WEBVTT 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:03.520 Welcome back to another Deep Dive. Today we're 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.839 engaging in a bit of time travel. Oh, I love 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:08.099 a good time travel segment. Right. We are going 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:11.240 back to an era where, you know, flannel was in, 00:00:11.380 --> 00:00:14.339 the internet was just this weird novelty, and 00:00:14.339 --> 00:00:17.300 television was, well, it was this massive singular 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:19.960 campfire that the whole country basically gathered 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:22.280 around. The monoculture. Exactly, the monoculture. 00:00:22.339 --> 00:00:25.719 We are looking specifically at the 1994 to 1995 00:00:25.719 --> 00:00:30.039 television season. Which is, I mean, it's a completely 00:00:30.039 --> 00:00:32.500 pivotal year in pop culture history. You had 00:00:32.500 --> 00:00:35.399 the launch of Friends. You had ER just entirely 00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:38.619 changing the drama landscape. Yeah. But amidst 00:00:38.619 --> 00:00:40.740 all that new blood, you had a show entering its 00:00:40.740 --> 00:00:42.780 second year that decided it wasn't just going 00:00:42.780 --> 00:00:44.560 to survive. It was going to completely dominate. 00:00:44.859 --> 00:00:46.920 And we are, of course, talking about season two 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:49.700 of Frasier. Frasier Crane. Now, usually when 00:00:49.700 --> 00:00:53.450 we talk about TV history on this show. We obsess 00:00:53.450 --> 00:00:55.950 over pilots, you know, that first spark. Or we 00:00:55.950 --> 00:00:58.429 argue about finales. Right, the finale. But the 00:00:58.429 --> 00:01:00.450 second season is arguably the most dangerous 00:01:00.450 --> 00:01:03.369 time for a show. It's the prove -it year. It's 00:01:03.369 --> 00:01:06.230 the filter, really. In the industry, they call 00:01:06.230 --> 00:01:08.430 it the sophomore slump. The dreaded sophomore 00:01:08.430 --> 00:01:10.670 slump. Yeah, and the idea is that you have your 00:01:10.670 --> 00:01:12.890 whole entire life to write your first album, 00:01:12.989 --> 00:01:16.030 or in this case, your first season of TV. You 00:01:16.030 --> 00:01:18.950 pour every single good idea you've ever had into 00:01:18.950 --> 00:01:21.250 those first 24 episodes. Because you just want 00:01:21.250 --> 00:01:23.409 to stay on the air. Exactly. Then suddenly you're 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:25.689 on a deadline, the novelty has completely worn 00:01:25.689 --> 00:01:28.230 off, and you have to do it again. But better. 00:01:28.590 --> 00:01:31.230 Which is where most shows just stumble. They 00:01:31.230 --> 00:01:33.810 rehash old jokes, or they try to change way too 00:01:33.810 --> 00:01:36.090 much way too fast. But looking at the stack of 00:01:36.090 --> 00:01:38.549 research we have for you today, I mean, production 00:01:38.549 --> 00:01:41.310 notes, the ratings archives, all the critical 00:01:41.310 --> 00:01:44.090 reviews, season two of Frasier didn't just avoid 00:01:44.090 --> 00:01:46.260 the slump. It honestly seems like they didn't 00:01:46.260 --> 00:01:48.019 even know the slump existed. They ignored it 00:01:48.019 --> 00:01:50.959 entirely. This season, which ran from September 00:01:50.959 --> 00:01:55.840 20th, 1994 to May 23rd, 1995 on NBC, is often 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:58.739 cited by critics as literally one of the most 00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:01.319 perfect seasons of sitcom television ever produced. 00:02:01.620 --> 00:02:03.560 Because it's the season where the show figured 00:02:03.560 --> 00:02:06.239 out exactly what it was. It stopped being, you 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.960 know, just a spinoff of Cheers and really started 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:11.479 being the Frasier that we all know and love. 00:02:11.949 --> 00:02:14.030 Now, before we get into the heavy analysis of 00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:16.490 the writing and those amazing farce mechanics, 00:02:16.870 --> 00:02:19.490 I want to start with something small. Okay. It's 00:02:19.490 --> 00:02:21.509 this visual detail I found in the production 00:02:21.509 --> 00:02:24.830 notes. So if you go back and watch season one. 00:02:25.229 --> 00:02:27.830 The opening title card, you know that iconic 00:02:27.830 --> 00:02:30.469 line drawing of the Seattle skyline? The one 00:02:30.469 --> 00:02:32.550 with the little animated elevator, the lights? 00:02:32.750 --> 00:02:34.909 Yeah, that one. In season one, it was a bit all 00:02:34.909 --> 00:02:36.930 over the place. It was blue, it was yellow, sometimes 00:02:36.930 --> 00:02:40.110 orange. They were definitely just testing the 00:02:40.110 --> 00:02:41.930 waters. Right, they were still iterating on the 00:02:41.930 --> 00:02:44.909 branding, seeing what stuck. But in season two, 00:02:45.250 --> 00:02:48.069 they made a very specific choice. The title card 00:02:48.069 --> 00:02:52.430 goes red, and it stays red. It's a subtle shift, 00:02:52.669 --> 00:02:55.770 but semiotically, it's huge. How so? Well, in 00:02:55.770 --> 00:02:58.629 design language, red is aggressive. It's bold. 00:02:58.849 --> 00:03:01.710 It completely demands your attention. So changing 00:03:01.710 --> 00:03:05.210 the branding to a consistent, bold red signals 00:03:05.210 --> 00:03:07.969 confidence. It basically tells the viewer, we 00:03:07.969 --> 00:03:10.030 aren't experimenting anymore. We know who we 00:03:10.030 --> 00:03:12.750 are. Sit down and watch. And people really did 00:03:12.750 --> 00:03:15.189 watch. Which brings me to the mission of this 00:03:15.189 --> 00:03:17.610 deep dive for you listening. We aren't just here 00:03:17.610 --> 00:03:20.210 to recount funny jokes. We are trying to actually 00:03:20.210 --> 00:03:23.530 understand how this specific season cemented 00:03:23.530 --> 00:03:25.750 the show's legacy. So we're looking at the mechanics 00:03:25.750 --> 00:03:28.250 of the farce. Yes, the farce. The integration 00:03:28.250 --> 00:03:30.870 of the Cheers history, which was a massive risk. 00:03:31.030 --> 00:03:33.629 Huge risk. And a guest caller list that is frankly 00:03:33.629 --> 00:03:36.639 insane. But we have to start with the sheer scale 00:03:36.639 --> 00:03:39.199 of the success, just the footprint of it. The 00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:40.939 numbers. I was looking at the Nielsen ratings 00:03:40.939 --> 00:03:44.360 for this season and my jaw hit the floor because 00:03:44.360 --> 00:03:46.800 we live in a world now where if a show gets, 00:03:46.819 --> 00:03:49.340 say, three or four million viewers on a streaming 00:03:49.340 --> 00:03:51.819 platform, it's a massive hit. Oh, yeah. Four 00:03:51.819 --> 00:03:53.800 million is a cultural phenomenon today. They'll 00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:55.879 green light three spinoffs for four million. 