All Episodes Talk

[Miss Chevious]

I wasn't too crazy about Daphne's insufferable family either, especially her mother. They could have done without her in a continuing role IMO. But I did like Daphne and Niles finally getting together. He'd been attracted to her from the outset of the series and I'm so glad they got married. The heart wants what it wants, sometimes it goes that way so I wasn't sorry to see either Mel or Donny go since neither of them were very likable. 

That double episode "Something Borrowed, Something Blue" was one of my favorites. I love the part where Daphne bursts into the Winnebago in her wedding dress and says to Niles, "Let's get this bloody boat moving!"

[BitterApple]

5 hours ago, Miss Chevious said:

I wasn't too crazy about Daphne's insufferable family either, especially her mother. They could have done without her in a continuing role IMO. But I did like Daphne and Niles finally getting together. He'd been attracted to her from the outset of the series and I'm so glad they got married. The heart wants what it wants, sometimes it goes that way so I wasn't sorry to see either Mel or Donny go since neither of them were very likable. 

 

I agree to an extent. I get that the Niles/Daphne saga had to reach a conclusion, otherwise it would've looked pathetic for Niles to lust after her for 8,9,10+ years. I also agree that Donny and Mel were unlikable, and maybe that was intentional so the viewing audience wouldn't feel too badly that they got dumped like week-old garbage. The thing that I have a problem with is it never struck me to be in Niles' or Daphne's character to dump their spouses in the worst way possible. I guess they had no choice since Niles didn't know about Daphne's feelings for him until the night before the wedding, but it still rubbed me the wrong way for some reason. Maybe because Daphne left Donnie behind to clean up the mess while she took off with Niles.

Edited February 17, 2017 by BitterApple

[Miss Chevious]

I was just watching "Don Juan in Hell" episode, where women in his past pop up.  I didn't realize Frasier was married at a young age to a hippie chick (I forget her name). Add in Nanny G and Lilith, so he's been married & divorced three times. No wonder he's leery of marrying again. 

[rubaco]

Wait. I think the hippie chick is Nanny G. Right? (Or so I have always assumed.) He was married twice, with Diane being an almost-third time. 

[OneWouldHope]

Nannie G. is the hippie chick. Easy to be confused. It was the third different woman playing her!

[Miss Chevious]

Oh ok. Thanks for clearing that up. So he's been married only twice. Well Niles has him beat in that category.

[Altair Aquila]

I watched And the Whimper Is last night. It's my favourite of the 'awards' episodes. I do love Fletcher Gray's mother's exclamation of "What!?" when her son loses again. 

[peacheslatour]

On 2/18/2017 at 8:17 AM, OneWouldHope said:

Nannie G. is the hippie chick. Easy to be confused. It was the third different woman playing her!

Yep. She was originally played by the incomparable Laurie Metcalf.

[Bort]

6 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Yep. She was originally played by the incomparable Laurie Metcalf.

Do you mean on Cheers? Because it was Emma Thompson that originated the role.

[Aquarius]

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Yep. She was originally played by the incomparable Laurie Metcalf.

Going back to Cheers, she was played by the even more incomparable Emma Thompson.  "Nanny G-Spot" - Lilith.  Hee.

I hated Niles and Daphne as a couple.  Yes, Niles was always obsessed with Daphne from the moment he saw her.  But I never bought Daphne falling for Niles.  They should have had Niles moving on from his obsession over time, IMO.

[peacheslatour]

11 minutes ago, kariyaki said:

Do you mean on Cheers? Because it was Emma Thompson that originated the role.

You're right. I was thinking just of Frasier. I didn't really watch Cheers.

