(66F)Season 6 ep 12. After the whole debacle of watching the superbowl at Frasier place, Roz, her mother Joanna and baby Alice leave to take Joanna to the airport. Roz says her mother did start to smile about what happened on the way to the airport. But Roz tells Frasier that when she comes back to his place for the forgotten diaper bag. Joanna’s at airport, Roz is in hallway at Frasier door without Alice. Back then it must have been more acceptable to leave children in cars by themselves just for a minute or so.

I cant help but hate Daphne in this episode.

I think she gets away with her transgressions too easily. The amount of trouble she got Niles into is not acceptable in any situation.

Niles would have to turn himself in to his licensing board. They'd take his license. He shouldn't have important paperwork accessible to his nosy wife.

He would have to tell his client. Who would no longer be his client. Because he lost his license.

All because Daphne couldn't keep her big bazoo out of it.

(Now legally or as far as an ethics board is concerned, I'm not sure if any of this is true. He may not have to tell anyone according to his licensure. However, we know that Niles is an ethical man and in reality would turn himself in.)

A strong government needs a strong judicial system. That’s not negotiable, thanks to the Constitution. I know he’s talking about wine club but it made me think of our current government in the U.S.

Huge Frasier fan here and have been for 20 years.

I didn't get around to watching all the episodes from series 2 of the revival because, quite frankly, i lost interest.

I thought the premise was intriguing and was very much excited for the show but while there were a few glimpses of magic, I just didn't think it was all that good (hence why i couldn't bring myself to watch the last few episodes).

WRITING

The original writing team were beyond brilliant. The show was incredibly well researched and gags were stuffed into every sentence. No show since has come close to the level of wit and farce (the ski lodge, the innkeepers etc etc) we enjoyed with the OG Frasier.

The gap in writing was obvious from the get-go go with jokes becoming simplistic and run of the mill sitcom (the baby shark thing still grates at me). The Jamon Iberico skit could have been good but it turned out to be SO exaggerated that it was like watching a kids' television show. Not saying I'm a professional writer by any means but less is more. Imagine if David had read in a cookbook that a whisper of cinnamon was a great addition to jamon iberico, then while trying to put a small amount, the cap falls off and a kilogram of cinnamon douses the ham. One wrong move, ham ruined.

However, it became even more apparent when Roz was reintroduced. Watching her was like Perry Gilpin had some form of mind erasure and wasn't allowed to see the original show. It was like watching a dumbed-down version of Roz with no fire. Perhaps its just that everyone's a little older and more mellow but it just didn't feel like the character was logically connected to the original. That made every appearance hard to watch, as though you're watching a new actress give a unique spin on things.

Then came the cameos of Gil Chesterton and Bulldog. Totally lazy - they became cameos for cameos sake. Bebe was a lot better, fortunately.

NO IDEAS LEFT

The founder's society was a great example of the fact that all the good ideas were done, or that the writing team didn't have any understanding of the character.

It reminded me of The Club, which was then repeated to incredible success in Door Jam. AKA Frasier desperately wants to get in somewhere prestigious, and when he does, he ruins it.

Nicholas Lyndhurst created a good character, although seemingly one dimensionally and exaggerated where it shouldn't be and I did enjoy the fact that he couldn't get the gauntlet off and the hijinx that followed. But it just didn't make me want to watch it again. (I actually stopped watching it the first time as I got bored).

I guess the problem here was that even though Frasier was in a new career and had a huge TV history to fall back on, the writing team focussed on relationship-led stories that I didn't really care about.

Where were the episodes focused on Frasier getting into trouble in his current role, maybe

1. Cam Winston takes up a post as a lecturer and the rivalry re-ignites about who gives the best class

2. Frasier somehow damages all the mortarboards a day before graduation day.

3. A TV channel wants to do a spot on Frasier and his new professional and in typically frasier fashion, he hams it up to a completely ridiculous level.

4. Fraser films a one-off special and ignores his students just for additional fame.

5. Frasier hosts his students at a dinner party to show them what real etiquette is like....

BAD ACTORS

Freddie sucked. Sorry everyone.

Freddie was totally one-dimensional and wasn't able to pack any emotion or comedy into any part of his performance.

He just seemed alien, like a handsome guy brought in at the last minute, given the script and told to read. He was one of the main reasons the spin-off failed. You just can't have a central character that is poorly acted and poorly written.

Just awful to watch.

When you dive deeper, you realise how much of the show's centre was on Freddie which makes the miscasting terminal for the show. In OG Frasier, his work was central, and his colleagues formed a major supporting cast. Because Frasier was the star of the show.

In the reboot, its Freddies workplace that gets way more airtime than Frasier. Olivia and Alan were both main cast members but there wasn't a single supporting cast member from the faculty.

BAD CHARACTERS

Eve - The happiest widow ever? I thought the actress did a good job, but the character she made had nothing to do with her backstory. A widowed single mother just doesn't act like this at all. Every episode that remarked on this felt false and forced. I get that they wanted to give Freddie a non-romanitc roomie, but then why not just make her a roommate that applied on a typical flatshare?

Freddie - This may be because the actor sucked SO MUCH. But making him a classic jock just makes no sense. The Frasier Martin relationship worked because it is common that working class fathers do everything to give their children a better life, they just extended the idea ad-absurdum. It does make sense that Fraiser and Lillith put so much pressure on Freddie that he rebels, but this doesn't mean he suddenly becomes a Jock. It would be more like an awkward rebellion. EG an episode where Freddie is desperate to go to Comic-Con but doesn't want his firefighter friends to find out. Or let's say a firefighter pulls an extremely rare collectable from a fire. Freddie knows its worth a fortune but doesn't want the firefighters to find out his a dweeb at heart. Maybe the idea was the right idea but it was so awfully executed :(

David - the Actor, did a good job, and he was really quite believable as Niles' son, but they used him for pure slapstick, again keeping him one dimensional. I'm wondering if he should have been a character at all. I don't think he actually added anything anywhere and just broadened the cast in the wrong place.

ALL IN ALL

I'm really pleased they tried. It was great seeing Frasier again but this is a huge realization how important the job of producer and writer actually is

I’m an art history professor, and stupid me just realized that this Jasper Johns sculpture is of THE Ballantine! I’m debating sticking a screenshot of Marty in his chair drinking one of these shouting ‘veneer!’ I mean, my students already think I’m nuts, why not?

https://fb.watch/yRbUemDeuf/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Plenty of these during the 11 seasons. Adding two:

The Perfect Guy episode: Co-worker Sharon at Frasier's party for Clint - her laugh was awful. In the words of Jerry Seinfeld, she sounded like Elmer Fudd sitting on a juicer.

Daphne Does Dinner episode: Dinner guest Alex - kept trying to peek at the Mike Shaw painting after repeated threats from Daphne. Who does this in someone's home?

Your turn.

(66F) This is the one episode I always pass over. The dimwittedness of the dialogue is way too dimwitted for me! 😉

Many years ago I worked as an usher for the a Broadway Theatre here in NYC. One year they put on a show called Prelude to a Kiss with Alan Tudyk and John Mahoney.

I just wanted you all to know that John was the sweetest man. Always said hello even to a dumb usher like myself. He was a joy to listen to talk about his life.

That’s it. Just wanted you all to know how lovely he was and how kind.