Admittedly a little “so-so,” but I still give it my quality stamp of approval. Bite me.
Frasier: A Family
Introduction and Cast
Frasier is an American sitcom that began in 1993 and lasted until 2004 for a total of 11 seasons (Internet Movie Database). This show was massively successful and held the record number of Emmy awards (37 total) until Game of Thrones exceeded the record in 2016 (Time). The show focuses on Dr. Frasier Crane (played by Kelsey Grammer) who has recently has moved from Boston, MA to Seattle, WA, nearer to his brother, Dr. Niles Crane (David Hyde-Pierce), and his father, Martin Crane (John Mahoney). Martin Crane requires live-in assistance and physical therapy which he receives from Daphne Moon, played by Jane Leeves, who is a very eccentric character from Manchester, England (Graham). Frasier hosts a radio program, The Frasier Crane Show, where he uses his psychiatric training to help people over the radio. He works with his producer, Roz Doyle, played by Peri Gilpin (IMDB).
This paper will address the family dynamic of the Crane Family, specifically how Daphne Moon fits into the family as well as Roz Doyle. The issue of homosexual stereotypes and femininity in the first four episodes of season 2 will be addressed with a specific focus on episode 3, “The Matchmaker.” A close look of the success of Frasier as a spinoff and the success of the show in general will be made. The final assessment of this paper will look at Frasier as a representation of a sitcom.
The Crane Family Dynamic and Daphne Moon
Daphne Moon is introduced in the very first episode of Frasier, “The Good Son,” as a hired live-in physical therapist for Frasier’s father, Martin Crane. In this first episode, Frasier does not approve of Daphne as a candidate to take care of her father, but Martin makes the decision that she is to be hired (Angell, Sept. 16, 1993).
Daphne’s role changes dramatically by the second season of the program. Daphne does more than help Martin manage his physical therapy and provide day-to-day assistance in the home, she also provides services similar to that of a live-in housekeeper. Besides just helping Martin, Daphne can be found exceeding her duties in episode 2 of season 2, “The Unkindest Cut of All,” ironing Frasier’s socks and hosting guests (Angell, Sept. 20, 1994), and in episode 3, “The Matchmaker,” setting the dinner table for Frasier’s guests (Angell, Oct. 4, 1994), and in episode 4, “Flour Child,” hand copying names from a card Frasier thought was a birthday card to a new card (Angell, Oct. 11, 1994).
In these first four episodes of this season, Daphne is only once seen administering her services as a healthcare provider to Martin. In season 2, episode 1, “Slow Tango in South Seattle,” Daphne can be seen acting as a physical therapist while helping Martin with his exercises (Angell, Sept. 20, 1994). What routines Daphne is seen doing with Martin almost always involve Martin complaining that he does not want to do his exercises.
Daphne’s role in the household does exceed that of employment. In season 2, episode 1, “Slow Tango in South Seattle,” Daphne is very critical of a story she learns about Frasier’s past. She chastises him for his actions that she learned he committed years ago in his youth. In episode 2, “The Unkindest Cut of All,” Daphne expresses a lot of sarcasm toward Frasier. Frasier does not show a lot of patience for this, but seems to put up with it. In episode 3, “The Matchmaker,” Frasier and Daphne connect on a personal level during a conversation when Daphne expresses that she is upset with her love life, and Frasier talks about some of his past relationships that did not work well. Frasier ends up overstepping the line in the end by trying to set Daphne up with a man.
In many ways, Daphne’s role can be seen as part of the family more than a healthcare professional. She does not have to withhold her personal feelings. Daphne cares about Martin, Frasier, and Niles on a personal level. To Frasier and Martin, she might as well be a relative.
The relationship between Niles and Daphne is that of unrequited love. Niles is infatuated with Daphne, but she does not seem to recognize his suggestions or advances. Niles seems to forget about his wife, Maris, whenever he is around Daphne.
Niles is often working to gain the affection of Daphne. In one example, the second episode of season 2, Daphne says, “Why, many’s the time I’ve chosen a man based solely on the way me mum’s Springer Spaniel took to him,” and shortly after we see Niles placing liver behind his ears in order to gain the affection of a puppy. In the third episode of the season 2 when Frasier invites the new station manager, Tom, over to introduce him to Daphne, Niles attempts to block what he perceives as Tom’s advances towards Daphne. He shows up to Frasier’s apartment unexpected and attempts to show up Tom by belittiling his remarks and helping Daphne with preparing dinner.