[OneWouldHope]

The Cheers episode with Emma Thompson was funny and really good but - and I know this is an unpopular opinion - I really like the Laurie Metcalf ep from Fraiser. I find it extremely funny and think Laurie Metcalf is amazing. While she has to make up for the negative of being American, I would say she is just as incomparable as Emma Thompson (are there really degrees? ?). There are so many funny lines from that episode and even though it moves into the absurd (I can't help imaging the headlines in the paper the day after the concert!). I especially love the whole meta "You don't know what it's like to play the same character year after year for 20 years!"  Love! Also (paraphrasing), "But, Nanette, you've brought such happiness to children!" "Yeah, well, sometimes you'd like a little happiness thrown back atcha!"... A lot of it is in the delivery... lots of good lines!

[Aquarius]

17 minutes ago, OneWouldHope said:

The Cheers episode with Emma Thompson was funny and really good but - and I know this is an unpopular opinion - I really like the Laurie Metcalf ep from Fraiser. I find it extremely funny and think Laurie Metcalf is amazing. While she has to make up for the negative of being American, I would say she is just as incomparable as Emma Thompson (are there really degrees? ?).

Yes, sorry, there are degrees.  :-)  Because . . . Emma Thompson.

That said, I did love the Laurie Metcalf as Nanny G episode too.  There's room for both.

Edited February 22, 2017 by Aquarius

[Bort]

30 minutes ago, OneWouldHope said:

Laurie Metcalf is amazing. While she has to make up for the negative of being American, I would say she is just as incomparable as Emma Thompson

Yeah, I really liked Laurie Metcalf as Nanny G. I was disappointed by the recast at first but by the end of the episode, Laurie had won me over. Although being American isn't a negative as Emma Thompson had used an American accent in her Cheers appearance. 

[ByTor]

On 2/17/2017 at 6:09 PM, BitterApple said:

I also agree that Donny and Mel were unlikable, and maybe that was intentional so the viewing audience wouldn't feel too badly that they got dumped like week-old garbage. 

We weren't supposed to like Donny?  I liked him a lot.  Daphne was the one I didn't like toward the end.  What was up with her always calling Martin "old man?" That really got on my nerves (among several other things).

[FormerMod-a1]

I liked both Donny and Mel.  I know they were making Mel "Maris-lite", but she and Niles seemed like a good fit.  I didn't like how either handled the break-ups Niles/Daphne getting together.  Yes, it was horrible circumstances and a horrible shock to them both and I expect anger, but all those crazy things they had Mel put Niles through, and the lawsuits Donny was filing.  Ugh.  I guess I didn't mind the Donny stuff as much as Mel.  But at that point I wasn't liking the writing, rather than not liking the characters, if that makes sense.

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, ByTor said:

We weren't supposed to like Donny?  I liked him a lot.  Daphne was the one I didn't like toward the end.  What was up with her always calling Martin "old man?" That really got on my nerves (among several other things).

He was a nice guy, but I always felt like Daphne could do better and was just settling because she didn't want to be alone. 

[peacheslatour]

I liked Donnie as a person, but not as a love interest for anyone. Remember the first episode where he was eating a sandwich in his office wearing a towel and he was was all sweaty and gross? Squicked me right out.

[ByTor]

1 hour ago, aquarian1 said:

 But at that point I wasn't liking the writing, rather than not liking the characters, if that makes sense.

Makes perfect sense to me, being as that is exactly how I felt.  Daphne being disrespectful to Martin by calling him "old man?"  Earlier seasons' Daphne would never speak to him that way.  I understand that when you live with someone a long time they're bound to do something to annoy you, but she just seemed so angry all the time..again, which was out of character for her.

[Aquarius]

9 hours ago, BitterApple said:

He was a nice guy, but I always felt like Daphne could do better and was just settling because she didn't want to be alone. 

I always felt they set up Donnie, who was short, dumpy and rather unattractive, with Daphne so that Niles wouldn't look so mismatched with her by comparison.  I didn't like that device any more than I liked Niles and Daphne as a couple.

[BitterApple]

1 hour ago, Aquarius said:

I always felt they set up Donnie, who was short, dumpy and rather unattractive, with Daphne so that Niles wouldn't look so mismatched with her by comparison.  I didn't like that device any more than I liked Niles and Daphne as a couple.

