, many jokes throughout the show.

[edit] Trivia

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  • In the eighth season of Cheers in the episode "Two Girls for Every Boyd", Frasier tells Sam Malone (Ted Danson) that his father died and that he was a research scientist. In the Season 2 episode The One Where Sam Shows Up when Sam meets Martin he brings up the incongruities since Martin was obviously not dead and he was a retired police officer. Frasier explains it by saying he just had a fight with his father on the phone and he was very angry with him at the time.
  • The casting directors' second choices for the roles of Niles and Martin Crane were Peter MacNicol and Robert Prosky respectively. Prosky had previously played the father of another Cheers regular, Rebecca, on an episode of that show. Prosky appeared in Season 4 as a J.D.Salinger-like writer who strikes up a friendship with Martin.
  • The show is set in Seattle, Washington but only one episode, "The 1000th Show", was filmed there.<ref>TV.com Episode Summary</ref> The remainder was filmed on Stage 25, Paramount Studios, and at various locales in and around Los Angeles.
  • Frasier's first wife, Nanny Gee (a children's show host), was played by two different actresses in two different series; first by Emma Thompson on an episode of Cheers, and later by Laurie Metcalf (Jackie on "Roseanne") on an episode of Frasier.
  • Most of the surviving cast members of Cheers appeared at one time or another, except for Kirstie Alley ("Rebecca Howe"). Alley was alleged to have turned down an appearance because she is a Scientologist (Scientologists reject psychiatry/psychology), but in truth the producers never asked her to appear on the show.
  • The view from Frasier's apartment in Seattle is impossible to achieve; no building or apartment in the city really has that view. It was made like this so that the Space Needle would appear more prominently. According to the season 1 DVD bonus features, the photograph was taken from atop a cliff. Only once has there ever been an exterior shot facing Frasier's apartment building, in the 4th season episode The Impossible Dream.
  • Frasier was voted by sitcom writers, producers and actors as the greatest sitcom of all time in the Channel 4 (UK) show The Ultimate Sitcom, aired on January 2 2006.
  • The actor playing the deliveryman who wheels in Martin's chair in the first episode reprised his role in the final episode, and wheeled Martin's chair out of Frasier's apartment.
  • The radio station callers' lines were done by anonymous voiceover actors while filming the show in front of a live audience. This gave the cast something to react to. During postproduction, the voiceover actors' lines were replaced by celebrities, who literally phoned in their parts without having to come into the studio. The end credits of season finales would show headshots of all the celebrities who had "called in" that season.
  • Although not noticed by the average America viewer, none of Daphne’s relatives (aside her mother), nor her ex-boyfriend have Manchester accents, despite supposing to have come from Manchester, they mostly have Southern English accents (i.e. London), her brother Nigel's accent is Cockney. Daphne herself has a mixture of different Northern English accents in order to portray a stereotypical working class Briton. Coincidentally, John Mahoney actually is Mancunian, while Jane Leeves is from Sussex.[citation needed]
  • The cast (sans Kelsey Grammer) performed a "mock-audition" of Star Trek: Voyager during the Star Trek 30 Years and Beyond primetime special on October 6, 1996 alongside Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway). Even though he did not appear in the skit, Grammer had previously played Captain Morgan Bateson in the episode "Cause and Effect" of Star Trek: The Next Generation. The primetime special was hosted by Ted Danson, who played Sam Malone on Cheers as well as on Frasier.
  • The song that appears during the closing credits is "Tossed salads and scrambled eggs" By Bruce Miller and Daryl Phinessee. Kelsey Grammer is the singer.
  • Throughout the series, Frasier drives a BMW 5-Series and later a 7-Series.
  • Eddie the dog (Moose) received more fan mail than any other cast member in Frasier. He is also reputed to have earned $10,000 per episode.
  • Fraiser's door number, 1901, is the year Freud's "The Psychopathology of Everyday Life" was published.