These kind of antics continue with Niles through many seasons of the show until Niles and Daphne finally marry in season 10, becoming husband and wife, and technically making Frasier a brother-in-law and Martin a father-in-law to Daphne, a role in the family that in many ways she already has been a part of.
In an interview with Mediaweek, Stuart Fischoff, professor of media psychology at California State University, Los Angeles, CA, said that no one fights with Daphne. Fischoff goes on to say that Frasier, Niles, and his father live harmoniously together with Daphne holding everything together (Farrell, 1999). In her own way, Daphne is the glue that holds Martin, Frasier, and Niles together.
The Role of Roz Doyle
The primary role that Roz plays in the life of Frasier is as his producer for The Frasier Crane Show. In the second season alone, Roz can be seen in every one of the 24 episodes. Roz is clearly a main character in Frasier because of her constant presence throughout the series. Most of the scenes Roz is seen in take place at the radio station where she and Frasier work. Fischoff describes this relationship as a “Work/Marriage-type” (Farrell, 1999). At the end of the day, despite their disagreements, they get along well. They argue, criticize each other (sometimes harshly), and share their problems with each other. In this way, Roz and Daphne have a similar relationship with Frasier.
Roz can be seen at the home of Frasier interacting with the Crane family, but these scenes are few in the first two seasons.
Niles and Roz do not get along. As seen in season 2, episode 3, Niles criticizes Roz for her taste in men and the number of relationships she has been in. Roz does not approve of Niles’ snide attitude. Niles and Roz are constantly making negative remarks towards each other through the series, but occasionally find common ground.
Homosexual Stereotypes in Frasier
Frasier blatantly shows a number of references to sexuality. Lynne Joyrich, professor of English and Comparative Literature at Brown University, Milwaukee, WI writes the following about Frasier, “[Frasier] is another notable example of a programme that cheerfully permits viewers to pick at its ostensibly heterosexual surface […] which features straight characters created and performed by a number of out-writers and actors.” She continues, “[Frasier] has been seen by some fans as expressing a gay sensibility through its wit and ‘knowing’ style” (Davis, 2009).
Many of the perceptions of Frasier and his brother, Niles, being possibly queer come from their sense of style. Jane Feuer, professor of film studies and English at the University of Pittsburgh, PA, explains that Frasier could be considered a queer sitcom (though not a gay sitcom) because of some of the queer sensibilities in the show. Feuer points out that Niles and Fraiser have feminine tastes, including their “preferences for opera, fine wine, designer clothing, and the like” (Creeber, 2015). These interests challenge typical roles of masculinity.
Nancy San Martin supports these points, arguing that Frasier is both “straight and queer.” San Martin explains, “Frasier imbues a stright-straight set of characters with queer sensibilities of its gay producers. Serial-womanizer Frasier and his brother Niles […] fashion their heterosexuality after the effete taste, affectations, and mannerisms of opera queens.” (San Martin, 2002). San Martin brings up an interesting point: Frasier did have gay writers (and actors). The “gay sensibilities” found in the characters of Frasier and Niles were likely written through from their gay writers. Two of these writers include Joe Keenan and David Lee (Becker, 2006).
These likes and interests do not make the characters of Frasier or Niles gay. Co-Creator of Frasier, David Lee, said this about Frasier in an interview: “[Niles and Frasier were definate heterosexuals] and we get this feedback from a lot of the gay press saying, ‘well, of course they’re really gay,’ well they’re really not. Niles really loves Daphne. Then we would have fun with the Bulldog character being played by an out-gay actor who is the toughest guy around. We were always having fun playing with stereotypes,” (Lee, 2003).
The character of Martin Crane, the father of Niles and Frasier, often expresses a disapproval of Frasier and Nile’s inability to take care of things themselves. In season 2, epsiode 4, Frasier, Niles, and Martin are in a taxi cab being driven by a pregnant driver who begins to give birth. Frasier and Niles attempt to help and Frasier explains that they are both “trained medical professionals.” The attemps to help quickly fall apart as Niles can’t handle the pressure and Frasier can’t stop by talking himself into embarassment. Martin steps in and gets the situation under control, explaining that he is a retired cop. The woman sees him as being likely more helpful than two psycholigists and yells, “What took you so long!” (Angell, 1994, October 11).