Agreed. Niles looked like Chris Hemsworth compared to shleppy Donnie. 

[msani19]

Hmm, that's interesting. I never thought about Daphne and Donnie in that way, although in retrospect, it does make Niles/Daphne look less off together. They were so mismatched it's jarring. Between Niles and Donnie, I preferred her with Donnie, however, I'm not saying that they were a good match either. I did think she was settling for him rather than actually wanting to be with him. I do think that as you get older, the qualities you look for in a mate changes. Things like kind, honest, hard working, loyal, more appealing than just HOT AF but I might be speaking for myself! I've often wondered if that's a sign of settling or a sign of understanding what would make a long-term relationship work. She seemed happier when she with Joe but we didn't see much of them as a couple. 

Question: would Donnie or Niles have ever had a chance at Daphne when she was in those earlier years and dating men like Joe? Clearly no, so then was she settling when she started seeing them? Or had she evolved? 

[ByTor]

10 hours ago, msani19 said:

Question: would Donnie or Niles have ever had a chance at Daphne when she was in those earlier years and dating men like Joe? Clearly no, so then was she settling when she started seeing them? Or had she evolved? 

I don't remember if this was before or after Joe, but there was that episode where Daphne dated a Niles knock-off.

[Harry24]

Quote

there was that episode where Daphne dated a Niles knock-off.

Oh, god, that was hilarious.  Martin and Frasier's stunned reactions were priceless.  "We'll have to put a red mark on the real Niles to tell them apart!"  Although I thought the actor they got as the Fake Niles was really weak, the joke still worked amazingly.

And I thought the biggest problem with the Niles/Daphne pairing was that Daphne's character changed too much.  I suppose the creators (and maybe Jane Leeves too?) wanted to have her grow up a bit, but that change threw the relationship out of balance.  Daphne seemed much stronger and heavier (metaphorically) than Niles, and it seemed as though she could beat him up if she wanted to.  It became much less fun to watch.

Edited February 23, 2017 by Harry24

[Bort]

One thing that weirds me out about the later seasons is that Daphne no longer calls Frasier "Dr. Crane." Or Martin "Mr. Crane." I never pinpointed the exact moment that changed, but hearing her say "Frasier" is especially strange to me after soooo many years of hearing her address him the other way.

[ByTor]

3 hours ago, kariyaki said:

One thing that weirds me out about the later seasons is that Daphne no longer calls Frasier "Dr. Crane." Or Martin "Mr. Crane." I never pinpointed the exact moment that changed, but hearing her say "Frasier" is especially strange to me after soooo many years of hearing her address him the other way.

I liked when Daphne was going on a pretend date with him and kept calling him Frasier over & over again.

[indeed]

14 hours ago, ByTor said:

I don't remember if this was before or after Joe, but there was that episode where Daphne dated a Niles knock-off.

Yes, I believe that was right after Joe.

i think Daphne called them "Mr." and "Dr." until she got married, which makes sense that she would finally switch over then.  There was the awkward bit between Daphne and Martin where she decides to keep calling him "Mr. Crane" instead of "Martin" or "Dad" (at least for a little while longer).  It did sound weird when Daphne switched over, but then it was a bit weird that she kept up the formalities for as long as she did anyway living with them as long as she did.  And especially in the case of Niles, she supposedly considered him a friend early on and didn't work for him (although supposedly he was chipping in?), so she could have dropped one "Dr. Crane" usage...but then we would've missed out on a few "Dr. Crane...Dr. Crane" jokes.

Edited February 24, 2017 by indeed

[ari333]

Spoiler

 

Cant get the spoiler box off.

Who was the third Nanny G? I recall Emma and Laurie. TIA

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, ari333 said:

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Cant get the spoiler box off.

Who was the third Nanny G? I recall Emma and Laurie. TIA

Dina Spybey-Waters. Never heard of her.

[ari333]

On ‎2‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 1:25 PM, peacheslatour said:

Dina Spybey-Waters. Never heard of her.

