WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 You know, usually when we look back at the 1990s, 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:06.679 we get completely caught up in the specific aesthetic 00:00:06.679 --> 00:00:09.800 of the era. Oh, for sure. The clothes, the music. 00:00:09.820 --> 00:00:11.820 Right. We talk about the grunge movement, the 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:14.480 flannel shirts everywhere, the rise of the early 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.379 Internet, or even just, well, the friends. The 00:00:18.379 --> 00:00:21.260 Rachel. You couldn't escape it. Exactly. Yeah. 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:24.579 But if you actually look at the raw data of pop 00:00:24.579 --> 00:00:27.579 culture from that time, specifically television 00:00:27.579 --> 00:00:30.660 history, there is this one monolith that just 00:00:30.660 --> 00:00:32.780 sits there. It really does. It's just blocking 00:00:32.780 --> 00:00:35.439 out the sun. And I think people forget just how 00:00:35.439 --> 00:00:38.320 big it was, mostly because it was so quiet about 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:41.310 it. It wasn't flashy. Not at all. It wasn't flashy 00:00:41.310 --> 00:00:43.990 in the way Seinfeld was with its big cultural 00:00:43.990 --> 00:00:47.090 catchphrases, or Friends was with, you know, 00:00:47.109 --> 00:00:49.009 being on the cover of every magazine at the grocery 00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:50.810 store checkout. Right, it didn't have no soup 00:00:50.810 --> 00:00:53.850 for you. Exactly. It was just consistently, undeniably 00:00:53.850 --> 00:00:56.530 excellent. I was looking at the numbers in the 00:00:56.530 --> 00:00:58.710 prep packet you sent over for this deep dive, 00:00:58.829 --> 00:01:00.950 and I actually thought there was a typo at first. 00:01:01.070 --> 00:01:04.609 The Emmy numbers. 37 Primetime Emmy Awards. No 00:01:04.609 --> 00:01:08.150 typo. That was the absolute record for a scripted 00:01:08.150 --> 00:01:11.900 series. Period. That is an insane number to me. 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:15.040 And it held that record for a very, very long 00:01:15.040 --> 00:01:17.760 time. I mean, think about the prestige shows 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:19.680 that have come and gone since the 90s. Right. 00:01:19.819 --> 00:01:22.420 You've got The Sopranos. Yeah. The West Wing, 00:01:22.640 --> 00:01:26.180 Mad Men. None of those massive cultural touchstones 00:01:26.180 --> 00:01:28.579 even touched that number. It actually took Game 00:01:28.579 --> 00:01:31.659 of Thrones to finally topple Frasier. Yeah, in 00:01:31.659 --> 00:01:35.459 2016. It took a show with a GDP -sized budget, 00:01:35.659 --> 00:01:39.060 CGI dragons, and ice zombies to beat a show about 00:01:39.060 --> 00:01:41.060 a psychiatrist living in a Seattle apartment 00:01:41.060 --> 00:01:43.840 with his dad. That really puts the scale of the 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:45.760 achievement into perspective. It really does. 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:47.540 But here's the metric that I think is actually 00:01:47.540 --> 00:01:50.060 more impressive. And maybe it's more relevant. 00:01:50.489 --> 00:01:52.170 to what we're going to explore today. You're 00:01:52.170 --> 00:01:53.870 talking about the consistency, the five -peat. 00:01:53.950 --> 00:01:57.370 The five -peat. Winning Outstanding Comedy Series 00:01:57.370 --> 00:02:01.329 for five consecutive years. 1994 to 1998. The 00:02:01.329 --> 00:02:03.590 only other show to ever tie that record is Modern 00:02:03.590 --> 00:02:05.920 Family. Which is wild when you think about how 00:02:05.920 --> 00:02:08.479 quickly comedy ages. It ages terribly. Drama 00:02:08.479 --> 00:02:11.800 can sustain itself easily because, you know, 00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:13.379 you want to know who's doing it or who's going 00:02:13.379 --> 00:02:16.740 to die next. The plot pulls you forward. Comedy 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:19.860 relies entirely on surprise. Exactly. And usually 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:22.719 by season five of the sitcom, you're just running 00:02:22.719 --> 00:02:26.060 on fumes. The writers are exhausted. The actors 00:02:26.060 --> 00:02:29.199 are completely bored with their characters. That's 00:02:29.199 --> 00:02:30.960 when you start seeing the desperation creeping 00:02:30.960 --> 00:02:33.259 in. The Cousin Oliver Syndrome. Bring in a new 00:02:33.259 --> 00:02:36.030 kid. Or, hey, let's send the whole cast to Hawaii 00:02:36.030 --> 00:02:39.009 for a special two -part episode. Oh, man, the 00:02:39.009 --> 00:02:41.830 desperate vacation gimmick. Frasier managed to 00:02:41.830 --> 00:02:44.050 avoid all of that for an incredibly long time. 00:02:44.129 --> 00:02:46.930 It was this strange, perfect alchemy. Because 00:02:46.930 --> 00:02:49.409 it mixed things that shouldn't mix. Right. You 00:02:49.409 --> 00:02:51.710 had highbrow intellectualism. We're talking deeply 00:02:51.710 --> 00:02:54.930 specific jokes about opera, rare sherry, Jungian 00:02:54.930 --> 00:02:57.849 psychology. And they just smashed it right up 00:02:57.849 --> 00:03:00.409 against the most traditional door -slamming physical 00:03:00.409 --> 00:03:02.810 farce you can imagine. It was honestly a game. 00:03:02.830 --> 00:03:05.430 gateway drug for me as a kid. How so? I think 00:03:05.430 --> 00:03:08.030 I learned what Le Cigar Volant was before I even 00:03:08.030 --> 00:03:09.889 knew how to do my own laundry. The legendary 00:03:09.889 --> 00:03:13.129 fictional restaurant. I felt smarter just by 00:03:13.129 --> 00:03:16.030 having the show on even if honestly half the 00:03:16.030 --> 00:03:17.889 jokes went completely over my head at the time. 00:03:18.069 --> 00:03:19.789 But that was the magic trick they pulled off. 00:03:19.930 --> 00:03:22.310 Flattering the audience. Yes. It flattered your 00:03:22.310 --> 00:03:24.669 intelligence. It assumed you were smart enough 00:03:24.669 --> 00:03:26.909 to keep up but then it hit you with a purely 00:03:26.909 --> 00:03:29.889 visual physical gag so you were laughing on multiple 00:03:29.889 --> 00:03:32.639 levels. Which makes it such a rich topic for 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:35.120 us today. But here's the thing about our deep 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:38.960 dive into these sources. On paper, this show 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:42.139 was a terrible idea. It was a disaster waiting 00:03:42.139 --> 00:03:44.819 to happen. Explain that to me. Yeah. Because 00:03:44.819 --> 00:03:47.520 looking back now, with all the success, it seems 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:49.759 like the biggest slam dunk in television history. 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.719 Sure, with hindsight. You take the most popular 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:54.900 character from Tears, which was already one of 00:03:54.900 --> 00:03:56.639 the biggest shows ever made, and you just give 00:03:56.639 --> 00:03:58.569 him his own show. That sounds like a license 00:03:58.569 --> 00:04:00.550 to print money. You would definitely think so. 00:04:00.729 --> 00:04:03.550 Yeah. But the history of television is just littered 00:04:03.550 --> 00:04:06.569 with the corpses of spinoffs that tried to do 00:04:06.569 --> 00:04:09.789 exactly that. Great. For every successful spinoff, 00:04:09.789 --> 00:04:14.189 there is an aftermash. Oh, wow. Aftermash. That 00:04:14.189 --> 00:04:16.689 hurts to even think about. Or the Tortellas. 00:04:16.730 --> 00:04:19.839 Remember them. Vaguely. From Cheers. Exactly. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:21.740 Another Cheers spinoff. And that's the point. 00:04:21.879 --> 00:04:24.540 Spinoffs usually fail because you take a character 00:04:24.540 --> 00:04:27.339 who works perfectly as a side dish. Like a flavor 00:04:27.339 --> 00:04:29.439 enhancer. Right. And you try to make them the 00:04:29.439 --> 00:04:31.779 main course. Suddenly the flavor is just way 00:04:31.779 --> 00:04:35.800 too strong. Or it's totally OneNote. And the 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:38.779 creators of Frasier knew this going in. They 00:04:38.779 --> 00:04:41.620 were hyper aware of it. In fact, our core mission 00:04:41.620 --> 00:04:43.899 for this deep dive isn't just to recount what 00:04:43.899 --> 00:04:46.220 happened in the show. We really need to figure 00:04:46.220 --> 00:04:48.759 out how a show that the creators actively tried 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:51.339 not to make. Which is still wild to me. Became 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:53.660 a masterpiece. They were running away from this 00:04:53.660 --> 00:04:56.139 concept as fast as they physically could. So 00:04:56.139 --> 00:04:58.519 take me back to the actual start of this. Cheers 00:04:58.519 --> 00:05:01.360 is ending. Everyone in America knows it's ending. 00:05:02.120 --> 00:05:04.620 Kelsey Grammer is a massive star at this point. 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:07.259 Huge. What actually happens in the room? Okay, 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:09.639 so let's set the scene. It's season eight of 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.540 Cheers. Kelsey Grammer is looking at his future. 