00:03:56.060 --> 00:03:59.199 OK, so keep that in mind. In season two of Frasier. 00:03:59.610 --> 00:04:01.289 There's an episode we're going to discuss later 00:04:01.289 --> 00:04:04.229 called The Show, where Sam shows up. It pulled 00:04:04.229 --> 00:04:07.129 in 26 .4 million viewers in the United States 00:04:07.129 --> 00:04:11.009 alone. 26 .4 million. It's absurd. That is Super 00:04:11.009 --> 00:04:13.509 Bowl territory in the modern era. That is a number 00:04:13.509 --> 00:04:16.050 that simply does not exist in scripted television 00:04:16.050 --> 00:04:18.230 anymore because the audience is just so fragmented 00:04:18.230 --> 00:04:22.230 now. But back then. Frazier was operating on 00:04:22.230 --> 00:04:25.329 a level of monoculture dominance that is genuinely 00:04:25.329 --> 00:04:28.149 hard to even comprehend. And the craziest part 00:04:28.149 --> 00:04:30.529 is it wasn't just the big stunt episodes that 00:04:30.529 --> 00:04:34.069 did those numbers. Even a standard, totally middle 00:04:34.069 --> 00:04:36.269 -of -the -road episode like The Botched Language 00:04:36.269 --> 00:04:39.089 of Cranes, which is literally just Frazier making 00:04:39.089 --> 00:04:42.350 a stupid mistake on the radio, drew 23 .8 million 00:04:42.350 --> 00:04:44.550 people. Just for a regular Tuesday night. Exactly. 00:04:44.569 --> 00:04:46.610 They were consistently the number one or number 00:04:46.610 --> 00:04:48.509 two show in the weekly rankings. Think about 00:04:48.509 --> 00:04:50.750 what that actually means, though. You have 24 00:04:50.750 --> 00:04:53.069 million everyday people tuning in to watch two 00:04:53.069 --> 00:04:56.029 Jungian psychiatrists drink sherry, discuss opera, 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:59.350 and quote Gilbert and Sullivan. Right. On paper, 00:04:59.410 --> 00:05:01.310 this show should have been so niche. It should 00:05:01.310 --> 00:05:03.509 have been strictly for the highbrow crowd, the 00:05:03.509 --> 00:05:06.649 PBS crowd. But the absolute genius of season 00:05:06.649 --> 00:05:09.230 two was proving that highbrow characters could 00:05:09.230 --> 00:05:12.689 have massive lowbrow appeal if the writing was 00:05:12.689 --> 00:05:14.910 sharp enough. It's that perfect mix of high and 00:05:14.910 --> 00:05:17.939 low that... Totally defines the show, and the 00:05:17.939 --> 00:05:21.079 industry definitely rewarded it. The award sweep 00:05:21.079 --> 00:05:23.980 for this season is just a laundry list of gold 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:26.240 statues. It really was the Triple Crown, effectively. 00:05:27.149 --> 00:05:29.889 They won the Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Comedy 00:05:29.889 --> 00:05:32.430 Series in 1995. Which is the big one. Right. 00:05:32.509 --> 00:05:34.250 That's the Academy saying, you are the best. 00:05:34.370 --> 00:05:37.449 But they also won the Producers Guild of America 00:05:37.449 --> 00:05:40.470 Award. Which, if you know the industry, is often 00:05:40.470 --> 00:05:43.009 a harder nut to crack because that's the money 00:05:43.009 --> 00:05:44.930 people. That's the people who actually physically 00:05:44.930 --> 00:05:47.560 make television saying. We respect how you're 00:05:47.560 --> 00:05:49.839 producing this. And they took the TCA award, 00:05:50.040 --> 00:05:52.379 the Television Critics Association. So you have 00:05:52.379 --> 00:05:54.519 the critics, the producers and the Academy all 00:05:54.519 --> 00:05:56.800 in complete alignment. Which never happens. That 00:05:56.800 --> 00:06:00.000 kind of consensus is incredibly rare. Usually 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:03.100 the critics love some weird indie show and the 00:06:03.100 --> 00:06:07.000 public loves the broad multicam comedy. Frasier 00:06:07.000 --> 00:06:09.839 season two was the Venn diagram overlap of literally 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:13.199 everything. But awards and ratings are just the 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:16.660 result. We need to talk about the cause, what 00:06:16.660 --> 00:06:18.800 was actually happening on screen that made this 00:06:18.800 --> 00:06:21.160 work so flawlessly. I think we have to start 00:06:21.160 --> 00:06:23.620 with the ensemble. Absolutely, because season 00:06:23.620 --> 00:06:26.339 one established the basic archetypes. Frasier 00:06:26.339 --> 00:06:28.379 is the pompous one. Niles is the fussier one. 00:06:28.540 --> 00:06:31.379 Martin is the regular guy dad. Daphne is the 00:06:31.379 --> 00:06:33.850 quirky psychic. Roz is the cynical producer. 00:06:34.189 --> 00:06:36.810 But season two is where they break those flat 00:06:36.810 --> 00:06:39.170 archetypes and start building actual three -dimensional 00:06:39.170 --> 00:06:41.449 people. Let's focus on Niles first, because I 00:06:41.449 --> 00:06:43.350 really feel like season two is the Niles Crane 00:06:43.350 --> 00:06:46.449 breakout year. 100 % is. The writers realized 00:06:46.449 --> 00:06:49.110 that David Hyde Pierce was this physical comedy 00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:52.430 genius. He's almost like a silent film star living 00:06:52.430 --> 00:06:54.810 in the 90s. Buster Keaton in a bespoke suit. 00:06:55.029 --> 00:06:57.209 Exactly. And they gave him material that really 00:06:57.209 --> 00:06:59.500 leaned into that. The episode that everyone always 00:06:59.500 --> 00:07:01.939 points to here is Flower Child. An absolute classic. 00:07:02.459 --> 00:07:05.339 The premise is so simple, it honestly sounds 00:07:05.339 --> 00:07:08.160 like a high school improv game. Niles witnesses 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:10.660 a birth, gets totally freaked out about his own 00:07:10.660 --> 00:07:13.300 mortality and his lack of a legacy, and decides 00:07:13.300 --> 00:07:15.399 to see if he's actually ready for fatherhood. 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:18.480 But because he's Niles, he doesn't babysit a 00:07:18.480 --> 00:07:21.480 human. No. He adopts a sack of flour. It's a 00:07:21.480 --> 00:07:23.480 sack of flour, and it sounds ridiculous. Man 00:07:23.480 --> 00:07:25.759 carries a bag of flour. But let's actually analyze 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.069 the mechanics of why this works so well. It works 00:07:28.069 --> 00:07:32.069 because Niles takes it 100 % seriously. He projects 00:07:32.069 --> 00:07:34.670 all of his insecurities, all of his deep loneliness, 00:07:34.829 --> 00:07:37.790 and all of his repressed love onto this completely 00:07:37.790 --> 00:07:40.529 inanimate baking ingredient. There's that incredible 00:07:40.529 --> 00:07:42.430 physical comedy sequence where he's trying to 00:07:42.430 --> 00:07:44.790 be so gentle with it, but he keeps almost destroying 00:07:44.790 --> 00:07:47.250 it. He drops it. He bumps its head. It perfectly 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:49.589 highlights his clumsiness in the real physical 00:07:49.589 --> 00:07:51.930 world. But then there's the emotional payoff. 