I cant even recall the eppy with this one. I thought I'd seen them all. Maybe I just forgot. Thanks.  

[Athena]

22 hours ago, ari333 said:

I cant even recall the eppy with this one. I thought I'd seen them all. Maybe I just forgot. Thanks.  

"Don Juan in Hell: Part 2" 9x02. Frasier has conversations (in his head) with all the major women in his life including Diane, Lilith, his mother, and Nanette.

[ari333]

52 minutes ago, Athena said:

"Don Juan in Hell: Part 2" 9x02. Frasier has conversations (in his head) with all the major women in his life including Diane, Lilith, his mother, and Nanette.

Thanks! I did see that one. I guess I wasn't watching during the Nanette part. Sometimes I multi task.

[peacheslatour]

23 hours ago, ari333 said:

Thanks! I did see that one. I guess I wasn't watching during the Nanette part. Sometimes I multi task.

She was really unmemorable. I guess it would be difficult to stand out doing a scene with the likes of Bebe Neuwirth, Shelley Long and Rita Wilson.

[ari333]

15 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

She was really unmemorable. I guess it would be difficult to stand out doing a scene with the likes of Bebe Neuwirth, Shelley Long and Rita Wilson.

Good point!

Laurie Metcalf was my fav Nannette, but I enjoyed Emma too.

[peacheslatour]

Well last night they showed the series finale. I will admit to shedding a tear or two.

[chessiegal]

I watched the finale too. That scene where Niles walks out of the Vet's office feeding the monkey a bottle is priceless. This show is so well done. I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't get back to sleep, so ended up watching Cheers. I enjoyed Cheers, but it pales by comparison to Frasier.

[Altair Aquila]

As time goes on, I think I'm more forgiving of the dips in quality Frasier suffered. The few shows I watch now weren't as good as Frasier in the first place so their declines are much more cringeworthy. I've despaired of some appalling writing on shows I enjoyed in recent times.

Frasier's series finale left me satisfied and, considering how controversial and divisive other show's finales have been in recent years, I'll always be happy with that. 

[ari333]

I think the only eppy of Frasier that I did not watch was the finale. How did it end? (I think I was too sad too watch it.) TIA.

[peacheslatour]

In a nutshell, Frasier gets a job offer for a television show in San Francisco. From Wikipedia since I'm too lazy to type it all out:

Frasier invites his brother, father, Daphne, Ronee, and Roz to his apartment to announce his move to San Francisco. However, before the dinner, Frasier begins handing out gifts of significance. When an ominous phone call answered by the answering machine from a doctor reveals potentially bad news regarding Frasier's future outlook, the attendees fear the worst. Frasier then informs them of his impending move to San Francisco, where his new show will begin the following week. Later, during the celebration, Frasier reveals his reasoning for taking the job, citing that with Daphne and Niles' child, Martin and Ronee's marriage, and Roz's promotion, each of them have now begun a new phase of their lives, and that he now desires to do the same. Frasier then recites Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses". He reads the same poem at the end of his final show at KACL, where he thanks the staff and listeners for the past eleven years before closing, as ever, with the words "Goodnight, Seattle."

Frasier finishes his story as the plane lands – not in San Francisco, but in Chicago, where Charlotte has moved – and says to Anne, "Wish me luck."

And then the title card reads: Thanks for calling. Christ I'm crying just typing that.

[ari333]

5 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

In a nutshell, Frasier gets a job offer for a television show in San Francisco. From Wikipedia since I'm too lazy to type it all out:

Frasier invites his brother, father, Daphne, Ronee, and Roz to his apartment to announce his move to San Francisco. However, before the dinner, Frasier begins handing out gifts of significance. When an ominous phone call answered by the answering machine from a doctor reveals potentially bad news regarding Frasier's future outlook, the attendees fear the worst. Frasier then informs them of his impending move to San Francisco, where his new show will begin the following week. Later, during the celebration, Frasier reveals his reasoning for taking the job, citing that with Daphne and Niles' child, Martin and Ronee's marriage, and Roz's promotion, each of them have now begun a new phase of their lives, and that he now desires to do the same. Frasier then recites Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses". He reads the same poem at the end of his final show at KACL, where he thanks the staff and listeners for the past eleven years before closing, as ever, with the words "Goodnight, Seattle."