00:05:12.680 --> 00:05:15.519 Right. He makes a handshake deal with three producers, 00:05:15.959 --> 00:05:20.079 David Angel, Peter Casey, and David Lee. Who 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:22.019 would eventually become Grub Street Productions. 00:05:22.360 --> 00:05:26.759 Yes. And the deal is incredibly simple. When 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:29.500 Cheers finally wraps, the four of us are going 00:05:29.500 --> 00:05:31.939 to do a new show together. And obviously everyone 00:05:31.939 --> 00:05:34.600 assumes that show is the Frasier Crane show. 00:05:35.600 --> 00:05:38.399 Paramount certainly assumes that. NBC assumes 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:41.480 that. Because why wouldn't they? But Kelsey Grammer. 00:05:41.579 --> 00:05:45.000 He is totally done. He has played Frasier Crane 00:05:45.000 --> 00:05:49.470 for eight long years. He is terrified of being 00:05:49.470 --> 00:05:51.810 typecast for the rest of his life. And the producers. 00:05:52.110 --> 00:05:54.610 The producers are arguably even more terrified 00:05:54.610 --> 00:05:56.970 than he is. Because of the spinoff curse we just 00:05:56.970 --> 00:05:59.170 mentioned. Partly the curse, but mostly just 00:05:59.170 --> 00:06:01.290 the direct comparison. They didn't want to compete 00:06:01.290 --> 00:06:03.970 with their own legacy. Exactly. They knew that 00:06:03.970 --> 00:06:06.730 if they did Cheers 2 .0, the critics would sharpen 00:06:06.730 --> 00:06:09.009 their knives on day one. If the jokes weren't 00:06:09.009 --> 00:06:11.050 as fast. Or if the ratings weren't quite as high, 00:06:11.230 --> 00:06:13.689 they'd be branded as failures instantly. They 00:06:13.689 --> 00:06:15.730 wanted a completely clean break. They wanted 00:06:15.730 --> 00:06:17.790 to create something totally original. So they 00:06:17.790 --> 00:06:20.329 sit down and they brainstorm. And this is where 00:06:20.329 --> 00:06:22.750 I need you to walk me through this Malcolm Forbes 00:06:22.750 --> 00:06:25.470 concept. Because I was reading through the source 00:06:25.470 --> 00:06:27.689 materials and I'm still not entirely sure if 00:06:27.689 --> 00:06:29.470 I'm hallucinating or if this was a real thing. 00:06:29.569 --> 00:06:31.470 Oh, I promise you it was very real. It's just 00:06:31.470 --> 00:06:34.649 so bizarre. It is one of the great what -ifs 00:06:34.649 --> 00:06:37.970 in Hollywood history. The three producers sit 00:06:37.970 --> 00:06:41.389 down and they ask themselves, what is the absolute 00:06:41.389 --> 00:06:44.149 opposite of Frasier Crane? Okay, so Frasier is 00:06:44.149 --> 00:06:47.069 insecure. He's a psychiatrist. He's highly mobile. 00:06:47.250 --> 00:06:49.730 He's incredibly neurotic. So what's the opposite? 00:06:49.949 --> 00:06:52.810 They pitch a character who is a titan of industry. 00:06:53.069 --> 00:06:56.170 A publishing magnate. Model directly on Malcolm 00:06:56.170 --> 00:06:59.230 Forbes. Yes. Extremely wealthy. Very powerful. 00:06:59.490 --> 00:07:02.689 And here's the kicker. He's a paraplegic. Whoa. 00:07:03.199 --> 00:07:06.180 He runs his entire massive publishing empire 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:08.800 from his luxury apartment in Manhattan. Because 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:10.540 he was in a motorcycle accident or something. 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:13.620 Exactly. And the core comedy of this pitched 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:15.800 show was supposed to come from the conflict between 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:18.920 this high -powered, immobilized genius and his 00:07:18.920 --> 00:07:21.160 live -in nurse. And the nurse was... In the original 00:07:21.160 --> 00:07:24.100 pitch. A quote -unquote street -smart Hispanic 00:07:24.100 --> 00:07:28.000 woman. Okay. I am really trying to picture Kelsey 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:31.129 Grammer in this role. I'm just imagining him 00:07:31.129 --> 00:07:34.129 rolling around a Manhattan penthouse yelling 00:07:34.129 --> 00:07:37.189 at people about magazine deadlines. It's incredibly 00:07:37.189 --> 00:07:39.790 jarring, isn't it? Well, it sounds difficult. 00:07:40.110 --> 00:07:42.290 Comedy is usually about movement. It's about 00:07:42.290 --> 00:07:45.170 kinetic energy. Physicality. Yeah. If you literally 00:07:45.170 --> 00:07:48.189 lock your lead actor in a chair, you're taking 00:07:48.189 --> 00:07:49.949 away half his toolkit right out of the gate. 00:07:50.089 --> 00:07:52.350 Especially Kelsey Grammer, who is actually an 00:07:52.350 --> 00:07:54.910 incredibly physical comedian. Right. But that 00:07:54.910 --> 00:07:56.990 was exactly the creative challenge they wanted. 00:07:57.069 --> 00:07:59.509 They wanted to force themselves to write differently. 00:07:59.750 --> 00:08:01.410 They wanted to break their own mold. And there 00:08:01.410 --> 00:08:04.069 was also this classic odd couple dynamic they 00:08:04.069 --> 00:08:07.670 were chasing. The rich grump and the fiery caretaker. 00:08:07.850 --> 00:08:09.850 They genuinely thought it was a fresh angle. 00:08:10.370 --> 00:08:13.610 So they take this Malcolm Forbes idea to Paramount. 00:08:13.730 --> 00:08:16.649 They go into the boardroom with the suits. How 00:08:16.649 --> 00:08:18.689 does that meeting actually go? About as well 00:08:18.689 --> 00:08:21.329 as you'd expect it to go. Which is to say, terribly. 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:24.769 You have to understand the studio mindset in 00:08:24.769 --> 00:08:27.949 that era. They have this massive asset, Kelsey 00:08:27.949 --> 00:08:30.709 Grammer, playing Frasier Crane, that is worth... 00:08:31.719 --> 00:08:33.659 conservatively hundreds of millions of dollars 00:08:33.659 --> 00:08:36.059 in future syndication potential. Right. It's 00:08:36.059 --> 00:08:38.480 a golden goose. And these writers walk into the 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:40.759 room and say, hey, we want to put him in a wheelchair, 00:08:41.019 --> 00:08:42.840 change his name entirely and just hope for the 00:08:42.840 --> 00:08:44.720 best. The executives probably looked at them 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:46.779 like they were actively setting money on fire 00:08:46.779 --> 00:08:48.980 on the conference table. Caramount hated it. 00:08:49.059 --> 00:08:52.159 They basically said, absolutely not. The quote 00:08:52.159 --> 00:08:54.789 from the studio was essentially. You have Kelsey 00:08:54.789 --> 00:08:57.450 Grammer. The audience loves Frasier. Why are 00:08:57.450 --> 00:08:59.929 you purposely making this hard for us? Just give 00:08:59.929 --> 00:09:01.769 us the Frasier show. They told them to go right 00:09:01.769 --> 00:09:03.710 back to the drawing board and come back with 00:09:03.710 --> 00:09:06.370 a Frasier spinoff. End of discussion. So it was 00:09:06.370 --> 00:09:08.610 a total standoff. Yeah. The creatives want to 00:09:08.610 --> 00:09:11.129 do something new and risky. The money wants the 00:09:11.129 --> 00:09:14.370 safe, sure thing. And in Hollywood, usually the 00:09:14.370 --> 00:09:16.330 money wins that fight. But not entirely this 00:09:16.330 --> 00:09:18.830 time. No. In this case, they reached a really 00:09:18.830 --> 00:09:21.320 fascinating compromise. What happened? Kelsey 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:24.120 Grammer looked at the whole situation and realized 00:09:24.120 --> 00:09:26.340 that Paramount wasn't going to budge on the character. 00:09:26.659 --> 00:09:29.860 So he agreed to play Frasier again. But he had 00:09:29.860 --> 00:09:33.700 a condition. One absolutely non -negotiable condition. 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:36.820 Geography. Geography. Explain that. He said to 00:09:36.820 --> 00:09:40.159 them, I will play Frasier Crane, but I will not 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:43.620 do it in Boston. He wanted to be as far away 00:09:43.620 --> 00:09:46.539 from the Cheers set as physically possible while 00:09:46.539 --> 00:09:49.159 still staying within the contiguous United States. 00:09:49.419 --> 00:09:52.370 Hence. Seattle. Seattle. And this wasn't just 00:09:52.370 --> 00:09:54.389 because he liked the rain or the emerging coffee 00:09:54.389 --> 00:09:57.769 culture. No, it was a highly strategic defensive 00:09:57.769 --> 00:10:00.490 maneuver on Grammar's part. Defensive against 00:10:00.490 --> 00:10:03.330 whom? Against the network. Against NBC. How so? 00:10:03.649 --> 00:10:05.950 Grammar knew how television executives think. 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:08.779 He knew that if Frazier stayed on the East Coast, 00:10:08.940 --> 00:10:11.500 say, if he just moved to New York, the network 00:10:11.500 --> 00:10:13.220 executives would be knocking on his dressing 00:10:13.220 --> 00:10:15.620 room door every single week. Hey, ratings are 00:10:15.620 --> 00:10:17.500 a little soft this week. Exactly. Can we just 00:10:17.500 --> 00:10:19.620 have Ted Danson walk into the room? Can we have 00:10:19.620 --> 00:10:22.639 Norm sit down at a local bar? The lazy crossover 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:25.320 episode. Hey, Frazier, I just happened to be 00:10:25.320 --> 00:10:28.139 in the neighborhood. Right. By moving the character 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:30.940 all the way to Seattle, practically on the other 00:10:30.940 --> 00:10:33.500 side of the continent, he made those casual drop 00:10:33.500 --> 00:10:36.480 -ins logistically impossible. If Norm is going 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:38.519 to show up, he has to buy a plane ticket and 00:10:38.519 --> 00:10:41.120 fly for six hours. It naturally gave the new 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:44.179 show the room it needed to breathe and establish 00:10:44.179 --> 00:10:47.019 its own unique identity. That is honestly brilliant. 