00:07:52.230 --> 00:07:55.209 Oh, the turn. That turn is the secret sauce of 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:57.649 Frasier. At the end of the episode, the sack 00:07:57.649 --> 00:08:00.209 rips. Now, a lesser show would just have him 00:08:00.209 --> 00:08:03.529 say, oh, well, back to the bakery. But Niles 00:08:03.529 --> 00:08:06.069 is totally devastated. He really is. He looks 00:08:06.069 --> 00:08:08.569 at this pile of white powder on the floor and 00:08:08.569 --> 00:08:12.290 he isn't seeing flour. He is seeing his own utter 00:08:12.290 --> 00:08:15.089 inability to protect something he cares about. 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:17.720 it's actually heartbreaking it creates a moment 00:08:17.720 --> 00:08:21.139 of genuine pathos it tells the audience yes this 00:08:21.139 --> 00:08:24.680 man is a total snob yes he is ridiculous but 00:08:24.680 --> 00:08:27.060 he has a massive heart that is currently breaking 00:08:27.060 --> 00:08:30.399 and that deeper layer is what kept 24 million 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:33.259 people coming back every week they weren't just 00:08:33.259 --> 00:08:35.970 laughing at him They were rooting for him. Speaking 00:08:35.970 --> 00:08:38.350 of rooting for Niles, we have to talk about the 00:08:38.350 --> 00:08:41.269 Daphne dynamic. Oh, the unrequited love. Exactly. 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:44.389 That was established in season one. But season 00:08:44.389 --> 00:08:47.350 two is where the tension actually starts to affect 00:08:47.350 --> 00:08:49.370 the household dynamics. It's where the boundaries 00:08:49.370 --> 00:08:51.490 get tested. There's a very important episode 00:08:51.490 --> 00:08:54.289 called Daphne's Room. And this one is fascinating 00:08:54.289 --> 00:08:56.629 because it's not really about romance at all. 00:08:56.710 --> 00:08:59.409 It's about privacy. Boundaries. Right. Fraser 00:08:59.409 --> 00:09:01.269 goes into Daphne's room to get a book. Which 00:09:01.269 --> 00:09:03.350 is a clear violation. And then he goes back in 00:09:03.350 --> 00:09:05.470 to return some medicine. He just keeps crossing 00:09:05.470 --> 00:09:08.330 the threshold. And Daphne explodes. And honestly, 00:09:08.529 --> 00:09:11.149 she should. This episode is so critical because 00:09:11.149 --> 00:09:13.649 it completely redefines Daphne's status in the 00:09:13.649 --> 00:09:16.789 house. In season one, you could argue she's just 00:09:16.789 --> 00:09:19.629 the help. She's an employee. But in Daphne's 00:09:19.629 --> 00:09:22.220 room, she asserts her rights as a resident. She 00:09:22.220 --> 00:09:24.460 forces Frasier, the man whose name is on the 00:09:24.460 --> 00:09:26.720 lease and pays her salary, to respect her space. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.360 It completely shifts the power dynamic. If Daphne 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:32.399 is just a servant, the jokes about her being 00:09:32.399 --> 00:09:34.740 eccentric feel a little like punching down. But 00:09:34.740 --> 00:09:37.100 if she is a powerful equal who can literally 00:09:37.100 --> 00:09:39.860 scream at Frasier and make him cower, then the 00:09:39.860 --> 00:09:41.639 playing field is level. It allows the comedy 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:44.200 to be much sharper. And then you have those romantic 00:09:44.200 --> 00:09:46.950 undertones constantly simmering. We'll get to 00:09:46.950 --> 00:09:48.929 the matchmaker in the farce section, but that 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:51.289 episode only works because we, the audience, 00:09:51.450 --> 00:09:53.909 know how desperately Niles loves her. And how 00:09:53.909 --> 00:09:56.350 oblivious Frasier is to that dynamic. Exactly. 00:09:56.789 --> 00:09:58.950 Let's pivot to the other main relationship in 00:09:58.950 --> 00:10:02.409 the core cast. Frasier and Martin. The father 00:10:02.409 --> 00:10:05.029 and son. The central conflict of the entire series. 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:07.830 The Ivy League versus the Police League. By season 00:10:07.830 --> 00:10:11.029 two, they've thankfully moved past the initial, 00:10:11.190 --> 00:10:13.070 you know, I can't believe we lived together shock. 00:10:13.610 --> 00:10:15.610 Now they are genuinely trying to find common 00:10:15.610 --> 00:10:18.169 ground. And it usually goes terribly wrong. It 00:10:18.169 --> 00:10:21.149 really does. But the attempt is what matters. 00:10:21.889 --> 00:10:24.870 Take the episode Breaking the Ice. Oh, the ice 00:10:24.870 --> 00:10:27.549 fishing episode. Just the visual is funny. You 00:10:27.549 --> 00:10:30.330 have Fraser and Niles dressed in designer thermal 00:10:30.330 --> 00:10:32.750 wear, looking like they're about to go on a very 00:10:32.750 --> 00:10:34.929 expensive expedition to the North Pole. While 00:10:34.929 --> 00:10:37.549 sitting in a tiny wooden shack with Martin, who 00:10:37.549 --> 00:10:39.389 is just drinking a regular beer in a flannel 00:10:39.389 --> 00:10:42.649 shirt. It's a massive clash of aesthetics. But 00:10:42.649 --> 00:10:45.169 deeper than that, it's a clash of emotional languages. 00:10:45.950 --> 00:10:48.389 Frasier is completely obsessed with having a 00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:50.990 quote -unquote breakthrough. He wants to verbally 00:10:50.990 --> 00:10:53.370 articulate his love. He wants the scene from 00:10:53.370 --> 00:10:55.809 a movie where the father and son cry and hug. 00:10:56.129 --> 00:10:59.649 I love you, Dad. I love you, son. Exactly. But 00:10:59.649 --> 00:11:02.230 Martin is a glaring example of the silent generation. 00:11:02.649 --> 00:11:06.009 He shows love by spending time. By sharing a 00:11:06.009 --> 00:11:08.389 beer. by sitting in the freezing cold together 00:11:08.389 --> 00:11:11.690 for hours. Frazier totally fails to recognize 00:11:11.690 --> 00:11:13.769 that the act of fishing is the breakthrough. 00:11:14.049 --> 00:11:16.350 It's that deep frustration of, why won't you 00:11:16.350 --> 00:11:19.490 speak my language? Versus, why won't you listen 00:11:19.490 --> 00:11:21.970 to mine? And then they beautifully flip the script 00:11:21.970 --> 00:11:25.809 in, retirement is murder. In Breaking the Ice, 00:11:26.009 --> 00:11:29.210 Frazier tries to enter Martin's world. In Retirement 00:11:29.210 --> 00:11:31.669 is Murder, Frazier tries to bring Martin into 00:11:31.669 --> 00:11:35.230 his world. Oh, the cold case. Martin has this 00:11:35.230 --> 00:11:38.090 old police file he never solved from years ago. 00:11:38.309 --> 00:11:40.950 A murder involving a circus performer, I think. 