Frasier finishes his story as the plane lands – not in San Francisco, but in Chicago, where Charlotte has moved – and says to Anne, "Wish me luck."

And then the title card reads: Thanks for calling. Christ I'm crying just typing that.

I'm glad I didn't watch. That would have had me in tears.. Thank you.

I admit that I have an unhealthy attachment and  love for this show.

[ketose]

On a different topic, I noticed that Frasier on Netflix is in HD / widescreen for the last 2 seasons, but is not on Hallmark. How is it done on the DVDs? Are they more widescreen episodes?

[AmazingGracie]

On 3/16/2017 at 1:55 PM, peacheslatour said:

In a nutshell, Frasier gets a job offer for a television show in San Francisco. From Wikipedia since I'm too lazy to type it all out:

Frasier invites his brother, father, Daphne, Ronee, and Roz to his apartment to announce his move to San Francisco. However, before the dinner, Frasier begins handing out gifts of significance. When an ominous phone call answered by the answering machine from a doctor reveals potentially bad news regarding Frasier's future outlook, the attendees fear the worst. Frasier then informs them of his impending move to San Francisco, where his new show will begin the following week. Later, during the celebration, Frasier reveals his reasoning for taking the job, citing that with Daphne and Niles' child, Martin and Ronee's marriage, and Roz's promotion, each of them have now begun a new phase of their lives, and that he now desires to do the same. Frasier then recites Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem "Ulysses". He reads the same poem at the end of his final show at KACL, where he thanks the staff and listeners for the past eleven years before closing, as ever, with the words "Goodnight, Seattle."

Frasier finishes his story as the plane lands – not in San Francisco, but in Chicago, where Charlotte has moved – and says to Anne, "Wish me luck."

And then the title card reads: Thanks for calling. Christ I'm crying just typing that.

That had me teary-eyed. I really disliked the ending. I had read that the writers wanted to close the show like it had opened. Frasier was starting his new life by moving back to Seattle. The show closed with Frasier starting a new life by leaving Seattle. It sounds good on paper but it didn't make me cry any less. 

I didn't understand why they had him moving to San Francisco but Charlotte was in Chicago. All I can think is that's a doomed relationship. He just took a contract in San Fran so he's not going to be moving anytime soon if the relationship with Charlotte blossoms into something more substantial. Charlotte just bought the business back from her ex. She's not going to let that go. I just can't see their relationship leading to anything real. Sad face.

[Ailianna]

See, I always took it as him giving up the TV job in San Francisco to be with Charlotte in Chicago, since she explicitly said she wouldn't do a long distance relationship and he asks the woman on the plane to wish him good luck.  I didn't like it because it seemed like he gave up a good opportunity for a IMO doomed relationship.

[stillsearching74]

I'd almost forgotten how much I loved this show! A few weeks ago, I was telling someone how I think something is wrong with me for not finding most acclaimed recent sitcoms (Parks and Rec, B99 and most others) remotely funny, and he made some remark about how I'll just never let myself open my heart to another comedy like I did Frasier. :) This inspired a rewatch, and I've been in TV heaven ever since. The first five or six seasons of this show are some of my favorite TV ever made, and unlike some other shows I used to love, there's a timeless quality that makes most of it just as funny and relevant to me now as it was then. 

Like others here, for me it's really the brothers' relationship with each other and Martin that gives the show most of its humor and heart. I don't care much about their love lives, though I really liked Niles/Daphne until they got together. I agree that Daphne seemed like a more angry, depressive person the second half of the show, though I really love her for the first few seasons. Niles' disastrous marriage to Maris and the stories that came from it was darkly hilarious and sometimes touching. But the sad truth is that I could just watch Frasier, Niles and Martin interacting with almost no one other than each other and love every minute of it!  