00:10:47.299 --> 00:10:49.840 Yeah. It's using a map to protect the creative 00:10:49.840 --> 00:10:52.379 integrity of your show. It was very smart, but 00:10:52.379 --> 00:10:55.019 it immediately created a brand new problem for 00:10:55.019 --> 00:10:58.000 the writers. Because Frasier Crane in Boston 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:00.980 had a specific purpose. He was a psychiatrist 00:11:00.980 --> 00:11:03.240 in private practice. Right. So what is he doing 00:11:03.240 --> 00:11:05.399 in Seattle? Exactly. What is his daily life? 00:11:05.850 --> 00:11:08.669 The creators were absolutely adamant about avoiding 00:11:08.669 --> 00:11:11.110 what they called the Bob Newhart trope. And what's 00:11:11.110 --> 00:11:12.750 that for listeners who might not know? It's the 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:16.350 classic static sitcom setup. A psychiatrist sits 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:18.929 in a chair behind a desk. A patient walks in, 00:11:19.029 --> 00:11:21.870 says something funny or weird, and leaves. Then 00:11:21.870 --> 00:11:24.210 the next wacky patient comes in. Right. It's 00:11:24.210 --> 00:11:26.490 visually boring. It locks the main character 00:11:26.490 --> 00:11:29.230 into a passive role. They wanted something much 00:11:29.230 --> 00:11:31.549 more dynamic for Frasier. So what did they do? 00:11:31.629 --> 00:11:34.549 Did they dig into the trash bin of... old ideas 00:11:34.549 --> 00:11:38.049 they actually went back to an unused concept 00:11:38.049 --> 00:11:41.870 from their cheers days there was a minor subplot 00:11:41.870 --> 00:11:44.409 they had pitched but never used about fraser 00:11:44.409 --> 00:11:47.730 becoming a radio psychiatrist ah I'm listening. 00:11:47.870 --> 00:11:49.830 It was the perfect solution. It allowed Fraser 00:11:49.830 --> 00:11:52.470 to do his job, which is giving advice and solving 00:11:52.470 --> 00:11:55.649 problems, but in a fast -paced, high -energy 00:11:55.649 --> 00:11:58.250 broadcast environment. And it gave him an audience, 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:01.210 which completely feeds his massive ego. Exactly. 00:12:01.490 --> 00:12:04.029 But almost immediately, they almost fell into 00:12:04.029 --> 00:12:07.610 another classic sitcom trap. What crap? WKRP 00:12:07.610 --> 00:12:10.169 in Cincinnati. Oh, the standard workplace comedy? 00:12:10.370 --> 00:12:12.870 Right. They started sketching out the KCL radio 00:12:12.870 --> 00:12:14.870 station and they started filling it with all 00:12:14.870 --> 00:12:17.629 these wacky characters. The crazy station manager, 00:12:17.830 --> 00:12:20.389 the weird sound engineer. The eccentric sports 00:12:20.389 --> 00:12:22.389 guy. And suddenly they looked at the board and 00:12:22.389 --> 00:12:24.809 realized... Wait, we're just making a standard 00:12:24.809 --> 00:12:27.649 workplace sitcom. And Cheers was a workplace 00:12:27.649 --> 00:12:29.870 sitcom, technically. The bar was the workplace. 00:12:30.149 --> 00:12:33.129 Exactly. To truly separate Frasier from Cheers, 00:12:33.409 --> 00:12:35.889 they had to invert the entire narrative structure. 00:12:36.250 --> 00:12:39.309 How so? Cheers was a show about the work family, 00:12:39.490 --> 00:12:42.750 the people you choose to be around. Frasier had 00:12:42.750 --> 00:12:45.070 to be about the real family, the people you were 00:12:45.070 --> 00:12:46.809 stuck with. Which is really interesting because 00:12:46.809 --> 00:12:50.820 in Cheers, Frasier was basically an orphan. narratively 00:12:50.820 --> 00:12:53.919 speaking. We barely ever saw his home life. Right. 00:12:54.059 --> 00:12:57.200 And this massive pivot, shifting the focus from 00:12:57.200 --> 00:12:59.820 the workplace to the home, is what ultimately 00:12:59.820 --> 00:13:02.340 saved the show. They decided the core engine 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:04.519 of the comedy wouldn't be the radio station at 00:13:04.519 --> 00:13:07.360 all. No, it would be the apartment. And specifically, 00:13:07.600 --> 00:13:10.059 the constant friction between a father and a 00:13:10.059 --> 00:13:12.460 son. Which brings us to the inciting incident 00:13:12.460 --> 00:13:14.299 of the whole series. The thing that essentially 00:13:14.299 --> 00:13:17.860 ruins Frasier's swinging bachelor plans. The 00:13:17.860 --> 00:13:20.620 father, Martin Crane. So, They have a concept 00:13:20.620 --> 00:13:23.460 lockdown. Frazier moves to Seattle, gets a radio 00:13:23.460 --> 00:13:26.000 job, and gets stuck living with his injured dad. 00:13:26.220 --> 00:13:29.059 Right. But now you have to cast it. And reading 00:13:29.059 --> 00:13:31.200 through the casting notes and the sources, I 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:33.460 feel like miracle is the only appropriate word 00:13:33.460 --> 00:13:35.779 for what happened. It really was a series of 00:13:35.779 --> 00:13:38.059 completely happy accidents. If you change even 00:13:38.059 --> 00:13:41.120 one single variable in this cast, the whole equation 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:43.740 collapses. Let's start with Martin, because Martin 00:13:43.740 --> 00:13:46.620 is the anchor. He is. If Martin doesn't work, 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:49.899 Frazier just looks like a rich jerk. yelling 00:13:49.899 --> 00:13:53.169 at a vulnerable old man. Precisely. Martin has 00:13:53.169 --> 00:13:55.889 to be lovable, but he also has to be a stubborn, 00:13:56.090 --> 00:13:58.610 immovable pain in the neck. And he was based 00:13:58.610 --> 00:14:01.309 on a real person, wasn't he? He was. The character 00:14:01.309 --> 00:14:03.909 was actually based on creator Peter Casey's own 00:14:03.909 --> 00:14:06.269 father, who had been a San Francisco cop for 00:14:06.269 --> 00:14:08.649 34 years. So it was a very personal character 00:14:08.649 --> 00:14:11.009 for the writers. Deeply personal. They didn't 00:14:11.009 --> 00:14:14.370 want a standard sitcom dad who is just bumbling 00:14:14.370 --> 00:14:16.769 and sweet and clueless. They wanted edge. They 00:14:16.769 --> 00:14:18.610 wanted a guy who looked like he had actually 00:14:18.610 --> 00:14:21.340 walked the beat. seen the dark side of life, 00:14:21.500 --> 00:14:24.879 and had absolutely zero tolerance for his son's 00:14:24.879 --> 00:14:27.600 pretentious nonsense. And they wrote the pilot 00:14:27.600 --> 00:14:30.700 script with one specific actor in mind. John 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:32.820 Mahoney. Did they already know him? Had they 00:14:32.820 --> 00:14:34.860 worked together? They just knew his work. He 00:14:34.860 --> 00:14:37.059 was a highly respected theater actor in Chicago. 00:14:37.399 --> 00:14:39.700 He was part of the Steppenwolf Theater Company, 00:14:39.740 --> 00:14:42.080 and he had done some really solid film work, 00:14:42.159 --> 00:14:45.360 like in Say Anything. But here is where the traditional 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:48.500 Hollywood power dynamic completely shifts. Oh, 00:14:48.519 --> 00:14:51.860 yeah. Usually an actor has to audition. You have 00:14:51.860 --> 00:14:53.539 to jump through hoops, test for the network, 00:14:53.700 --> 00:14:56.440 basically beg for the role. Right. NBC executives 00:14:56.440 --> 00:14:59.200 actually told the producers, if you can get John 00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:01.840 Mahoney to say yes, just hire him. Don't even 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:05.580 test him. That is so rare for a pilot. It's practically 00:15:05.580 --> 00:15:08.320 unheard of. So the producers flew out to Chicago, 00:15:08.620 --> 00:15:11.100 took him to a nice dinner, and pitched him the 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:13.879 show. And he accepted. He said yes before they 00:15:13.879 --> 00:15:16.080 even ordered dessert. That's incredible. And 00:15:16.080 --> 00:15:18.580 the chemistry with Kelsey Grammer? It was instant. 00:15:18.659 --> 00:15:22.299 But there is a layer of real poignancy here that 00:15:22.299 --> 00:15:24.620 you don't necessarily see on the screen unless 00:15:24.620 --> 00:15:26.419 you know the backstory. What's the backstory? 00:15:26.580 --> 00:15:29.139 Kelsey Grammer's real father was actually murdered 00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:31.419 when Kelsey was a child. Oh, wow. I didn't know 00:15:31.419 --> 00:15:34.159 that. Yeah. He grew up entirely without a dad. 00:15:34.279 --> 00:15:37.059 Yeah. And John Mahoney, he was an extremely private 00:15:37.059 --> 00:15:40.039 person. He never married and he never had children 00:15:40.039 --> 00:15:42.279 of his own. So they filled a void for each other. 00:15:42.360 --> 00:15:45.779 Exactly. Off camera, they formed this very real, 00:15:45.879 --> 00:15:49.299 very tender bond. Grammer found the father figure 00:15:49.299 --> 00:15:52.220 he never had and Mahoney found a surrogate son. 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:55.419 That adds so much emotional weight to those quiet 00:15:55.419 --> 00:15:57.100 scenes where they're just sitting in the living 00:15:57.100 --> 00:15:59.559 room trying to connect over a beer. It really 00:15:59.559 --> 00:16:01.480 does. It makes the comedy sweeter because the 00:16:01.480 --> 00:16:05.379 underlying love was very real. Wow. But if Martin 00:16:05.379 --> 00:16:07.559 was the anchor of the show, the next piece of 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:10.100 the casting puzzle was a total wild card. The 00:16:10.100 --> 00:16:12.440 character who wasn't even supposed to exist? 