Martin’s attempts to shape Niles and Frasier can be seen throughout the series in many circumstances, but especially with Frasier.
The Matchmaker
Season 2, episode 3, “The Matchmaker,” definately puts a marker on the map when it comes to comedy with queer themes. In this episode, Frasier attempts to help Daphne find a man. He believes the new station manager of KACL, Tom Duran, might be a prime choice. Fraiser consideres him good looking, smart and successful, and discoveres he is single. Frasier invites Tom over for dinner with the intention that he meets Daphne; however, Tom’s perception of the invitation is that Frasier is asking him out on a date. A comedic situation of misunderstanding ensues. The whole evening contains dialogue that is perceived by the audience as double entendras and inuendos until one by one Niles, Martin, Frasier, Daphne, and finally Tom, gain an understanding of what is happening (Angell, 1994, October 4).
This episode won several awards including an Emmy, a Directors Guild of America Award for directing, and the Writers Guild of America award for writing (Graham, 1996). In addition to this, it also won a Gay and Lesbian Alliegence Against Defemation (GLAAD) award (Abernethy, 2003). The portrayal of homosexuals being especially feminin and into more sophisticated tastes could be considered offensive in some ways, but a GLAAD award shows that this is a lighthearted portrayal.
David Lee and Joe Keenan commented on the issue of writing characters with gay sensibilites explaining: “When you talk about gay sensibility, you’re starting to describe a very urban, very educated–” Keegan interupts, “–ironic detached, iconoclastic attidue” (Becker, 2006). While not especially offensive, these are still stereotypes.
David Lee said in an interview refering to this episode “I think the audience just thought it was damn funny… the gay thing [just a means for fun and misunderstanding as opposed to being an episode of important social content]. And we did that several times, also with gay themes too, several times. It’s a good way, too, for misunderstandings,” (Lee, 2003).
The Success of Frasier as a Spinoff of Cheers
Frasier is a spinoff from the television show, Cheers, and is one of the most successful spinoffs of modern television. Cheers ran from 1982-1993 for a total of 11 seasons and produced 275 episodes. Kelsey Grammer joined Cheers as Frasier Crane in 1984. (Gitlin, 2014).
Not all details of Frasier’s life line up between the two shows.
In both shows, Frasier is played by Kelsey Grammar. He was stood up at the alter by Diane. He eventually marries Lilith. He has a son. He has a habit of trying to act sophisticated (Gitlin, 2014).
Contrary to Frasier, in the show Cheers, Frasier claims he is an only child and also claims his father, a scientist, had died (O’Shannon, 1989). These details do not add up in Frasier.
Frasier’s father is alive and he has a brother, both living in Seattle. Frasier’s father, Martin, is not a scientist, but a retired Seattle police officer. Frasier’s brother, Niles, is also a psychiatrist with a private practice in Seattle.
Despite these two major inconsistencies, Frasier has been a major success. Audiences have clearly decided it is fine to ignore these differences. The character of Frasier as played by Kelsey Grammer has been on television for 20 years of screen-time when his role is combined with both Cheers and Frasier.
In addition, not all the cast of Cheers was completely excluded from the new show, but it wasn’t made easy for them to visit. David Angell said in an interview that the writers were concerned that if Frasier were still living in Boston, they would have pressure to have Cheers cast visiting, “If we were in Seattle, it wouldn’t be easy for them to get there.” Throughout the 11 seasons of Frasier, a few of the Cheers cast did make an appearance in Frasier, including Diane (more than once), Sam, and Lilith (more than once) (Graham, 1996).
Two writers of Frasier, David Isaacs and Ken Levine, shared a few thoughts on why the character Frasier worked for the spinoff. Ken Levine described that Frasier kept the best of Frasier, moved him to another world, turned it to a family show, and gave it a spin of sophistication. “Frasier was less of a loser on his own show,” (Isaacs & Levine, 2014).
David Isaacs explained, “They were smart enough to realize that they had to distance themselves completely from everything that smelled of Cheers. The characters, the situations, the city, job, everything.” Isaacs argues that Frasier was the only character that could have had a spinoff be successful because his character was complex, unlike Norm or Cliff from Cheers who mostly reacted to situations (Isaacs & Levine, 2014).