I love Niles even more than I love Frasier, but I do love Frasier - which is funny considering I didn't much care for him on Cheers. (Or really anyone on Cheers, which is why I stopped watching it!)

As for favorite seasons in order: 2, 3, 1, 5, 4, 6, 7, 11, 9, 10, 8, but it's very hard to pick, especially since the first 5-6 are all more or less tied for me. 

Favorite epsiodes? It's impossible for me to narrow down, but you all are right that the holiday ones tend to be true classics! 

I love that I'm not the only person who still loves and treasures this show. 

[Aquarius]

On 3/26/2017 at 8:37 PM, Ailianna said:

See, I always took it as him giving up the TV job in San Francisco to be with Charlotte in Chicago, since she explicitly said she wouldn't do a long distance relationship and he asks the woman on the plane to wish him good luck.  I didn't like it because it seemed like he gave up a good opportunity for a IMO doomed relationship.

I could be misremembering, but I thought a point was made about Frasier not actually having signed the contract (just considering it), so that's how I always interpreted the ending as well.

3 hours ago, stillsearching74 said:

I love Niles even more than I love Frasier, but I do love Frasier - which is funny considering I didn't much care for him on Cheers. (Or really anyone on Cheers, which is why I stopped watching it!)

I actually liked Frasier on Cheers (although IMO he's very different on Frasier).  But I agree, no one on Cheers was likeable . . . I never noticed that until it went off the air and I was watching in re-runs, which I will no longer do.  And the character's guest appearances on Frasier?  Barring Lilith and Diane, I was left thinking, "These people are odious!  Why did I waste so much time on them?"  I never could view Cheers again the same.

[stillsearching74]

Quote

And the character's guest appearances on Frasier?  Barring Lilith and Diane, I was left thinking, "These people are odious!  Why did I waste so much time on them?"

Those are literally the only episodes I always skip when I rewatch! Other than Lilith's appearances, most of which I love, the episodes where we get visits from the Cheers people just feel so forced and awkward, and none of them really seem to belong on Frasier.  

[msani19]

1 hour ago, stillsearching74 said:

the episodes where we get visits from the Cheers people just feel so forced and awkward, and none of them really seem to belong on Frasier. 

They were the worst, so cringe worthy! I hated, hated the one with Woody the most. The one when they all go to Boston for Cliff's retirement? So random. He hadn't talked to any of these people in YEARS and he wasn't that close to them (I rarely watched Cheers, so I might be wrong). The one with Sam was just dumb.

I definitely like the way you stated it in your post: they really did not seem to belong to Frasier at all. All their appearances made it seem like they were all strangers, so what was the point? 

[Ailianna]

11 hours ago, msani19 said:

 I hated, hated the one with Woody the most. 

It's ironic, since I was thinking that that was the only one that made sense.  Frasier and Woody weren't that close on Cheers, and the whole episode was about how they had nothing in common and how much Frasier's life had changed since he returned to Seattle.  It was as close as I thought they ever came to saying--this show is not like that show.

[msani19]

That's a really good point and maybe it's that reason I hate the episode. It's so painful to watch. 

[stillsearching74]

So I'm starting another rewatch from the very beginning, which is the closest I will get to having a productive summer project! Most pilots feel too exposition-laden or just otherwise off to me, but I was surprised to remember how much I love Frasier's pilot. It's such a great introduction to these characters, themes and the show's witty dialogue. And when Martin calls into the radio station at the end and he and Frasier have their moment of connection and understanding, I always seem to mysteriously get something in my eye. By the way, I love how this first episode featured Frasier saying how he wished his father had thanked him, and in the series finale all those years later, Martin's final (close to final?!) line is "Thank you, Frasier" as he hugs him.  

And now something seems to be in my eye again.