00:11:41.129 --> 00:11:44.190 Right. And Frazier decides, I can solve this. 00:11:44.389 --> 00:11:47.710 I am an esteemed psychiatrist. I can build a 00:11:47.710 --> 00:11:50.730 flawless psychological profile of the killer. 00:11:50.889 --> 00:11:53.710 And his arrogance is just palpable. He truly 00:11:53.710 --> 00:11:55.870 thinks his medical degree makes him a better 00:11:55.870 --> 00:11:58.570 homicide detective than his father who did it 00:11:58.570 --> 00:12:01.830 for decades. And for a while, the episode totally 00:12:01.830 --> 00:12:04.210 tricks you. They find a suspect. The profile 00:12:04.210 --> 00:12:06.350 fits perfectly. It looks like the Crane brothers 00:12:06.350 --> 00:12:08.289 have actually done it. They are celebrating their 00:12:08.289 --> 00:12:10.269 sheer intellectual superiority. And then the 00:12:10.269 --> 00:12:12.990 twist. The glorious twist. Frazier realizes that 00:12:12.990 --> 00:12:14.789 based on all the physical evidence, the actual 00:12:14.789 --> 00:12:18.009 culprit was a chimpanzee. A literal chimp. It 00:12:18.009 --> 00:12:20.389 completely undercutched the pretension. You cannot 00:12:20.389 --> 00:12:23.059 psychoanalyze a chimp. It's the show telling 00:12:23.059 --> 00:12:26.019 us that sometimes the world isn't complex and 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:28.799 Freudian. Sometimes it's just chaotic and primal. 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:31.100 And it completely vindicates Martin's worldview 00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:35.279 that street smarts in reality often trump high 00:12:35.279 --> 00:12:38.039 minded theory. Absolutely. And that chaotic element 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:41.059 leads us perfectly into the next section. Because 00:12:41.059 --> 00:12:43.919 if there is one single word that defines season 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:47.840 two of Frasier, it is farce. Yes, the farce. 00:12:47.960 --> 00:12:50.059 This is the season where they fully mastered 00:12:50.059 --> 00:12:52.789 the bedroom farce. Now, for our listeners who 00:12:52.789 --> 00:12:55.450 might not be huge theater nerds, how would you 00:12:55.450 --> 00:12:58.750 define farce in this specific context? How is 00:12:58.750 --> 00:13:01.230 it different from just a funny sitcom? Well, 00:13:01.250 --> 00:13:03.210 a standard sitcom usually relies on what we call 00:13:03.210 --> 00:13:05.370 setup, punchline. You say something funny, the 00:13:05.370 --> 00:13:08.590 audience laughs. A farce is structural. It relies 00:13:08.590 --> 00:13:11.309 entirely on a comedy of errors. It requires multiple 00:13:11.309 --> 00:13:13.429 characters to have totally different sets of 00:13:13.429 --> 00:13:15.789 information, usually based on a huge misunderstanding. 00:13:16.370 --> 00:13:17.909 And they're interacting in a confined space. 00:13:18.210 --> 00:13:20.570 Right, with lots of doors, lots of entrances 00:13:20.570 --> 00:13:22.870 and exits. It's really about the machinery of 00:13:22.870 --> 00:13:25.120 the plot. Exactly. It's a clockwork mechanism. 00:13:25.299 --> 00:13:27.379 If one person enters the room five seconds too 00:13:27.379 --> 00:13:30.639 early, the entire joke fails. And season two 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:33.379 has what many critics consider the greatest farce 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:35.159 episode in the history of American television. 00:13:35.519 --> 00:13:37.960 Matchmaker. The matchmaker. I rewatched this 00:13:37.960 --> 00:13:40.419 for the deep dive, and it is honestly astonishing 00:13:40.419 --> 00:13:43.019 how well it holds up. Let's break down the mechanics 00:13:43.019 --> 00:13:46.340 for the listener. So the setup. Frazier, being 00:13:46.340 --> 00:13:48.879 the absolute meddler that he is, decides Daphne 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:51.200 is lonely. He finds the new station manager, 00:13:51.419 --> 00:13:54.639 Tom Duran, played brilliantly by Eric Lutz. Frazier 00:13:54.639 --> 00:13:56.980 thinks Tom is a great catch. Smart, successful, 00:13:57.340 --> 00:14:00.259 handsome. So Frazier invites Tom over for dinner. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:03.240 But, and here is the key to the entire mechanism, 00:14:03.460 --> 00:14:06.590 he never explicitly says, I am setting you up 00:14:06.590 --> 00:14:08.889 with Daphne. He uses incredibly vague language. 00:14:09.009 --> 00:14:11.409 He says things like, there's someone I'm dying 00:14:11.409 --> 00:14:13.330 for you to meet, or I think you two will really 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:15.210 hit it off. And the missing piece of information 00:14:15.210 --> 00:14:18.149 for Frasier is that Tom is gay. Right. So Tom 00:14:18.149 --> 00:14:20.929 hears Frasier, a single, impeccably groomed man 00:14:20.929 --> 00:14:23.629 who loves opera and finds Sherry inviting him 00:14:23.629 --> 00:14:25.629 for an intimate private dinner. Tom naturally 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:28.029 assumes Frasier's asking him out. And meanwhile, 00:14:28.269 --> 00:14:30.610 Daphne assumes the dinner is strictly for business. 00:14:31.009 --> 00:14:33.649 And Niles assumes Frasier is just being a shameless 00:14:33.649 --> 00:14:36.679 social climber. Everyone is in the exact same 00:14:36.679 --> 00:14:39.200 room, essentially having four entirely different 00:14:39.200 --> 00:14:41.940 conversations. The writing here is surgical. 00:14:42.519 --> 00:14:44.860 There is a scene involving a cigarette that is 00:14:44.860 --> 00:14:48.220 just, it's agonizingly funny. Tom pulls out a 00:14:48.220 --> 00:14:51.019 cigarette. Frasier, trying to be the perfect 00:14:51.019 --> 00:14:53.779 host to impress Tom for Daphne's sake, rushes 00:14:53.779 --> 00:14:56.539 over to light it for him. He stares very intensely 00:14:56.539 --> 00:14:59.779 into Tom's eyes. He is leaning way in. Right, 00:14:59.840 --> 00:15:01.460 because from Frasier's perspective, he's just 00:15:01.460 --> 00:15:03.980 being incredibly polite. But from Tom's perspective, 00:15:04.179 --> 00:15:06.340 he is being actively seduced. And then Niles 00:15:06.340 --> 00:15:08.700 walks in. And Niles sees this incredibly intimate 00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:11.100 moment between his brother and his boss and adds 00:15:11.100 --> 00:15:13.159 his own wrong interpretation to the pile. It 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:15.600 just builds and builds until the tension is completely 00:15:15.600 --> 00:15:18.299 unbearable. And the climax, when the truth finally 00:15:18.299 --> 00:15:20.539 comes out, it's not malicious. That's what makes 00:15:20.539 --> 00:15:23.320 it work so well. No one is the bad guy. It's 00:15:23.320 --> 00:15:25.720 purely a massive failure of communication driven 00:15:25.720 --> 00:15:28.299 entirely by Fraser's hubris. That is the Fraser 00:15:28.299 --> 00:15:30.779 formula in a nutshell. Hubris leads directly 00:15:30.779 --> 00:15:33.519 to humiliation. Which is honestly the perfect 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:36.799 tagline for another key farce episode from this 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:40.299 season, The Innkeepers. Oh, the restaurant episode. 