Simply outstanding.

azza882010

Small Spoiler!

I like Frasier, i always have and it's always annoyed me that people won't give it a chance because they think it's high-brow and pretentious.

First of all the entire concept of the show is based on a long-standing character out of Cheers, i'm sure everyone would agree that even Friends could seem snobby compared to such an every-man sitcom so how can it be so that Frasier is only for "intellectual" people?

so with that in mind let me dispel some misconceptions about Frasier:

It is not snobby or difficult to get into, if you see a random episode with Niles and Frasier talking psychobabble in Armani suits while sipping latte's in a posh coffee shop then i can see why you'd think that. But Frasier is a sitcom that rewards commitment, I've had friends who've hated frasier even though they've only seen little bits, i've sat them down and shown them a few choice episodes and they've completely fallen in love with it and borrowed the DVD's. But back to the coffee suppin' snobs, the recurrent theme of the programme is how utterly ridiculous Niles and Frasier actually are, they live ludicrous lifestyles where they consider themselves to be better than everyone else because they appreciate the "finer things" in life. Were it not for the excellent writing and brilliant actors then these 2 would be detestable human beings, but as it is you see them as a source of pity rather than arrogant idiots, they were heavily bullied at school and have both had ridiculously trying marriages with women who made them feel inadequate, not to mention the fact the brothers are insanely competetive with each other.

The whole premise of the show isn't 2 people discussing Freud's theories in a coffee shop, Frasier's down to earth ex-policeman father martin got shot and is now unable to live on his own, he and his dog and his hideous green chair have to move in with Frasier, this is the tempo for the first few seasons, frasier and martin and martin's English healthcare worker Daphne Moon.

Frasier usually being the aggressor in arguments and constantly being the one who's unreasonable, all the while doling out advice on tolerance and forgiveness at his job at a radio station (the show's longest recurring theme, Frasier being someone who believes himself to be very self aware but in actual fact he's a massive hipocrite) all the while usually being mocked by his free wheeling producer Roz Doyle who thinks that Frasier has no fun.

The comedy comes thick and fast at home too with Martin and Daphne pointing out Frasier's ludicrous habits and pretentous tendencies while they all try to get along under the same roof.

then there's the 7 series long run of Niles being in love with Daphne and her being miraculously unaware even though his behaviour around her is incredibly goofy and/or flirtatious.

It is true that Frasier and Niles pull every little problem to pieces with intense over-analysis, but far from being boring this just emphasizes the fact that these 2 couldn't possibly exist outside of their perfect little worlds.

Not once does the programme take itself too seriously, it's often incredibly touching when Martin and Frasier connect over something as they are 2 radically different people that occasionally ponder if they are even blood related because fraiser and niles are nothing like him but much more like their dead mother, but you are never led to believe that Frasier and Martin don't love each other and Frasier often tells his father that he respects him more than anyone else he's ever met and that his father's integrity has made him the man he is today.

as the seasons go on you see Niles and Frasier trying to better theirselves and be less pretentious, everything from fatherhood to relationships gets a look-in through all 11 seasons and Frasier's capacity to sabotage his own relationships is surely second to none.

to sum it up i'd say that Frasier is, funny, touching, clever and rewarding, but if you don't understand the premise then you will not enjoy it.

score 10/10

azza882010 20 June 2010

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2267269/