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:15.179 We're talking about Niles. We are. The brother. 00:16:15.340 --> 00:16:17.360 This is the part of the research that just blows 00:16:17.360 --> 00:16:21.929 my mind. Frasier Crane was an only child. That 00:16:21.929 --> 00:16:24.350 is established canon. He literally said it on 00:16:24.350 --> 00:16:26.649 cheer. He was completely explicit about it on 00:16:26.649 --> 00:16:29.529 cheers. I am an only child. So the writers had 00:16:29.529 --> 00:16:31.809 zero intention of giving him a brother in the 00:16:31.809 --> 00:16:34.669 new show. None. Why would they? It muddies the 00:16:34.669 --> 00:16:37.009 water. It creates a massive plot hole right out 00:16:37.009 --> 00:16:39.210 of the gate. So how does Niles end up happening? 00:16:39.409 --> 00:16:41.830 A casting assistant named Sheila Guthrie is just 00:16:41.830 --> 00:16:44.409 doing her job one day, digging through huge stacks 00:16:44.409 --> 00:16:47.090 of actor headshots. As they do. And she finds 00:16:47.090 --> 00:16:49.669 a photo of an actor named David Hyde Pierce. 00:16:50.429 --> 00:16:53.529 She stops dead. She holds the photo up to her 00:16:53.529 --> 00:16:56.049 colleagues and says, does this guy look exactly 00:16:56.049 --> 00:16:59.009 like Kelsey Grammer or am I going crazy? I mean, 00:16:59.009 --> 00:17:00.870 if you look at them side by side, especially 00:17:00.870 --> 00:17:03.909 back then, it's structural. The jawline, the 00:17:03.909 --> 00:17:06.470 prominent forehead, the way the eyes are set. 00:17:06.630 --> 00:17:09.029 It's totally uncanny. So she brings the headshot 00:17:09.029 --> 00:17:11.950 to the creators. They look at it. They pull up 00:17:11.950 --> 00:17:15.259 some tape of David Hyde Pierce. He was doing 00:17:15.259 --> 00:17:17.200 a show at the time called The Powers That Be, 00:17:17.440 --> 00:17:20.599 and they were just floored by his comedic timing. 00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:22.759 So they just decided to break their own universe. 00:17:22.980 --> 00:17:24.839 They said, we don't care about the Cheers continuity. 00:17:24.980 --> 00:17:27.220 We don't care what Fraser said in Boston. We 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:30.539 have to hire this guy. They retrofitted the entire 00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:33.480 concept of the show around David Hyde Pierce's 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:35.720 cheat bones. Pretty much. That is incredibly 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:38.619 risky for a new show. Oh, it gets riskier. Pierce 00:17:38.619 --> 00:17:40.559 actually accepted the role before he had even 00:17:40.559 --> 00:17:43.069 read a single script. Brave man. But then the 00:17:43.069 --> 00:17:45.470 panic set in. He finally got the script, read 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:47.869 it, and started really worrying. He thought, 00:17:47.910 --> 00:17:51.009 wait a minute. We dress exactly alike. We talk 00:17:51.009 --> 00:17:54.589 exactly alike. We're both snooty psychiatrists. 00:17:54.670 --> 00:17:57.569 Am I just a duplicate? That's a very valid fear 00:17:57.569 --> 00:17:59.609 for an actor. You don't want to just be mini 00:17:59.609 --> 00:18:02.430 -me. You want your own distinct character. Exactly. 00:18:02.430 --> 00:18:04.910 He thought, why would the audience need two of 00:18:04.910 --> 00:18:07.869 us on screen? But what he didn't realize at first 00:18:07.869 --> 00:18:09.849 and what the writers figured out very quickly 00:18:09.849 --> 00:18:13.190 is that the duplication was the joke. Right. 00:18:13.579 --> 00:18:16.819 If Frazier is a snob, Niles makes him look like 00:18:16.819 --> 00:18:19.019 a construction worker by comparison. Precisely. 00:18:19.099 --> 00:18:21.839 Niles allowed Frazier to occasionally be the 00:18:21.839 --> 00:18:24.619 regular guy. It created a sliding scale of pretension. 00:18:24.799 --> 00:18:27.799 Without Niles, Frazier is just an annoying, wealthy 00:18:27.799 --> 00:18:30.599 elitist complaining about his dad. With Niles, 00:18:30.619 --> 00:18:32.660 Frazier suddenly becomes the relatable older 00:18:32.660 --> 00:18:35.460 brother who is just trying to manage his truly 00:18:35.460 --> 00:18:38.539 insane sibling. And their shared language, that 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:41.140 incredibly fast -paced overlapping dialogue they 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:43.859 do, became the absolute trademark of the series. 00:18:44.000 --> 00:18:45.900 It did. So now we have the men of the Crane household 00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:49.019 locked in. But you need an outsider, the person 00:18:49.019 --> 00:18:51.700 who can puncture the balloon of their ego. Daphne 00:18:51.700 --> 00:18:55.480 Moon. The physical therapist and caregiver. Now, 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:58.700 going back to that Malcolm Forbes idea, originally 00:18:58.700 --> 00:19:01.519 this was supposed to be a Hispanic nurse. Right. 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:04.380 They originally wanted that specific American 00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:07.819 culture clash. But Warren Littlefield, who was 00:19:07.819 --> 00:19:11.000 a top executive at NBC at the time. threw them 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:13.200 a curveball. What did he say? He just said, why 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:16.279 not make her English? Just to mix it up. Or was 00:19:16.279 --> 00:19:18.660 there a reason? He thought it would add a totally 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:21.160 different flavor to the household. Maybe he was 00:19:21.160 --> 00:19:22.880 thinking about the traditional class dynamics 00:19:22.880 --> 00:19:25.240 of British servants, or maybe he just liked the 00:19:25.240 --> 00:19:28.400 accent. He strongly suggested they look at Jane 00:19:28.400 --> 00:19:31.000 Leaves. And Kelsey Grammer was hesitant about 00:19:31.000 --> 00:19:33.599 that. Very hesitant. Why? He was worried about 00:19:33.599 --> 00:19:35.680 invoking a show called Nanny and the Professor. 00:19:36.019 --> 00:19:38.279 Oh, the old sitcom from the 70s. Right. He didn't 00:19:38.279 --> 00:19:40.940 want Fraser to feel like this tired, cliche setup 00:19:40.940 --> 00:19:44.200 where the magical British nanny floats in and 00:19:44.200 --> 00:19:46.220 fixes everyone's emotional problems with a cup 00:19:46.220 --> 00:19:48.420 of tea and a... That makes total sense. You don't 00:19:48.420 --> 00:19:50.740 want your smart comedy to suddenly feel cartoony. 00:19:50.819 --> 00:19:53.859 Exactly. But then they did a table read. And 00:19:53.859 --> 00:19:56.819 Jane Leaves is, well, yeah, she's Jane Leaves. 00:19:56.940 --> 00:19:59.259 She's brilliant. She's funny. She's physically 00:19:59.259 --> 00:20:02.960 gifted. She's quirky. And she brought this weirdly 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.259 psychic element to the character. I'm getting 00:20:05.259 --> 00:20:08.759 a vibration. Grammar absolutely loved her. And 00:20:08.759 --> 00:20:11.420 funnily enough, remember John Mahoney? The gruff, 00:20:11.420 --> 00:20:13.920 all -American dad. Yeah. He was actually born 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:16.380 in Manchester, England. He grew up there until 00:20:16.380 --> 00:20:19.440 he was 19 before moving to the States. So he 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:22.220 and Jane Leaves bonded immediately over their 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:24.779 shared British heritage. That's hilarious. They 00:20:24.779 --> 00:20:26.460 would actually speak in their native accents 00:20:26.460 --> 00:20:29.440 to each other between takes on set. I love that. 00:20:29.940 --> 00:20:32.619 The dad is British in real life and the son is 00:20:32.619 --> 00:20:36.130 American, but on the show... It's totally reversed 00:20:36.130 --> 00:20:38.390 in terms of their cultural attitude. It's a wonderful 00:20:38.390 --> 00:20:40.829 irony. Okay, so we have one more crucial piece 00:20:40.829 --> 00:20:44.950 of the human ensemble. Roz Doyle, Frasier's producer 00:20:44.950 --> 00:20:47.190 at the radio station. Yes. This was the only 00:20:47.190 --> 00:20:49.170 main role that actually required a traditional 00:20:49.170 --> 00:20:51.289 audition process, right? It was a grueling process 00:20:51.289 --> 00:20:53.849 for the creators. They saw something like 300 00:20:53.849 --> 00:20:57.650 actresses for the part. And listeners might be 00:20:57.650 --> 00:20:59.329 really shocked to know that they actually cast 00:20:59.329 --> 00:21:02.789 someone else first. They did. Who was it? Lisa 00:21:02.789 --> 00:21:06.500 Kudrow. Wait. Phoebe Buffay. Lisa Kudrow was 00:21:06.500 --> 00:21:09.099 Roz. She was officially cast. She had the job. 00:21:09.200 --> 00:21:12.460 I am really trying to picture that. Lisa Kudrow 00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:16.519 has such a specific, brilliant energy. But it's 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:20.140 very airy. It's whimsical. Roz is, well... Roz 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:22.680 is definitely not that. Exactly. And that's exactly 00:21:22.680 --> 00:21:24.880 what went wrong. During the early rehearsals, 00:21:24.880 --> 00:21:28.319 prior to actually filming the pilot, the producers 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:30.240 realized the chemistry was just fundamentally 00:21:30.240 --> 00:21:32.640 off. How so? Like, she wasn't funny. Oh, she 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.660 was very funny. But think about Fraser's character. 