00:15:40.480 --> 00:15:42.700 This one is less about misunderstanding and a 00:15:42.700 --> 00:15:46.980 lot more about pure, unfiltered arrogance. Frazier 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:49.460 and Niles hear that this old, historic Seattle 00:15:49.460 --> 00:15:52.279 restaurant is closing. So naturally, they decide 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.759 to buy it themselves. Because they eat at nice 00:15:54.759 --> 00:15:56.980 restaurants, so obviously they can run one. It's 00:15:56.980 --> 00:15:59.539 bulletproof logic. It's the Dunning -Kruger effect 00:15:59.539 --> 00:16:02.509 in action. They assume their good taste is an 00:16:02.509 --> 00:16:05.049 adequate substitute for actual business acumen. 00:16:05.129 --> 00:16:07.350 And the opening night is a disaster of biblical 00:16:07.350 --> 00:16:10.429 proportions. The chefs quit, the sprinklers go 00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:13.509 off, and the Cherry's Jubilee incident. Oh, man. 00:16:14.070 --> 00:16:16.750 The visual of them trying to serve this flaming 00:16:16.750 --> 00:16:18.590 dessert while the fire sprinklers are literally 00:16:18.590 --> 00:16:21.029 raining down on them in the dining room, it's 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:23.710 the ultimate punishment for their snobbery. It's 00:16:23.710 --> 00:16:26.009 the cranes versus the real world, and the real 00:16:26.009 --> 00:16:28.700 world wins by a knockout. There's one more episode 00:16:28.700 --> 00:16:30.559 in this farce category I really want to touch 00:16:30.559 --> 00:16:32.299 on because it brings in a totally different kind 00:16:32.299 --> 00:16:35.279 of insanity. The candidate. This is their foray 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.320 into political satire. Frazier decides to formally 00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:40.559 endorse a political candidate, Phil Patterson. 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:43.700 He's the intellectual choice. Martin, of course, 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:45.799 supports the other guy. Frazier wants the high 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:48.639 road. He wants the smart, sophisticated candidate. 00:16:48.980 --> 00:16:51.360 But then Patterson privately confides in Frazier. 00:16:51.580 --> 00:16:54.720 He trusts him because he's a psychiatrist. And 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:58.190 he reveals that he was, well... Abducted by aliens. 00:16:58.409 --> 00:17:01.090 It's such a massive left turn. And you just watch 00:17:01.090 --> 00:17:03.250 Kelsey Grammer's face. He is totally stuck. He 00:17:03.250 --> 00:17:05.470 has publicly endorsed this man. He's on the television 00:17:05.470 --> 00:17:08.210 commercial. But the man genuinely believes he 00:17:08.210 --> 00:17:10.309 was on a spaceship. It plays beautifully on the 00:17:10.309 --> 00:17:12.829 fear of the public secret. Frazier is trapped 00:17:12.829 --> 00:17:15.750 right between his ethics, patient confidentiality, 00:17:15.750 --> 00:17:18.670 and his reputation, which means endorsing a madman. 00:17:18.869 --> 00:17:21.450 And he accidentally reveals it on air. He completely 00:17:21.450 --> 00:17:23.710 destroys the campaign with one slip of the tongue. 00:17:23.809 --> 00:17:26.549 It's a great commentary on just how fragile political 00:17:26.549 --> 00:17:29.890 images really are. One slip, one weird story, 00:17:30.109 --> 00:17:32.890 and it's over. And again, it's Frazier trying 00:17:32.890 --> 00:17:34.950 to control the uncontrollable. Whether it's a 00:17:34.950 --> 00:17:37.750 restaurant, a dinner party, or a political campaign, 00:17:38.069 --> 00:17:40.819 he thinks he can steer the ship. And every single 00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:44.160 time, he crashes it right into the rocks. Which 00:17:44.160 --> 00:17:46.500 transitions nicely to another episode about controlling 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:49.579 the uncontrollable. The unkindest cut of all. 00:17:49.839 --> 00:17:53.059 Ah, Eddie. Right. A domestic dispute that just 00:17:53.059 --> 00:17:57.339 escalates. Eddie, Martin's dog. Father's a litter 00:17:57.339 --> 00:17:59.740 of puppies. And Frasier tries to arrange for 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:02.140 Eddie to be neutered because Martin just flat 00:18:02.140 --> 00:18:04.279 out refuses to do it. It's Frasier trying to 00:18:04.279 --> 00:18:07.640 exert control over nature. Over this dog that 00:18:07.640 --> 00:18:11.160 he frankly despises. But he can't. Now, moving 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:14.319 on. We cannot talk about season two without addressing 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:17.079 the giant beer -swilling elephant in the room. 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.039 The Cheers Connection. This was a really dangerous 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:22.579 game for the Raiders. Season one worked so hard 00:18:22.579 --> 00:18:24.460 to distance itself from Cheers, they wanted to 00:18:24.460 --> 00:18:26.200 stand on their own two feet. But by season two, 00:18:26.299 --> 00:18:29.079 they finally felt confident enough to start bringing 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:31.839 the old gang back. But what I love is they didn't 00:18:31.839 --> 00:18:34.119 just do cheap cameos. They did really deep character 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:36.319 work. The big one, obviously, is the show where 00:18:36.319 --> 00:18:38.759 Sam shows up. Ted Danson returns. And the ratings, 00:18:38.819 --> 00:18:40.960 as we mentioned earlier, were astronomical, 26 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:43.299 .4 million. But watching it now, it's not just 00:18:43.299 --> 00:18:45.720 a happy reunion. It's actually kind of profoundly 00:18:45.720 --> 00:18:48.680 sad. It really is. The dynamic has completely 00:18:48.680 --> 00:18:52.140 flipped. In Cheers, Sam was the cool one. He 00:18:52.140 --> 00:18:53.880 was the center of the world. And Frasier was 00:18:53.880 --> 00:18:56.539 just the weird, stuffy sidekick at the end of 00:18:56.539 --> 00:18:59.099 the bar. Now Frasier has the career, the fame, 00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:02.099 the beautiful apartment, the family. And Sam, 00:19:02.200 --> 00:19:05.579 Sam is still just Sam. He's an aging playboy. 