[edit] DVDs

As of 2006 seasons 1-8 & 11 have been released on Region 1 DVD. Seasons 9 and 10 are due to be out next year.

[edit] DVD Releases

DVD Name Release dates
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
The Complete 1st Season May 20 2003 November 24 2003 January 13 2004
The Complete 2nd Season January 6 2004 June 7 2004 June 3 2004
The Complete 3rd Season May 25 2004 September 6 2004 September 10 2004
The Complete 4th Season February 1 2005 July 18 2005 July 20 2005
The Complete 5th Season June 7 2005 November 27 2006 January 11 2007
The Complete 6th Season September 13 2005 May 7 2007 N/A
The Complete 7th Season November 15 2005 N/A N/A
The Complete 8th Season June 13 2006 N/A N/A
The Complete 9th Season TBA 2007 N/A N/A
The Complete 10th Season TBA 2007 N/A N/A
The Complete 11th Season November 16 2004 N/A N/A

[edit] Season 5 Region 2 & 4 release

It was presumed by many that Paramount will no longer release the show in Region 2 or 4 due to poor sales, and that Paramount also discontinued Cheers in those regions. However, the following website: [1] (in Dutch) states that it is available for preorder and will be released on December 7, 2006. Also, the following page from the British Board of Film Classifications:[2] shows that "The 1000th episode" (an episode from season 5) has been rated PG, and this is fairly conclusive that Season 5 is approaching on Region 2. Furthermore, many British retailers, including Play.com have the season 5 DVD box set available for pre-order and due to be released on November 27 2006[3].

An Australian retailer, EzyDVD, is taking orders for the Region 4 release of Season 5[4] with a release date of January 11 2007.

[edit] DVD Box Art

The Complete First Season
The Complete Second Season
The Complete Third Season
The Complete Fourth Season
The Complete Fifth Season
The Complete Sixth Season
The Complete Seventh Season
The Complete Eighth Season
The Complete Final Season

[edit] Other Merchandise

[edit] VHS

The first four seasons have been released on VHS along with a series of 'Best Of' tapes. These tapes consist of four episodes taken from seasons 1-4. No more video releases have been announced.

Video Name Release date
The Best Of Frasier 1 - From Boston To Seattle TBC 1999
The Best Of Frasier 2 - Crane Vs. Crane TBC 1999
The Best Of Frasier 3 - Serial Dater TBC 1999
The Best Of Frasier 4 - Like Father Like Sons TBC 1999
The Best Of Frasier 5 - Brotherly Love TBC 1999
The Best Of Frasier 6 - Love Is In The Air TBC 1999
The Best Of Frasier Box Set TBC 1999
The Complete 1st Season July 16 2001
The Complete 2nd Season December 3 2001
Season 3 - Part 1 May 6 2002
Season 3 - Part 2 July 1 2002
Season 4 - Part 1 October 14 2002
Season 4 - Part 2 November 18 2002

[edit] CDs

One Frasier CD has been released featuring a number of songs taken from the show.

CD Name Release date
Tossed Salads & Scrambled Eggs TBC

[edit] Books

Several books about Frasier have been released, including the following:

Title Publisher ISBN
The Best Of Frasier Channel 4 Books ISBN 0-7522-1394-6
Cafe Nervosa: The Connoisseur's Cookbook Oxmoor House ISBN 0-8487-1550-0
Frasier Pocket Books ISBN 0-671-00368-2
The Frasier Scripts Newmarket Press ISBN 1-55704-403-1
Goodnight Seattle Virgin Books ISBN 0-7535-0286-0
The Very Best Of Frasier Channel 4 Books ISBN 0-7522-6179-7

[edit] Syndication and International Broadcasters

Preceded by:
Seinfeld 		Emmy Award - Outstanding Comedy Series
1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998 		Succeeded by:
Ally McBeal

[edit] References

<references />

[edit] External links

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