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:38.720 He's pompous. He steamrolls people. To balance 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:40.640 him out at the radio station, you need someone 00:21:40.640 --> 00:21:43.539 who can punch back hard. Right. You need a strong, 00:21:43.559 --> 00:21:46.440 assertive, alpha female who can just look at 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:48.039 him and tell him to shut up and take the next 00:21:48.039 --> 00:21:50.920 caller. And Lisa Kudrow. brilliant as she is, 00:21:51.059 --> 00:21:53.259 usually plays characters who sort of float above 00:21:53.259 --> 00:21:55.519 the conflict rather than diving into it. Right. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:58.119 She wasn't grounding him. So in what was a very 00:21:58.119 --> 00:22:00.700 difficult and painful decision, they let her 00:22:00.700 --> 00:22:03.099 go. And they called in their second choice. Perry 00:22:03.099 --> 00:22:05.420 Gilpin. And Perry Gilpin has that incredible 00:22:05.420 --> 00:22:08.759 voice, that deep rasp. She has the bite. She 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:11.420 could completely deflate Frasier's massive ego 00:22:11.420 --> 00:22:13.880 with just one deadpan look through the glass 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:16.299 of the radio booth. It was absolutely the right 00:22:16.299 --> 00:22:18.859 call. And frankly, it freed Lisa Kudrow up to 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:21.539 Go do Friends a little later. So literally everyone 00:22:21.539 --> 00:22:24.420 won in the end. A rare Hollywood happy ending. 00:22:24.660 --> 00:22:28.200 True. And finally, we cannot forget the silent 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:32.539 partner in this entire ensemble, Eddie. Ah, yes. 00:22:32.740 --> 00:22:35.579 Played by a dog named Moose. I feel like Eddie 00:22:35.579 --> 00:22:37.839 was the secret weapon of the show. Whenever a 00:22:37.839 --> 00:22:40.079 scene was getting a little too wordy or a little 00:22:40.079 --> 00:22:42.140 too intellectual with the brothers. Debating 00:22:42.140 --> 00:22:44.200 wine. They would just cut to the dog staring 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:46.400 blankly at Frasier. It was the perfect grounding 00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:48.740 mechanism. It constantly reminded the audience 00:22:48.740 --> 00:22:51.019 that despite all of his advanced degrees and 00:22:51.019 --> 00:22:53.700 his wealth, Frasier couldn't even outsmart a 00:22:53.700 --> 00:22:55.980 simple Jack Russell terrier. Okay, so we have 00:22:55.980 --> 00:22:58.160 the cast set. They're in Seattle, but they aren't 00:22:58.160 --> 00:22:59.900 really in Seattle, are they? Not even close. 00:23:00.140 --> 00:23:01.819 Let's move into part three of our deep dive. 00:23:02.099 --> 00:23:06.339 Production design. Because that apartment. I 00:23:06.339 --> 00:23:07.940 think for a certain generation of viewers, that 00:23:07.940 --> 00:23:10.400 apartment is the ultimate unattainable dream 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:13.819 home. It really is spectacular. The script called 00:23:13.819 --> 00:23:17.019 for an eclectic style. And the production designers 00:23:17.019 --> 00:23:19.500 really went all out. This wasn't just grabbing 00:23:19.500 --> 00:23:21.819 random props from the Paramount warehouse. They 00:23:21.819 --> 00:23:24.880 actually bought high -end, genuine furniture. 00:23:25.359 --> 00:23:28.140 We're talking about the replica Coco Chanel sofa. 00:23:28.380 --> 00:23:31.839 A real Wasley chair. And Eames' lounge chair. 00:23:32.059 --> 00:23:34.819 These are basically museum quality pieces. Yes. 00:23:35.059 --> 00:23:37.660 And it wasn't just set dressing for the sake 00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:40.880 of looking pretty. It was deep character definition. 00:23:41.380 --> 00:23:43.599 Right. It showed Frazier's immaculate taste, 00:23:43.839 --> 00:23:47.059 his complete obsession with aesthetics, and frankly, 00:23:47.200 --> 00:23:50.299 his money. But there's one thing about that famous 00:23:50.299 --> 00:23:53.819 apartment that drives actual Seattle locals completely 00:23:53.819 --> 00:23:56.279 crazy to this day. The view from the balcony. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:23:58.900 Ah, the Space Needle view. It's right there. 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:00.460 It looks like it's practically in his backyard. 00:24:00.779 --> 00:24:02.480 I hate to ruin it for you, but it's completely 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:05.180 fake. Don't break my heart. I have to. If you 00:24:05.180 --> 00:24:07.460 look at it geographically, no residential building 00:24:07.460 --> 00:24:10.619 in Seattle has that specific unobstructed angle 00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:13.079 on the Space Needle. If you calculate the geometry 00:24:13.079 --> 00:24:15.039 of where his building would have to physically 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:18.119 be to get that view, Frazier's apartment block 00:24:18.119 --> 00:24:20.819 would be floating right in the middle of Puget 00:24:20.819 --> 00:24:23.220 Sound. Oh. Or it'd be in a neighborhood that 00:24:23.220 --> 00:24:25.940 absolutely didn't have high -rise condos at that 00:24:25.940 --> 00:24:29.500 time. So it's just pure TV reality. They created 00:24:29.500 --> 00:24:32.099 that backdrop specifically so the city's most 00:24:32.099 --> 00:24:35.279 famous landmark would be prominent in every wide 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.660 shot. It quickly became iconic. And is convincing 00:24:38.660 --> 00:24:40.980 enough that it actually influenced real world. 00:24:41.400 --> 00:24:43.740 real estate trends, didn't it? Yes. Real estate 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:46.059 agents working in Seattle in the mid -90s actually 00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:49.140 reported buyers coming in and explicitly asking 00:24:49.140 --> 00:24:52.819 for condos with that cosmopolitan feel. They 00:24:52.819 --> 00:24:54.839 literally wanted the Frasier Crane lifestyle. 00:24:55.180 --> 00:24:57.299 Developers actually started building new units 00:24:57.299 --> 00:25:00.460 that mimicked that open plan split level look 00:25:00.460 --> 00:25:03.619 because the show made it look so incredibly desirable. 00:25:03.960 --> 00:25:06.859 That is amazing. Life imitating art on a massive 00:25:06.859 --> 00:25:09.119 scale. Now let's talk about the other main set 00:25:09.119 --> 00:25:12.049 on the show, Cafe Nervosa. The quintessential 00:25:12.049 --> 00:25:13.890 hangout spot. This is where they spent half their 00:25:13.890 --> 00:25:16.170 time. And reading the notes, the design philosophy 00:25:16.170 --> 00:25:19.730 here was essentially anti -Cheers. Yes, very 00:25:19.730 --> 00:25:22.109 intentionally. How so? Well, think about Cheers 00:25:22.109 --> 00:25:24.690 for a second. It's a bar. It's dark. There's 00:25:24.690 --> 00:25:28.690 a lot of heavy wood. And crucially, people sit 00:25:28.690 --> 00:25:32.470 on stools side by side facing the bartender. 00:25:32.809 --> 00:25:35.210 Right. For Café Nervosa, the designers specifically 00:25:35.210 --> 00:25:38.009 omitted all bar stools. No stools at all. None. 00:25:38.210 --> 00:25:41.210 They wanted it to look warm, inviting, and traditional. 00:25:41.289 --> 00:25:44.549 Not like the modern grab -and -go Seattle coffee 00:25:44.549 --> 00:25:46.869 shops that were just emerging at the time. They 00:25:46.869 --> 00:25:48.910 wanted a place where characters had to sit and 00:25:48.910 --> 00:25:51.329 converse face -to -face across a table. Exactly. 00:25:51.329 --> 00:25:53.289 They even added a bookcase in the background 00:25:53.289 --> 00:25:55.369 to suggest that patrons could just sit and read 00:25:55.369 --> 00:25:56.849 while they drank their coffee. They wanted a 00:25:56.849 --> 00:26:01.109 European salon atmosphere. It's very 90s Seattle 00:26:01.109 --> 00:26:04.329 coffee culture. but highly polished. It's basically 00:26:04.329 --> 00:26:07.349 the idealized television version of Starbucks 00:26:07.349 --> 00:26:09.450 before Starbucks took over the world. Perfect 00:26:09.450 --> 00:26:12.390 description. Now, diving into the actual production, 00:26:12.690 --> 00:26:15.490 there's a secret about Kelsey Grammer's acting 00:26:15.490 --> 00:26:17.730 method that I found totally fascinating in the 00:26:17.730 --> 00:26:20.069 research. We already established he's a genius 00:26:20.069 --> 00:26:24.450 comedic actor, but his method, it sounds terrifying 00:26:24.450 --> 00:26:27.390 for literally everyone else on set. Oh, it was 00:26:27.390 --> 00:26:30.750 notoriously stressful. It's a technique he called 00:26:30.750 --> 00:26:34.829 requisite disrespect. Requisite disrespect? Yeah. 00:26:35.049 --> 00:26:37.069 That sounds like the name of a punk rock band. 00:26:37.349 --> 00:26:39.809 What does that actually mean in a television 00:26:39.809 --> 00:26:42.670 acting context? Basically, Grammer decided he 00:26:42.670 --> 00:26:45.170 would not rehearse with the other actors. Wait. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:47.700 Like at all. Very, very little. How does that 00:26:47.700 --> 00:26:51.099 even work? In a typical sitcom week, you rehearse 00:26:51.099 --> 00:26:53.880 for days. You block out the scenes. You figure 00:26:53.880 --> 00:26:55.880 out exactly where you're standing. You practice 00:26:55.880 --> 00:26:58.740 the timing of the jokes so no one steps on anyone's 00:26:58.740 --> 00:27:01.779 lines. Grammar found all of that incredibly boring. 00:27:02.059 --> 00:27:04.720 He felt that over -rehearsing just drained all 00:27:04.720 --> 00:27:06.839 the spontaneous life out of his performance. 00:27:07.500 --> 00:27:09.339 So what did he do instead? He would learn his 00:27:09.339 --> 00:27:11.220 lines on his own, run through them maybe once 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:13.920 in his head, and then just do it. Often for the 00:27:13.920 --> 00:27:16.160 very first time, right before filming, in front 00:27:16.160 --> 00:27:18.740 of the live studio audience. You kidding? He 00:27:18.740 --> 00:27:20.779 wouldn't give the other actors any real energy 00:27:20.779 --> 00:27:22.759 during the technical warm -ups. He'd just sort 00:27:22.759 --> 00:27:25.059 of mumble and walk through it. That sounds like 00:27:25.059 --> 00:27:27.599 an absolute recipe for disaster on a multi -camera 00:27:27.599 --> 00:27:30.690 sitcom. For him, it worked brilliantly. It kept 00:27:30.690 --> 00:27:33.509 his performance fresh. It gave him this burst 00:27:33.509 --> 00:27:36.589 of spontaneous, in -the -moment energy. It's 00:27:36.589 --> 00:27:38.829 a big reason why his reactions on the show look 00:27:38.829 --> 00:27:40.990 so genuine, because he's actually reacting for 00:27:40.990 --> 00:27:43.150 the very first time. But what about the guest 00:27:43.150 --> 00:27:46.400 stars? Oh, God, the guest stars. It must have 00:27:46.400 --> 00:27:48.359 been a nightmare for them. Imagine coming onto 00:27:48.359 --> 00:27:50.759 the biggest hit show on television. You're already 00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:53.500 nervous. You've meticulously memorized your lines. 00:27:54.500 --> 00:27:57.140 The main star, the guy with his name on the building, 00:27:57.319 --> 00:27:59.180 won't even look you in the eye during the rehearsal. 00:27:59.480 --> 00:28:01.960 And then the red light goes on, the cameras roll, 00:28:02.099 --> 00:28:05.160 the live audience screams, and suddenly he turns 00:28:05.160 --> 00:28:08.740 it on to 100%. It caused absolute panic among 00:28:08.740 --> 00:28:11.500 the guest actors. I can imagine. But the producers 00:28:11.500 --> 00:28:14.500 realized that panic often translated into a really 00:28:14.500 --> 00:28:17.599 useful nervous energy on screen. Because Frasier 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:19.759 is a character who naturally makes people nervous. 00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:22.299 Exactly. Kelsey Grammer made actors nervous, 00:28:22.339 --> 00:28:25.240 which made them act nervous around Frasier. It 00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:27.460 just worked. Speaking of guest stars, we have 00:28:27.460 --> 00:28:30.180 to talk about the callers. I'm listening. The 00:28:30.180 --> 00:28:32.779 famous gimmick of the celebrity callers on his 00:28:32.779 --> 00:28:35.230 radio show. This was such a clever production 00:28:35.230 --> 00:28:38.910 trick, really. The people calling into KACL for 00:28:38.910 --> 00:28:42.829 psychiatric advice weren't just random voice 00:28:42.829 --> 00:28:45.509 actors or extras. They were heavy hitters. Huge 00:28:45.509 --> 00:28:47.690 celebrities. There were voiceovers recorded by 00:28:47.690 --> 00:28:50.089 A -list talent. We're talking Mel Brooks. Stephen 00:28:50.089 --> 00:28:52.529 King. Bill Gates. Helen Mirren. Ben Stiller. 00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:56.250 The list is staggering. And the absolute beauty 00:28:56.250 --> 00:28:58.589 of it from a production standpoint was these 00:28:58.589 --> 00:29:01.029 celebrities didn't have to fly to Los Angeles 00:29:01.029 --> 00:29:03.309 and come to the studio. Right. They could record 00:29:03.309 --> 00:29:05.549 their lines over a phone line from literally 00:29:05.549 --> 00:29:07.990 anywhere in the world. It was the easiest cameo 00:29:07.990 --> 00:29:10.509 gig in Hollywood. It took five minutes. And if 00:29:10.509 --> 00:29:12.690 you watch the end credits of the season finales, 00:29:12.690 --> 00:29:15.500 they would often do a visual reveal, right? Yeah, 00:29:15.579 --> 00:29:17.299 they would show the headshots of everyone who 00:29:17.299 --> 00:29:19.619 had anonymously called in during that particular 00:29:19.619 --> 00:29:22.299 season. It became a real badge of honor in the 00:29:22.299 --> 00:29:24.579 industry to be a caller on Frasier. Everyone 00:29:24.579 --> 00:29:27.599 wanted to do it. So what does this all mean for 00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:31.220 the internal universe of the show? We have this 00:29:31.220 --> 00:29:34.359 brilliant new world, a perfect new cast, but 00:29:34.359 --> 00:29:37.259 they still have the massive shadow of Cheers 00:29:37.259 --> 00:29:39.859 hanging over them. They couldn't escape it entirely. 00:29:40.359 --> 00:29:43.440 Let's move to part four, the Cheers connection 00:29:43.440 --> 00:29:46.599 and continuity. We already touched on the only 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:49.319 child plot hole with Niles, but there was a much 00:29:49.319 --> 00:29:51.279 bigger continuity problem they had to deal with, 00:29:51.359 --> 00:29:53.500 wasn't there? It was a massive one. It's known 00:29:53.500 --> 00:29:56.400 as the dead father problem. Right. Because on 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:59.500 Cheers, Frazier had explicitly stated that his 00:29:59.500 --> 00:30:01.740 father was a research scientist who had died. 00:30:01.859 --> 00:30:03.880 Which is obviously very different from a retired 00:30:03.880 --> 00:30:06.480 police detective who is very much alive and drinking 00:30:06.480 --> 00:30:09.000 cheap beer in your living room. How did the writers 00:30:09.000 --> 00:30:10.700 explain that? Did they just hope the audience 00:30:10.700 --> 00:30:13.619 forgot what he said in Boston? The funniest part 00:30:13.619 --> 00:30:15.819 is the creators of Frasier actually hadn't worked 00:30:15.819 --> 00:30:18.319 on that specific season of Cheers where he delivered 00:30:18.319 --> 00:30:20.420 that line. So they didn't even know he said it. 00:30:20.500 --> 00:30:22.339 They had no idea. They didn't catch the mistake 00:30:22.339 --> 00:30:24.799 until the new show was already deep in production. 00:30:25.099 --> 00:30:28.619 It was a genuine continuity error. So in season 00:30:28.619 --> 00:30:31.619 two of Frasier, in an episode called The Show, 00:30:31.859 --> 00:30:34.440 where Sam shows up, they finally had to address 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:37.700 it and retcon it. Retcon, meaning retroactive 00:30:37.700 --> 00:30:41.420 continuity, fixing the past. Exactly. Sam alone 00:30:41.420 --> 00:30:44.240 comes to visit. And Frazier is forced to admit 00:30:44.240 --> 00:30:46.599 to him that he lied to everyone back at the bar 00:30:46.599 --> 00:30:49.599 in Boston. What was his excuse? He says he was 00:30:49.599 --> 00:30:51.680 just incredibly angry at Martin after a really 00:30:51.680 --> 00:30:53.900 bad argument on the phone, so he pretty much 00:30:53.900 --> 00:30:56.220 just told everyone his father was dead. That 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:59.119 is so dark. It is incredibly dark. But also, 00:30:59.220 --> 00:31:02.670 it is so... perfectly Frasier. It's petty, it's 00:31:02.670 --> 00:31:05.609 highly dramatic, and it's completely impulsive. 00:31:05.869 --> 00:31:08.589 It fits the character's flaws perfectly. It took 00:31:08.589 --> 00:31:10.670 a genuine production error and turned it into 00:31:10.670 --> 00:31:12.809 a brilliant character beat that showed the audience 00:31:12.809 --> 00:31:15.529 just how toxic and dysfunctional their relationship 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:17.849 used to be before they moved in together. And 00:31:17.849 --> 00:31:19.950 despite trying so hard to distance themselves 00:31:19.950 --> 00:31:22.549 from Boston in the beginning, they did eventually 00:31:22.549 --> 00:31:25.130 bring the Cheers cast back for guest spots. They 00:31:25.130 --> 00:31:27.450 did. They established a rule. Surviving main 00:31:27.450 --> 00:31:29.750 cast members of Cheers could eventually appear 00:31:29.750 --> 00:31:31.809 on the show. And almost everyone did. Right. 00:31:31.869 --> 00:31:35.569 Pretty much. Sam, Woody, Diane, Cliff, Norm, 00:31:35.690 --> 00:31:37.609 they all made their way to Seattle eventually. 00:31:37.930 --> 00:31:39.849 Except for Kirstie Alley. Right. Everyone except 00:31:39.849 --> 00:31:42.339 Kirstie Alley. Why didn't she appear? Just scheduling. 00:31:42.500 --> 00:31:44.759 No, it was actually for religious reasons. She 00:31:44.759 --> 00:31:47.880 was a Scientologist. And since the entire premise 00:31:47.880 --> 00:31:51.019 of Frasier revolved around psychiatry and the 00:31:51.019 --> 00:31:53.140 mental health profession, which the Church of 00:31:53.140 --> 00:31:56.000 Scientology strongly opposes, she officially 00:31:56.000 --> 00:31:59.180 declined to ever appear on the show. Ah, that 00:31:59.180 --> 00:32:02.480 makes sense given her beliefs. But the absolute 00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:04.940 standout guest star from the Cheers universe 00:32:04.940 --> 00:32:08.680 has to be Lilith. Baby New Earth. She was phenomenal. 