00:19:05.779 --> 00:19:08.500 There's a real melancholy to Ted Danson's performance 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:11.059 in this. He's still charming, obviously, but 00:19:11.059 --> 00:19:13.460 he feels a bit lost. And then the plot kicks 00:19:13.460 --> 00:19:17.119 in. Sam is getting married. He wants advice from 00:19:17.119 --> 00:19:19.500 his old psychiatrist buddy. And Frazier realizes 00:19:19.500 --> 00:19:22.500 he has actually slept with Sam's fiancee, Sheila. 00:19:22.640 --> 00:19:25.039 Played by Taya Leone. Yes, Taya Leone. And it 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:27.859 turns the reunion into a genuine ethical dilemma. 00:19:28.099 --> 00:19:30.599 It's super messy. It's not just pure fan service. 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:33.680 It's a real test of their friendship. It forces 00:19:33.680 --> 00:19:35.759 them to be honest with each other in a way they 00:19:35.759 --> 00:19:38.339 maybe never were back at the bar in Boston. And 00:19:38.339 --> 00:19:40.640 then, on the complete opposite end of the spectrum 00:19:40.640 --> 00:19:43.319 from Sad Sam, we have the return of the Ice Queen, 00:19:43.519 --> 00:19:47.170 Lilith. Vivian Neuwirth. You honestly cannot 00:19:47.170 --> 00:19:49.769 tell the story of Frasier Crane without Lilith 00:19:49.769 --> 00:19:51.849 Sternen. They bring her back in this massive 00:19:51.849 --> 00:19:55.769 two -part epic, Adventures in Paradise. Frasier 00:19:55.769 --> 00:19:58.130 is really trying to move on. He's dating a new 00:19:58.130 --> 00:19:59.869 woman, Madeline, played by Jo Beth Williams. 00:20:00.250 --> 00:20:02.849 They go to Bora Bora. It's supposed to be incredibly 00:20:02.849 --> 00:20:05.789 romantic. And in a moment of pure sitcom nightmare 00:20:05.789 --> 00:20:09.150 fuel, he wakes up, looks at the other bed in 00:20:09.150 --> 00:20:12.569 the romantic bungalow. and sees Lilith. The scream. 00:20:13.049 --> 00:20:15.910 The sheer horror on his face is unmatched. It 00:20:15.910 --> 00:20:19.269 works so well because Lilith represents the baggage 00:20:19.269 --> 00:20:21.849 he simply can't leave behind. You can fly all 00:20:21.849 --> 00:20:24.769 the way to the South Pacific, but your past travels 00:20:24.769 --> 00:20:26.829 right with you. And the chemistry between Kelsey 00:20:26.829 --> 00:20:29.690 Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth is just electric. They 00:20:29.690 --> 00:20:32.029 snap at each other. They banter. You implicitly 00:20:32.029 --> 00:20:34.089 believe these two were married and tortured each 00:20:34.089 --> 00:20:36.089 other. And there's a very special credit in that 00:20:36.089 --> 00:20:38.829 Bora Bora episode. Special appearance by Shelley 00:20:38.829 --> 00:20:41.089 Long. Diane Chambers. She appears in a dream 00:20:41.089 --> 00:20:43.839 sequence. It completes the trifecta. You have 00:20:43.839 --> 00:20:47.099 Sam, Lilith, and Diane all haunting Frasier in 00:20:47.099 --> 00:20:49.740 this single season. The writers were using the 00:20:49.740 --> 00:20:52.420 dense history of Cheers, not as a crutch, but 00:20:52.420 --> 00:20:54.779 as a legitimate way to psychoanalyze Frasier. 00:20:54.839 --> 00:20:56.720 These are the ghosts of his past relationships, 00:20:56.859 --> 00:20:58.779 and he has to confront them to actually move 00:20:58.779 --> 00:21:01.559 forward. Moving from ghosts of the past to demons 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:04.160 of the present, I want to talk about the Rogues 00:21:04.160 --> 00:21:07.730 Gallery. Season two introduced or fleshed out 00:21:07.730 --> 00:21:10.970 some of the absolute best antagonists in the 00:21:10.970 --> 00:21:13.269 show's entire run. And at the very top of that 00:21:13.269 --> 00:21:15.890 list is Bebe Glazer. Frasier's agent. Played 00:21:15.890 --> 00:21:18.390 by Harriet Sansom Harris. This character is, 00:21:18.490 --> 00:21:21.450 she is just delicious. She is pure id. In the 00:21:21.450 --> 00:21:24.329 episode Agents in America Part 3, Frasier wants 00:21:24.329 --> 00:21:27.329 a raise. The station says no. So he unleashes 00:21:27.329 --> 00:21:30.430 Bebe. Bebe is the anti -Frasier. Frasier is totally 00:21:30.430 --> 00:21:33.269 obsessed with ethics and morality. Bebe has absolutely 00:21:33.269 --> 00:21:36.210 none. She is manipulative. She lies compulsively. 00:21:36.369 --> 00:21:38.430 She smokes like a chimney. She is essentially 00:21:38.430 --> 00:21:41.230 the devil in a pantsuit. There's a real seduction 00:21:41.230 --> 00:21:43.349 element to it. Not sexual, really, but professional. 00:21:43.569 --> 00:21:45.349 Yeah. She seduces him with the promise of fame. 00:21:45.490 --> 00:21:47.940 I can make you a star, darling. She represents 00:21:47.940 --> 00:21:51.039 the temptation of completely selling out. And 00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:53.799 watching Frazier, who prides himself on his steadfast 00:21:53.799 --> 00:21:56.799 integrity, get swept up in her chaos is completely 00:21:56.799 --> 00:21:59.920 fascinating. He hates her methods, but he absolutely 00:21:59.920 --> 00:22:02.380 loves the results. When we have the bullies. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:05.539 This season really liked to remind the crane 00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:08.519 boys that they are, at their core, physically 00:22:08.519 --> 00:22:11.859 weak. In Seed of Power, they hire a plumber. 00:22:12.250 --> 00:22:14.670 Danny Creasel, played by John C. McGinley. Who 00:22:14.670 --> 00:22:16.910 turns out to be a childhood bully who used to 00:22:16.910 --> 00:22:20.710 mercilessly torment Niles. It creates this intense 00:22:20.710 --> 00:22:23.430 regression. Frazier and Niles are highly successful, 00:22:23.730 --> 00:22:26.190 wealthy men in expensive suits. But the moment 00:22:26.190 --> 00:22:28.269 this guy walks into the apartment with a wrench, 00:22:28.390 --> 00:22:30.609 they immediately revert to being scared little 00:22:30.609 --> 00:22:33.049 boys. It really grounds them. It reminds us that 00:22:33.049 --> 00:22:35.589 their high status is incredibly fragile. And 00:22:35.589 --> 00:22:37.750 we see a totally different kind of bullying in 00:22:37.750 --> 00:22:41.009 Roz in the doghouse. Bulldog, the sports host 00:22:41.009 --> 00:22:44.170 at the radio station, tries to poach Roz. And 00:22:44.170 --> 00:22:46.710 Frazier insults Roz, basically implying she's 00:22:46.710 --> 00:22:48.450 only getting the job offer because Bulldog wants 00:22:48.450 --> 00:22:51.069 to sleep with her. Which is a terrible thing 00:22:51.069 --> 00:22:54.049 to say. It is. It's totally sexist and dismissive 00:22:54.049 --> 00:22:56.509 of her talent. And Roz quits. But then Bulldog 00:22:56.509 --> 00:22:59.289 actually does try to sleep with her. Which puts 00:22:59.289 --> 00:23:02.529 Frasier in a huge bind. He was right about Bulldog's 00:23:02.529 --> 00:23:05.009 intentions, but he was entirely wrong to say 00:23:05.009 --> 00:23:07.650 it the way he did. He has to actually swallow 00:23:07.650 --> 00:23:10.529 his massive pride and apologize to Roz to get 00:23:10.529 --> 00:23:13.849 her back. It solidifies their loyalty. It shows 00:23:13.849 --> 00:23:16.529 that Frasier values Roz way more than his own 00:23:16.529 --> 00:23:19.569 ego. Eventually... And one more rogue before 00:23:19.569 --> 00:23:23.029 we move on. The thief. Nathan Lane. Oh, this 00:23:23.029 --> 00:23:26.190 is a gem. Fool me once, shame on you. Dathan 00:23:26.190 --> 00:23:29.150 Lane plays a con man who steals Frazier's briefcase. 