Ken Levine describes that before the taping of Frasier, an audience was brought in to watch the run through to see where laughs would occur. “We knew from just that run through that this was lightning in a bottle,” (Isaacs & Levine, 2014).
The Success of Frasier
The success of Frasier can be measured in award numbers and rating histories.
Until the final season, Frasier continued to rank in the top 20 TV programs according to Nielsen (Gitlin, 2014)
Frasier was also received many awards including:
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37 Emmy Award Wins
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73 Emmy Award Nominations (including wins)
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3 Golden Globe wins
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20 Golden Globe nominations (including wins)
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2 Humanitas Prizes
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4 Humanitas Prize Nominations
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1 Peabody Award
(Gitlin, 2014).
Nielsen rankings of Frasier (Data from Gitlin, 2014)
While Frasier has been exceeded for the most Emmys awarded to a series by 1, it still ties with Modern Family as the most Emmy Wins to a Comedy Series (5) (Televison Academy: Emmy, 2016).
In addition to these major awards were many others from other organizations and associations, including the already mentioned GLAAD awards and several others for writing, directing, and acting including from: the Screen Actors Guild Awards, American Cinema Editors, American Comedy Awards, Art Directors Guild, BMI Film & TV Awards, Casting Society of America, Directors Guild of America, Gold Derby Award, Image Aawrds, Online Film & Television Association, People’s Choice Awards, PGA Awards, Satellite Awards, Television Critics Association Awards, TV Guide Awards, and the Viewers for Quality Television Awards (IMDB).
Frasier as a Family Sitcom
Frasier falls into the category of a family sitcom for several reasons. Immediately obvious is the fact that the central characters of Frasier include two brothers and a father. John Hartley explains that family sitcoms tend to be presented as blood families, melded families or metaphorical families (Creeber, 2015).
Given the roles that Daphne plays in Frasier, it is clear that Frasier is sitcom about a melded family. Daphne’s role in the house exceeds that of hired help. It is clear that Frasier, Niles, and Martin care about her a great deal, and she cares about them equally. To an extent, Roz also plays a role in this melded family as the series progresses.
The typical setup for each episode of Frasier focuses on some sort of family situation.
In season 2, episode 1, Frasier’s family discovers the story of Frasier’s first love. Each of the family members has a different perspective: Niles suggesting Frasier still has feelings about the situation, Martin saying Frasier should just forget about it, and Daphne criticizing Frasier for his lack of care in his youth and breaking a woman’s heart.
Episode 2, a decision Martin has put off creates an inconvenience for Frasier, Daphne sees the result as positive, Niles attempts to help but makes a fool of himself.
Episode 3, Fraiser attempts to help Daphne with a problem, Daphne criticizes Frasier for not having asked for help, Niles tries to get in the way.
Episode 4, Niles and Frasier experience a situation that leads to a lot of reflection, Niles tries to decide on a possible life-changing situation, Frasier attempts to help.
These very basic breakdowns of the plots for these four episodes support John Hartley’s description of a sitcom: bizarre setups, rarity of a true nuclear family, formulaic programming, and a focus on family roles.
There are elements that show Frasier can sometimes be a workplace sitcom. Each of these four episodes features a complete scene of Frasier in the workplace with Roz, working on their radio program. These scenes often have a B plot about something happening in the workplace. Sometimes there is crossover between what happens in the workplace and what happens in Frasier’s home. Of the 24 episodes in the second season, only two episodes do not have a scene taking place at the radio station. 14 of these episodes start at the radio station.
In season 2, episode 1, “Slow Tango in South Seattle,” over 7 minutes of this 22 minute episode take place in the KACL radio station with Frasier interacting with Roz and a number of radio personalities. The plot of this episode starts at the radio station and continues into the Crane home.
Episode 3, “The Matchmaker,” crosses an even bigger line of Frasier’s work and home as he attempts to set up the new station manager with Daphne.
Episode 4 begins in the workplace. The main focus of this episode is on Nile’s considering the idea of fatherhood, but the plot both starts and ends with a workplace situation.
The main plots in these first four episodes of season 2 focus on Frasier, Martin, Niles, and Daphne. The plots of these episodes focuses on a different main character, episode 1 being on Frasier, episode 2 on Martin, episode 3 on Daphne, and episode 4 on Niles.
Although Frasier has both elements of workplace situation and queer situation comedy, it truly focuses on the family.
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