00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:10.819 She was the only Cheers character to become a 00:32:10.819 --> 00:32:13.000 true recurring character on Frasier, right? Yes. 00:32:13.000 --> 00:32:14.960 She appeared in 12 episodes over the run of the 00:32:14.960 --> 00:32:17.180 series. Her comedic chemistry with Kelsey Grammer 00:32:17.180 --> 00:32:19.359 was simply too good for the writers to lose. 00:32:19.539 --> 00:32:21.740 She was literally the only person in the world 00:32:21.740 --> 00:32:25.119 who could out -snob Frasier Crane. And completely 00:32:25.119 --> 00:32:28.220 terrify him with just a monotone hello. And there 00:32:28.220 --> 00:32:31.200 was that one major event episode later on where 00:32:31.200 --> 00:32:33.279 they actually went back to Boston. Right. The 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:35.660 episode Cheerful Goodbyes. The whole Seattle 00:32:35.660 --> 00:32:38.119 family flies east. They visit Boston and they 00:32:38.119 --> 00:32:41.599 reunite with Cliff, Norm, and Carla. It was a 00:32:41.599 --> 00:32:44.720 really nice, respectful nod to the past without 00:32:44.720 --> 00:32:46.940 letting that past take over the identity of the 00:32:46.940 --> 00:32:49.500 current Shure. It felt like a graduation in a 00:32:49.500 --> 00:32:52.299 way. Frazier had fully moved on and established 00:32:52.299 --> 00:32:54.759 his own life, but he was secure enough to go 00:32:54.759 --> 00:32:58.019 back and visit his old haunts. Exactly. It respected 00:32:58.019 --> 00:33:00.779 the legacy, but kept moving the characters forward. 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:03.960 Which perfectly brings us to part five. Themes 00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:06.519 and dynamics. Because underneath all the door 00:33:06.519 --> 00:33:08.940 -slamming farce and the jokes about rare sherry, 00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:11.700 this show has some really strong, consistent 00:33:11.700 --> 00:33:13.799 themes running through it. It wasn't just empty 00:33:13.799 --> 00:33:16.259 jokes. There was a very solid foundation. And 00:33:16.259 --> 00:33:18.900 the central theme, the absolute engine of the 00:33:18.900 --> 00:33:21.859 entire series, is the class and culture clash. 00:33:22.180 --> 00:33:24.619 Frazier and Niles versus Martin. It's the self 00:33:24.619 --> 00:33:26.960 -proclaimed intellectuals versus the proud average 00:33:26.960 --> 00:33:29.369 Joe. You have the two brothers with their wildly 00:33:29.369 --> 00:33:32.549 expensive tastes, the opera, the rare antiques, 00:33:32.650 --> 00:33:35.329 the fine wine, the intricate French food. And 00:33:35.329 --> 00:33:37.630 then you have Martin with his Ballantine beer, 00:33:37.809 --> 00:33:40.950 his sports on TV, and that hideous duct -taped 00:33:40.950 --> 00:33:43.269 recliner. That chair was literally a character 00:33:43.269 --> 00:33:46.109 in itself. It represented absolutely everything 00:33:46.109 --> 00:33:49.230 Frazier hated in the world. It was ugly, it was 00:33:49.230 --> 00:33:51.549 worn out, it was comfortable, and it was completely 00:33:51.549 --> 00:33:54.690 unpretentious. But what's truly fascinating here, 00:33:54.829 --> 00:33:56.769 and you see this if you watch a few episodes 00:33:56.769 --> 00:33:59.549 in a row, is that the show didn't just mock the 00:33:59.549 --> 00:34:02.049 blue collar guy. In fact, the show almost always 00:34:02.049 --> 00:34:04.769 sides with Martin. That's a really great point. 00:34:05.250 --> 00:34:06.990 Frasier and Niles are usually the butt of the 00:34:06.990 --> 00:34:10.659 joke, not Martin. Exactly. The brothers are very 00:34:10.659 --> 00:34:13.019 often portrayed as totally ridiculous. They are 00:34:13.019 --> 00:34:15.820 pompous, they are incredibly arrogant, and they 00:34:15.820 --> 00:34:18.699 are wildly out of touch with reality. While Martin, 00:34:18.840 --> 00:34:21.079 despite being the quote -unquote blue -collar 00:34:21.079 --> 00:34:23.559 character, is almost always the one with the 00:34:23.559 --> 00:34:25.699 actual wisdom. He's the one who sees right through 00:34:25.699 --> 00:34:28.059 the brothers' academic nonsense. He constantly 00:34:28.059 --> 00:34:31.059 grounds them. And yet, somehow, Frager remains 00:34:31.059 --> 00:34:34.400 sympathetic to the audience. He desperately wants 00:34:34.400 --> 00:34:37.019 to be part of the elite. But he actually has 00:34:37.019 --> 00:34:39.719 a conscience. He struggles with it. While Niles, 00:34:39.860 --> 00:34:42.480 Niles is just the pure, unfiltered distillate 00:34:42.480 --> 00:34:45.239 of snobbery. Oh, Niles physically wiping off 00:34:45.239 --> 00:34:46.920 his chair with a handkerchief before he sits 00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:49.579 down at the coffee shop. He's severely mysophobic. 00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:53.380 He has a genuine fear of germs. He's an unapologetic 00:34:53.380 --> 00:34:56.219 elitist. He's terrified of anything he considers 00:34:56.219 --> 00:34:59.670 common. But functionally... he serves as the 00:34:59.670 --> 00:35:02.929 perfect foil to fraser he makes fraser look almost 00:35:02.929 --> 00:35:05.130 normal by comparison it's a brilliant writing 00:35:05.130 --> 00:35:07.389 trick it allows the audience to still like fraser 00:35:07.389 --> 00:35:09.829 because they can say hey he might be a snob but 00:35:09.829 --> 00:35:12.429 at least he's not as bad as niles and their relationship 00:35:12.429 --> 00:35:15.610 that deeply ingrained sibling rivalry is the 00:35:15.610 --> 00:35:17.949 other major engine of the comedy it's so intense 00:35:17.949 --> 00:35:20.889 they are fiercely almost pathologically competitive 00:35:20.889 --> 00:35:23.389 with each other who has the better more exclusive 00:35:23.389 --> 00:35:26.090 wine club membership who bought the rarer more 00:35:26.090 --> 00:35:28.789 expensive antique who gets to be the cork master 00:35:28.789 --> 00:35:31.369 hail cork mess but underneath all that petty 00:35:31.369 --> 00:35:34.429 competition they are incredibly close they are 00:35:34.429 --> 00:35:36.610 really the only two people on earth who truly 00:35:36.610 --> 00:35:39.289 understand each other they speak a cultural language 00:35:39.289 --> 00:35:41.349 that no one else around them speaks they're completely 00:35:41.349 --> 00:35:43.730 codependent and the ultimate irony of the show 00:35:43.730 --> 00:35:46.809 is that they are both highly trained psychiatrists 00:35:46.809 --> 00:35:50.269 literal experts in human behavior who are completely 00:35:50.269 --> 00:35:52.829 inept at solving their own emotional problems 00:35:53.260 --> 00:35:55.519 That is the central driving irony of the entire 00:35:55.519 --> 00:35:58.699 series. The Doctor cannot heal himself. Now we 00:35:58.699 --> 00:36:01.500 have to talk about the romantic arcs. Specifically, 00:36:01.860 --> 00:36:05.480 Niles and Daphne. The great will -they -or -won't 00:36:05.480 --> 00:36:08.610 -they. It's band seasons. This has to be one 00:36:08.610 --> 00:36:11.250 of the longest slow burn romances in television 00:36:11.250 --> 00:36:14.269 history. It was an absolute masterclass in long 00:36:14.269 --> 00:36:17.510 term storytelling. Niles falls madly in love 00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:20.269 with her the exact second they meet in the pilot 00:36:20.269 --> 00:36:23.110 episode. And she is completely, totally oblivious 00:36:23.110 --> 00:36:26.090 to it. And the writers managed to keep that unrequited 00:36:26.090 --> 00:36:30.230 tension going for seven years. Seven years. How 00:36:30.230 --> 00:36:32.409 did they sustain that for so long without the 00:36:32.409 --> 00:36:34.570 audience just getting completely annoyed? By 00:36:34.570 --> 00:36:37.469 giving Niles other complex relationships to navigate, 00:36:37.630 --> 00:36:40.429 he had Marismith, the famously invisible wife 00:36:40.429 --> 00:36:42.710 we never actually see. He had other girlfriends 00:36:42.710 --> 00:36:45.210 later on. It wasn't just him sitting in a corner 00:36:45.210 --> 00:36:47.349 pining for Daphne every single week. He had his 00:36:47.349 --> 00:36:49.630 own life. But the audience always knew the truth. 00:36:49.849 --> 00:36:51.949 We were all just waiting for it to finally happen. 00:36:52.150 --> 00:36:53.989 And when they finally got together, it was a 00:36:53.989 --> 00:36:57.429 massive television event. But meanwhile, Fraser's 00:36:57.429 --> 00:37:00.630 love life is just a perpetual disaster zone. 00:37:00.989 --> 00:37:04.730 A perpetual, exhausting search for love, completely 00:37:04.730 --> 00:37:08.030 complicated by his own massive ego. He practically 00:37:08.030 --> 00:37:10.909 sabotages every single relationship he gets into. 00:37:11.090 --> 00:37:13.769 He overthinks everything. He always finds one 00:37:13.769 --> 00:37:17.469 tiny, insignificant flaw. She breathes too loud, 00:37:17.610 --> 00:37:19.710 or she likes the wrong kind of art, or she used 00:37:19.710 --> 00:37:22.849 the wrong fork, and he just blows the whole relationship 00:37:22.849 --> 00:37:25.510 up. It's tragic, really. He's looking for absolute 00:37:25.510 --> 00:37:28.090 perfection, and perfection just... doesn't exist 00:37:28.090 --> 00:37:30.829 which is exactly why he ends up alone for most 00:37:30.829 --> 00:37:33.489 of the run or at least always searching so we 00:37:33.489 --> 00:37:36.110 have this incredible finely tuned machine of 00:37:36.110 --> 00:37:39.909 a show great cast deep themes brilliant writing 00:37:39.909 --> 00:37:42.329 let's look at the reception and legacy in part 00:37:42.329 --> 00:37:45.269 six the show's footprint is massive we mentioned 00:37:45.269 --> 00:37:47.989 the awards at the top but critically it was just 00:37:47.989 --> 00:37:50.650 universally beloved it was a darling of the critics 00:37:50.650 --> 00:37:53.460 they consistently praised the wit the lightning 00:37:53.460 --> 00:37:56.300 -fast timing, the ensemble rapport. They actually 00:37:56.300 --> 00:37:58.699 coined this specific idea around the show called 00:37:58.699 --> 00:38:00.800 high and low humor. What does that mean in this 00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:03.119 context? It means you could have a highly complex 00:38:03.119 --> 00:38:06.300 joke about the plot of an obscure German opera, 00:38:06.500 --> 00:38:09.119 something that practically requires a master's 00:38:09.119 --> 00:38:11.480 degree to fully understand, right in the exact 00:38:11.480 --> 00:38:15.320 same scene as a dog stealing a muffin or a man 00:38:15.320 --> 00:38:17.699 literally slipping and falling on a banana peel. 00:38:17.960 --> 00:38:21.059 It perfectly mixed highly sophisticated dialogue. 