00:23:29.470 --> 00:23:31.750 And because Frazier literally keeps his entire 00:23:31.750 --> 00:23:34.589 life in that bag, the guy basically steals his 00:23:34.589 --> 00:23:36.910 identity. And when Frazier finally catches him, 00:23:36.970 --> 00:23:38.730 instead of calling the cops, what does he do? 00:23:38.950 --> 00:23:41.369 He tries to treat him. He tries to psychoanalyze 00:23:41.369 --> 00:23:43.609 the criminal while the criminal is actively robbing 00:23:43.609 --> 00:23:45.250 him again. Why do you feel the need to steal? 00:23:45.309 --> 00:23:47.599 Let's unpack this. It is the ultimate expression 00:23:47.599 --> 00:23:50.539 of Frasier's fatal flaw. He thinks he can talk 00:23:50.539 --> 00:23:52.859 his way out of anything. He truly thinks his 00:23:52.859 --> 00:23:55.180 intellect solves all human problems and the thief 00:23:55.180 --> 00:23:57.579 just plays him like a fiddle. Frasier actually 00:23:57.579 --> 00:23:59.720 ends up getting arrested for disturbing the peace. 00:24:00.019 --> 00:24:02.539 It's brilliant. Now, we have to touch on a specific 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:05.039 quirk of Frasier that really hit its stride in 00:24:05.039 --> 00:24:09.009 season two. The guest caller. The celebrity voices. 00:24:09.329 --> 00:24:11.769 Right. You see guest caller in the credits, but 00:24:11.769 --> 00:24:14.369 you never actually see their faces. It became 00:24:14.369 --> 00:24:17.309 this massive status symbol in Hollywood. If you 00:24:17.309 --> 00:24:19.450 were anybody in the 90s, you called into Frasier. 00:24:19.490 --> 00:24:22.109 It was the 90s equivalent of a viral cameo. It 00:24:22.109 --> 00:24:24.309 was cool precisely because it was uncredited 00:24:24.309 --> 00:24:25.970 in the moment. You had to have a sharp ear to 00:24:25.970 --> 00:24:28.109 catch it. I have the list for season two right 00:24:28.109 --> 00:24:30.730 here, and it is honestly staggering. I'm going 00:24:30.730 --> 00:24:32.470 to read a few, and I want you to tell me what 00:24:32.470 --> 00:24:35.109 this says about. The show's cultural reach. Hit 00:24:35.109 --> 00:24:38.890 me. James Fader. Lily Tomlin. Alfre Woodard. 00:24:39.009 --> 00:24:43.289 Serious prestige actors. Sandra Dee. Kevin Bacon. 00:24:43.289 --> 00:24:46.470 Yeah. Sidney Pollack. Actual movie stars and 00:24:46.470 --> 00:24:48.869 Oscar winning directors. Macaulay Culkin. Okay, 00:24:48.930 --> 00:24:51.910 stop right there. Macaulay Culkin in 1994 was 00:24:51.910 --> 00:24:54.329 quite literally the most famous child on planet 00:24:54.329 --> 00:24:57.529 Earth. He had that Home Alone money. For him 00:24:57.529 --> 00:24:59.950 to take the time to record a tiny voice bit for 00:24:59.950 --> 00:25:02.819 a sitcom. That proves Frasier was cool. It had 00:25:02.819 --> 00:25:05.400 totally crossover. And the voices weren't just 00:25:05.400 --> 00:25:08.039 random. They often played brilliantly into the 00:25:08.039 --> 00:25:11.119 actor's public persona. Like John Lithgow calls 00:25:11.119 --> 00:25:14.559 in as Madman Martinez, a used car salesman who 00:25:14.559 --> 00:25:17.019 is deeply depressed. Which is so funny because 00:25:17.019 --> 00:25:19.900 Lithgow is this grand theatrical Shakespearean 00:25:19.900 --> 00:25:23.109 actor. Hearing him play a sleazy, sad car dealer 00:25:23.109 --> 00:25:25.690 is a great inside joke for the audience. We also 00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:28.430 had Carly Simon, Rosie Perez, Mary Steinbergen. 00:25:28.710 --> 00:25:30.970 Even Shelley Duvall calls in during the finale. 00:25:31.250 --> 00:25:33.730 It basically turned the show into a game for 00:25:33.730 --> 00:25:35.769 the listener at home. Wait, was that Kevin Bacon? 00:25:35.930 --> 00:25:37.809 It added a whole meta layer of entertainment 00:25:37.809 --> 00:25:40.390 to the radio station scenes. Let's go a bit deeper 00:25:40.390 --> 00:25:42.329 now. We've talked comedy. We've talked guest 00:25:42.329 --> 00:25:45.230 stars. But Frasier is ultimately a show about 00:25:45.230 --> 00:25:48.400 psychology. And season two has some profoundly 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:51.559 deep themes running underneath the farce. Specifically, 00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:54.099 Frazier's struggle with romance and authenticity. 00:25:54.460 --> 00:25:56.880 Frazier so desperately wants love, but he is 00:25:56.880 --> 00:26:00.559 often his own absolute worst enemy. He sabotages 00:26:00.559 --> 00:26:02.759 things with his intellect. There's the episode 00:26:02.759 --> 00:26:05.859 Slow Tango in South Seattle. Frazier finds out 00:26:05.859 --> 00:26:08.400 an old friend wrote a wildly popular book about 00:26:08.400 --> 00:26:10.660 his romantic past. Guest starring John O 'Hurley. 00:26:11.069 --> 00:26:13.250 Frazier reads the book and is highly offended. 00:26:13.470 --> 00:26:16.690 He feels entirely misrepresented. So he tracks 00:26:16.690 --> 00:26:19.450 down his former piano teacher, the actual woman 00:26:19.450 --> 00:26:21.869 from the story, to get quote -unquote closure. 00:26:22.089 --> 00:26:24.529 But it's not closure he wants. Let's be real. 00:26:24.650 --> 00:26:26.910 He wants validation. He wants to be told he was 00:26:26.910 --> 00:26:29.369 a good lover or a good person. He just can't 00:26:29.369 --> 00:26:31.690 let the past stay in the past. And then there 00:26:31.690 --> 00:26:34.410 is You Scratch My Book. This one makes me cringe 00:26:34.410 --> 00:26:37.369 every single time I watch it. He dates Dr. Honey 00:26:37.369 --> 00:26:39.400 Snow, played by Shannon Tweed. the beautiful 00:26:39.400 --> 00:26:42.619 self -help guru. Frazier utterly despises her 00:26:42.619 --> 00:26:45.619 work. He thinks it's pop psychology drivel. You 00:26:45.619 --> 00:26:47.420 know, hug yourself to happiness. But he finds 00:26:47.420 --> 00:26:50.240 her incredibly attractive, so he lies. He pretends 00:26:50.240 --> 00:26:52.240 to absolutely love her book. He even writes a 00:26:52.240 --> 00:26:54.880 glowing blurb for the jacket cover. It's pure 00:26:54.880 --> 00:26:56.779 intellectual dishonesty just for the sake of 00:26:56.779 --> 00:26:59.599 getting laid. It really is, and it spectacularly 00:26:59.599 --> 00:27:02.380 blows up in his face. It's the show telling us 00:27:02.380 --> 00:27:04.519 that you can't compromise your core values for 00:27:04.519 --> 00:27:07.640 romance. If you respect the mind more than anything 00:27:07.640 --> 00:27:10.140 else, you cannot date someone whose mind