Farewell to Frasier . . . Final-e!

Frasier was an NBC sitcom  for eleven seasons from 1993 to 2004 . . . even though I knew it was a spin-off from Cheers, I never remember watching one episode live. I must have been too busy with three elementary-aged kids. Anyway, I wouldn’t have appreciated the dry, slapstick humor until recently, when my husband and I “netflixed” all eleven seasons—264 stories in all.

The five main characters stayed together throughout the entire series. Psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) returns to his hometown of Seattle to host a talk radio show after the end of his marriage and his life in Boston (i.e. Cheers). His plans for a new life as a bachelor are complicated when he is obliged to take in his father,  (John Mahoney), a retired detective who is unable to live by himself after being shot in the line of duty. Jane Leeves plays Daphne Moon, Martin's live-in physical therapist and caretaker, and David Hyde Pierce portrays Niles Crane, a fellow psychiatrist--and my favorite personality that evolves most over the years. Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin), Frasier’s producer and best friend, rounded out the talented team. Dozens of kooky regulars like BeBe (Frasiers agent) and Bulldog (a very innapropriate DJ) added spice to the bunch. Also, Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith (Cheers), and Niles’ anorexic ex—Maris--who was NEVER SEEN during the entire eleven years, provided insight about these Freudian-loving, relationship-challenged brothers.

I became hooked on following this idiosyncraticAmerican family on my long international flight to India last year. I laughed until I cried—two times--over an episode called “Boo” (my laughter woke my traveling partner then later we chuckled through it together). In that one, Frasier dressed up as a clown to theoretically desensitize a patient with a clown phobia . . . in the same story, he jumped out of the bathroom in costume and scared his poor dad so badly that he had a heart attack—this, to pay back his prankster pop for exposing what everyone already knew—that Frasier screamed like a girl!

Once I got home, it was settled and we started with Season 1: Disc One . . . almost a year later, we finally received Season 11: Disc 4 containing the last five stories and special farewell commentary.  About a third of the way through the last episode, “Goodnight Seattle” It. FROZE . . . blustering, I cleaned the disc with my special electronic cloth and spray but It. Froze. Again.  UNBELIEVABLE.  After all of our commitment to the show, we couldn't even finish the finale!

Dilemma: did it really matter if we watched those last twenty-six minutes? Frasier hadn't changed a bit over the last "eleven years"--except very recently when he said goodbye to Charlotte, the healthiest relationship he experienced in the entire series . . . out of principle--and hearing my Mom's voice, "You never finish anything you start"--I got online and reported the problem to Netflix. Lo and behold, before my scratched disc could have possibly returned to the warehouse, a new Season 11: Disc Four arrived in our mailbox! With new anticipation, we interrupted (or David did) March Madness to finally exchange goodbyes with the silly troupe that has driven us crazy yet pulled us into their pitifully hilarious dysfunction. Thankfully we experienced the Cranes over eleven months, not eleven years—LOST was long enough to last a lifetime, but bumping a "Frasier" or two to the top of our Queue was probably worth the time.

On Wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt) I read that Grammer was briefly the highest paid television actor in the United States for his portrayal of Frasier, while Leeves (Daphne) was the highest paid British actress. Following his many appearances in Cheers, Grammer tied the record for the longest running character in prime time, equaling James Arness’ twenty years as Marshall Dillon on Gunsmoke, but this record was beaten by the principal cast of the Simpsons!  Those are two shows I can’t imagine sitting through one episode of. It’s back to 1970 for me and the last season of the 1967-1970 gothic soap opera Dark Shadows—back then it was shown five days a week, but thanks to Netflix, I've only a few hundred episodes to go!  What do you think is worth Netflixing and why?