00:38:21.639 --> 00:38:25.019 with low -brow physical farce critics at the 00:38:25.019 --> 00:38:27.099 time actually compared it to three's company 00:38:27.099 --> 00:38:30.199 but with a phd That is such a great description. 00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:32.900 Three's company with a PhD. It respected the 00:38:32.900 --> 00:38:35.519 audience enough to be incredibly smart and literate, 00:38:35.539 --> 00:38:38.579 but it also knew that, fundamentally, watching 00:38:38.579 --> 00:38:41.480 a pompous, well -dressed man fall down is always 00:38:41.480 --> 00:38:44.199 going to be funny. But like all long -running, 00:38:44.280 --> 00:38:46.900 successful shows, it eventually had a dip in 00:38:46.900 --> 00:38:49.500 quality. Yes, the later seasons, especially around 00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:51.900 season 10. Even Kelsey Grammer has acknowledged 00:38:51.900 --> 00:38:53.920 there was a creative lull, hasn't he? He has 00:38:53.920 --> 00:38:56.159 been very open about it. What was the cause? 00:38:56.320 --> 00:38:58.019 Was it just the writers getting tired after - 00:38:58.059 --> 00:39:00.500 a decade a few things combined first there was 00:39:00.500 --> 00:39:02.980 the marriage problem with niles and daphne right 00:39:02.980 --> 00:39:06.079 once niles and daphne finally got together and 00:39:06.079 --> 00:39:09.059 got married the show permanently lost that specific 00:39:09.059 --> 00:39:11.940 driving tension because a happy stable couple 00:39:11.940 --> 00:39:15.519 is lovely in real life But it's just fundamentally 00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:18.820 less funny on a sitcom than a desperate, pining 00:39:18.820 --> 00:39:21.800 man trying to hide his feelings. Exactly. Conflict 00:39:21.800 --> 00:39:23.880 is comedy. When you remove the conflict, you 00:39:23.880 --> 00:39:26.099 lose the comedy. And what was Grammar's take 00:39:26.099 --> 00:39:28.980 on the dip? He felt the show began to, quote, 00:39:29.179 --> 00:39:32.619 take itself too seriously. Interesting. He thought 00:39:32.619 --> 00:39:34.619 it started focusing way too much on the heavy 00:39:34.619 --> 00:39:37.219 drama of the relationships and lost a bit of 00:39:37.219 --> 00:39:40.079 that light, farcical edge that made it work so 00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:42.619 well early on it became a bit soapy. But it did 00:39:42.619 --> 00:39:44.780 bounce back for the finale, didn't it? Oh, absolutely. 00:39:45.099 --> 00:39:47.460 The final run of episodes is widely considered 00:39:47.460 --> 00:39:50.079 a return to form. The finale is excellent. And 00:39:50.079 --> 00:39:52.360 the overall legacy of the show is completely 00:39:52.360 --> 00:39:55.760 secure. It definitively proved that a spinoff 00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.300 could not only succeed, but actually eclipse 00:39:58.300 --> 00:40:00.780 its parent show. Winning more Emmys than Cheers 00:40:00.780 --> 00:40:03.320 is just a staggering historical achievement. 00:40:03.639 --> 00:40:05.340 It's like the sequel being undeniably better 00:40:05.340 --> 00:40:07.139 than the original blockbuster movie. It almost 00:40:07.139 --> 00:40:09.960 never happens. And recently, the story actually 00:40:09.960 --> 00:40:13.260 continued. We had the official revival in 2023 00:40:13.260 --> 00:40:16.519 on Paramount+. The third act of Frasier Crane. 00:40:16.639 --> 00:40:19.019 Frasier returns to Boston. Talk about coming 00:40:19.019 --> 00:40:22.139 full circle. Right. It has a mostly new cast, 00:40:22.400 --> 00:40:25.019 featuring Fraser's grown -up son, Freddie, played 00:40:25.019 --> 00:40:27.679 by Jack Cutmore Scott, and Nicholas Linhurst 00:40:27.679 --> 00:40:31.079 joins the cast as his old Oxford buddy. It's 00:40:31.079 --> 00:40:33.639 a very different show with a different rhythm, 00:40:33.760 --> 00:40:37.460 but it really just proves the enduring, undeniable 00:40:37.460 --> 00:40:40.659 appeal of this specific character. It does. It 00:40:40.659 --> 00:40:42.780 seems people just genuinely want to spend time 00:40:42.780 --> 00:40:44.739 with Frasier Crane. He's a comfort character 00:40:44.739 --> 00:40:47.000 for millions of people. Even with all of his 00:40:47.000 --> 00:40:49.079 ridiculous flaws and his arrogance, he's always 00:40:49.079 --> 00:40:51.000 trying. He wants to do the right thing. I think 00:40:51.000 --> 00:40:53.599 that's why we love him so much. He's deeply flawed, 00:40:53.800 --> 00:40:56.059 but he's always trying to be a better person, 00:40:56.179 --> 00:40:58.480 even if he fails hilariously most of the time. 00:40:58.619 --> 00:41:00.559 So bringing this all together is... we wrap up. 00:41:01.420 --> 00:41:03.860 Frasier succeeded because it focused on incredibly 00:41:03.860 --> 00:41:07.460 universal themes. Family, ego, the constant search 00:41:07.460 --> 00:41:09.860 for love. Right. It wasn't about the politics 00:41:09.860 --> 00:41:11.500 of the 90s. It wasn't making jokes about the 00:41:11.500 --> 00:41:13.559 news of the day. It was purely about the human 00:41:13.559 --> 00:41:15.849 condition. And that's exactly why it found a 00:41:15.849 --> 00:41:18.190 massive renaissance on streaming services recently. 00:41:18.349 --> 00:41:20.949 A whole new generation discovering it on Netflix 00:41:20.949 --> 00:41:23.630 and Paramount+. They flock to it because it's 00:41:23.630 --> 00:41:26.469 soothing, highly intelligent comedy. Someone 00:41:26.469 --> 00:41:30.030 described it as competence porn mixed with emotional 00:41:30.030 --> 00:41:33.110 disaster, which is perfect. That is a perfect 00:41:33.110 --> 00:41:35.849 description. So here is my final provocative 00:41:35.849 --> 00:41:39.750 thought for you, the listener, to mull over and 00:41:39.750 --> 00:41:42.289 for you, my friend. Let's hear it. We talked 00:41:42.289 --> 00:41:44.309 earlier about that original bizarre concept, 00:41:44.429 --> 00:41:46.269 the paralyzed publishing magnate. That was the 00:41:46.269 --> 00:41:48.210 actual script they wanted to write. The Malcolm 00:41:48.210 --> 00:41:51.130 Forbes idea. Right. But when you actually sit 00:41:51.130 --> 00:41:55.130 down and watch Frasier, the specific voice, the 00:41:55.130 --> 00:41:58.769 unique cadence, the physical mannerisms, they 00:41:58.769 --> 00:42:01.769 are all so deeply specific to Kelsey Grammer 00:42:01.769 --> 00:42:04.010 as an actor. They are completely inseparable 00:42:04.010 --> 00:42:06.889 at this point. It really makes you wonder. How 00:42:06.889 --> 00:42:09.610 much of the iconic character of Frasier Crane 00:42:09.610 --> 00:42:12.610 was actually written on the page by those writers? 00:42:12.630 --> 00:42:16.349 And how much was simply the inevitable, unavoidable 00:42:16.349 --> 00:42:19.150 result of Kelsey Grammer's specific performance 00:42:19.150 --> 00:42:22.210 style? Oh, that is a fascinating question. If 00:42:22.210 --> 00:42:24.789 he had agreed to play that publisher in a wheelchair, 00:42:25.130 --> 00:42:27.449 would that character have just naturally morphed 00:42:27.449 --> 00:42:30.170 into Frasier anyway? The actor often shapes the 00:42:30.170 --> 00:42:32.690 role just as much as the writer does, if not 00:42:32.690 --> 00:42:36.869 more. Exactly. Would we just be watching 11 seasons 00:42:36.869 --> 00:42:40.210 of a publishing tycoon dissecting French wine 00:42:40.210 --> 00:42:43.730 lists with his nurse? We probably would be. Grammar's 00:42:43.730 --> 00:42:46.230 DNA is just too strong to hide. And with the 00:42:46.230 --> 00:42:48.090 new revival returning the character to Boston, 00:42:48.309 --> 00:42:51.690 have we simply come full circle? Does it ultimately 00:42:51.690 --> 00:42:54.590 prove that Fraser Crane can never truly escape 00:42:54.590 --> 00:42:57.199 his own past? He ran all the way to Seattle to 00:42:57.199 --> 00:42:59.119 get away from Cheers to completely reinvent himself. 00:42:59.360 --> 00:43:01.920 And 30 years later, he's right back exactly where 00:43:01.920 --> 00:43:04.059 he started. As Freud might say, we are often 00:43:04.059 --> 00:43:06.340 destined to just repeat our psychological patterns 00:43:06.340 --> 00:43:09.199 until we finally resolve them. Perhaps Frazier 00:43:09.199 --> 00:43:11.360 just hasn't resolved his Boston trauma quite 00:43:11.360 --> 00:43:14.260 yet. Or maybe he just really, really missed the 00:43:14.260 --> 00:43:16.300 clam chowder. Thanks for joining us for this 00:43:16.300 --> 00:43:18.280 deep dive into the world of Frazier. We'll see 00:43:18.280 --> 00:43:20.139 you next time. Good night, Seattle.