you 00:27:10.140 --> 00:27:11.980 do not respect, no matter how beautiful they 00:27:11.980 --> 00:27:14.410 are. There's also a surprisingly heavy theme 00:27:14.410 --> 00:27:18.109 of class guilt in Duke's We Hardly Knew Yay. 00:27:18.349 --> 00:27:20.910 Which brings us right back to Martin. Frazier 00:27:20.910 --> 00:27:23.210 and Niles, looking for a lucrative real estate 00:27:23.210 --> 00:27:25.910 investment, put money into a group that it turns 00:27:25.910 --> 00:27:29.089 out is actively demolishing Duke's. Martin's 00:27:29.089 --> 00:27:31.900 favorite bar, his sanctuary. The place where 00:27:31.900 --> 00:27:33.960 he actually feels like he belongs. There's a 00:27:33.960 --> 00:27:36.000 deeply uncomfortable scene where the brothers 00:27:36.000 --> 00:27:38.160 are celebrating their portfolio growth, drinking 00:27:38.160 --> 00:27:41.119 fine wine in the apartment, while Martin is quietly 00:27:41.119 --> 00:27:43.960 mourning the loss of his community hub. It's 00:27:43.960 --> 00:27:47.240 a really brutal look at gentrification. The wealthy 00:27:47.240 --> 00:27:49.619 sons are literally destroying the working class 00:27:49.619 --> 00:27:52.680 father's world to build a strip mall or a boutique 00:27:52.680 --> 00:27:55.660 coffee shop. It highlights that fundamental disconnect 00:27:55.660 --> 00:27:58.170 again. They aren't just annoying to Martin. Their 00:27:58.170 --> 00:28:00.930 whole lifestyle is actively erasing his history. 00:28:01.210 --> 00:28:03.509 But the show doesn't leave us in that dark place. 00:28:04.029 --> 00:28:07.230 It expertly ends the season on a very genuine 00:28:07.230 --> 00:28:11.369 note of unity. The finale. Dark victory. This 00:28:11.369 --> 00:28:13.470 is such a great ensemble piece. It's Martin's 00:28:13.470 --> 00:28:15.650 birthday. Man, everything goes completely wrong. 00:28:16.029 --> 00:28:18.289 The power goes out across Seattle. The classic 00:28:18.289 --> 00:28:21.009 blackout trope. It forces everyone into one single 00:28:21.009 --> 00:28:23.349 room. It totally strips away the distractions. 00:28:23.549 --> 00:28:25.869 You can't watch TV. You can't leave the building. 00:28:26.049 --> 00:28:28.710 You just have to exist together in the dark. 00:28:28.990 --> 00:28:31.809 Roz is there. And she's miserable because she's 00:28:31.809 --> 00:28:33.890 missing a big family reunion back in Wisconsin. 00:28:34.210 --> 00:28:36.809 She feels entirely like an outsider in the apartment. 00:28:37.089 --> 00:28:39.210 And the resolution of that episode is basically 00:28:39.210 --> 00:28:42.410 the thesis statement for the entire series. Fraser 00:28:42.410 --> 00:28:45.140 lights a single candle. He invites Roz into the 00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:47.720 circle. He integrates her into the Crane family 00:28:47.720 --> 00:28:50.539 celebration. It redefines family. It's not just 00:28:50.539 --> 00:28:52.859 the people you share DNA with. It's the people 00:28:52.859 --> 00:28:55.019 you share the dark with. It cements the ensemble 00:28:55.019 --> 00:28:58.240 perfectly. By the end of season two, Roz and 00:28:58.240 --> 00:29:00.160 Daphne aren't just the producer and the healthcare 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:02.819 worker anymore. They are Cranes for all intents 00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:05.599 and purposes. So let's try to synthesize all 00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:07.880 of this for you. We started this deep dive asking 00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:10.900 how season two actually defined the show's long 00:29:10.900 --> 00:29:13.619 -term legacy. And I really think the answer is 00:29:13.619 --> 00:29:16.839 that season two proved the Frasier formula was 00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:19.319 actually sustainable. It proved you could have 00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:21.539 a show that was smart enough to win Peabody's, 00:29:21.559 --> 00:29:23.660 but silly enough to win the Nielsen ratings war. 00:29:23.819 --> 00:29:26.819 It balanced the high culture, the opera, the 00:29:26.819 --> 00:29:29.640 expensive wine, the psychiatric jargon with the 00:29:29.640 --> 00:29:32.740 low culture, the exploding toilets, the flower 00:29:32.740 --> 00:29:35.160 sacks, the alien abductions. And it did it with 00:29:35.160 --> 00:29:37.859 a swagger and confidence symbolized by that. 00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:41.039 bold red title card. They knew they were the 00:29:41.039 --> 00:29:43.519 absolute best show on television and they wrote 00:29:43.519 --> 00:29:45.900 like it every single week. Before we wrap up, 00:29:45.940 --> 00:29:47.420 I want to leave our listener with a somewhat 00:29:47.420 --> 00:29:49.180 provocative thought that builds on what we've 00:29:49.180 --> 00:29:51.299 discussed. We mentioned the episode The Botched 00:29:51.299 --> 00:29:53.680 Language of Cranes earlier. Frazier makes an 00:29:53.680 --> 00:29:55.759 offhand comment on the radio about Seattle being 00:29:55.759 --> 00:29:58.640 dreary. And the entire city completely turns 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:01.240 on him. He becomes an absolute pariah. He can't 00:30:01.240 --> 00:30:03.039 even get a coffee without someone yelling at 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:05.819 him in the street. In 1994, that was just a funny 00:30:05.819 --> 00:30:08.359 plot point about the power of local talk radio. 00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.160 But watching it today, doesn't it feel like a 00:30:11.160 --> 00:30:13.339 totally uncanny prediction of cancel culture? 00:30:13.680 --> 00:30:16.099 It really does. It shows exactly how quickly 00:30:16.099 --> 00:30:18.740 the mob can turn on a public figure. You are 00:30:18.740 --> 00:30:21.200 the beloved local celebrity one minute, and the 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:23.519 next, you are public enemy number one just because 00:30:23.519 --> 00:30:26.200 of a completely minor slip of the tongue. It 00:30:26.200 --> 00:30:28.420 raises a really interesting question for you 00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:32.500 to mull over. Is the Crane ego just timelessly 00:30:32.500 --> 00:30:35.420 fragile? Or was Frazier accidentally predicting 00:30:35.420 --> 00:30:38.200 the extreme volatility of the modern media landscape 00:30:38.200 --> 00:30:41.359 30 years early? I think it's probably a bit of 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:43.680 both. But I will say this. Frazier Crane would 00:30:43.680 --> 00:30:45.579 absolutely not survive Twitter. Oh, he would 00:30:45.579 --> 00:30:49.180 be canceled by noon on his very first day. That 00:30:49.180 --> 00:30:51.140 is it for this deep dive into Frazier season 00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:53.319 two. Thank you so much for listening. Good night, 00:30:53.380 --> 00:30:53.559 Seattle.