Spinoffs are always a gamble. On one hand, fans of a show are able to go on another series of adventures with their favorite characters, and a whole new world of possibilities for artistic direction is explored. On the other hand, not every spinoff could be as successful as Better Call Saul, or in this case, Frasier. Frasier’s 11-season run proves that it’s possible to reprise a character for a new series, and even take it to an entirely new level. Frasier Crane had a lot going for him when he left his Cheers friends behind: a new setting in Seattle; an opportunity to bloviate as a radio psychiatrist on KACL, and a fresh start as the titular character in one of the most successful spinoff shows of all time.
Frasier was so much more than just “tossed salad and scrambled eggs,” but rather lightning in a bottle, and with good reason. While Cheers stands on its own as a legendary '80s sitcom in its own right, Frasier carries the torch through the 90s as a show that not only occasionally called back to its Alma mater, but stood on its own for an entirely new fan base. The Frasier formula is a simple, yet effective combination of top tier comedy that’s often highbrow but doesn’t alienate the casual audience either.
Inability to Communicate
The premise of Frasier is simple. Frasier and his brother Niles, both respected psychiatrists, don’t have the best relationship with their father, Marty, a retired detective. It’s not that they don’t love each other; they just live in different worlds, and have difficulties communicating with one another. This is what we like to call “built in comedy.” Three men who pride themselves on being able to read the room, and make logical leaps to navigate through their lives while they help others navigate through theirs, simply cannot do these things when it comes to interacting with each other. Almost every comedic aspect of the show comes down to simple misunderstanding and lack of communication. And while the Crane boys are always operating with the best of intentions, the execution of these intentions almost always ends in disaster. In a way, Frasier is a modern comedy of errors.
Pompous Quotability
What do you get when you combine the Crane brothers, their Ivy League sense of superiority over the common man, and a thesaurus? Some of the best tongue-in-cheek pomposity of the 90s. Frasier and Niles find themselves in very relatable everyday conundrums, but the vocabulary and delivery in which they communicate is always over the top, as if read from a David Foster Wallace Novel. When Frasier is trying to convince those around him that his old nemesis Blaine Sternin is up to his old tricks, he simply says, “Well, of course he sounded charming. Charm is the viscous grease with which he oils his flimflam machine.” On its own, this line is a ridiculous insight into the mind of Frasier Crane, but it’s believable when Niles similarly quips “Oh, spare me, you ludicrous popinjay!” to his doppelgänger at Café Nervosa. The uncanny ability that both Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce have to keep a straight face while delivering such lines, often to the dismay of Marty, Daphne, Roz, and Bulldog, shows the audience just how full of themselves Frasier and Niles could be at times.
Tasteful Callbacks to Cheers
With his Cheers days long behind him, some of the relationships from the preceding series are still intact. In fact, there are a number of cameos throughout Frasier’s run that are not only memorable, but also tasteful. Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith is the most frequent of flyers to his new home of Seattle due to shared custody over their son Frederick, but we also see cameos from Woody, Sam, Diane, and even Norm. There have been other shows that have relied a little too heavily on the character callback, but Frasier does it just right. More often than not, old friendships pick up where they left off, but run their course quickly before everything goes back to normal in Frasierland.
Seasons Long Love Arc
You can’t talk about Frasier without talking about Niles and Daphne. From the very first episode, Niles was head over heels in love with Daphne, a physical therapist that Frasier hired to help with Marty. From our couches we saw Niles go through a rancorous divorce with his exceedingly wealthy wife, Maris, only for his divorce lawyer to take Daphne’s hand in marriage once Niles finally became single and ready to tell her how he truly felt. This is a legendary seasons-long love arc that does resolve with a nice little bow on it, but the awkward one-on-one occurrences, and the dance lessons (and hair-smelling) led up to an eventual marriage, and kept the audience at the edge of their seats the entire time.
The Best Off-Screen Character
Speaking of Maris, it’s safe to say that she has gone down in history as the best character we never actually met. The only character in recent memory that even comes close is Mrs. Wolowitz from Big Bang Theory. The real difference is that Maris doesn’t even have any spoken dialogue. The audience learns everything they know about Maris through conversations, and never actually sees or hears from her once– yet we all have our own vivid versions of what she may look and sound like in our own heads because the writing is so strong. We know she’s an impossibly difficult, exceedingly wealthy, insufferable, plastic surgery obsessed socialite, but that’s it.
Every character that crosses her in Frasier seems to be on the same page about this, and the writers knew that the comedy that came from such an unlikable character would work out even if we never actually got a chance to meet her. Sometimes imagination is the most powerful tool of all, and Maris is the best character we’ve never met because of this. Frasier is due for a reprisal in a 2023 reboot. Given how successful the Cheers spinoff was in the first place gives us peace of mind that Frasier Crane is here to stay, and he’s still listening!