Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs (Frasier)

Member Name: TheWriter

Product:	Frasier
Date:	19/01/09 (56 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very funny, easy watching, an absolute classic

Disadvantages: None

Excellent, excellent, excellent comedy.

A spin-off from Cheers the show centres arouns Frasier Crane, a psychiatrist who lives in Seattle with his father.

--Comedy--
I think this show works so well because of the different levels of comedy. They combine intellectual wit with a small degree of slapstick. Although the comedy is usually sophisticated sometimes the plot of an episode is based on a ridiculous scenario and they rely a little heavily on mistaken identities and farce.

--Episode plots--
A recurring theme relies on the premise that "everything that CAN go wrong WILL go wrong". I especially love it when they have dinner parties and despite extensive planning the brothers end up humiliated. For normal people this may mean burning the canapes; for Frasier and Co. it means burning down the apartment.


--Episodes to look out for--
*A perfect illustration of how farcial the show sometimes is can be found in the episode where the characters stay in a cabin. Everyone is romantically interested in someone else including Guy (pronounced "Gee") who is after Niles, believing him to be gay.

*The one where Niles and Frasier go to a gay bar prompting one of Frasier's callers to "out" him.

------Characters-------

-Frasier-

The main character is Frasier and although he's an odd protagonist his pomposity, arrogance and unrealistic sense of self-worth don't detract from the viewer liking him. In fact these are ingredients for more comedy. We laugh with him and at him as he attempts to climb the social ladder - and fails.

-Niles-
Niles is Frasier's brother and is such a likeable character, I was hoping he would be given a spin-off show as he could certainly bring in a big audience but this never happened. Niles is a mini-me of Frasier - once called "back-up Frasier".

-Daphne-
The eccentric English character has moved to Seattle from Manchester and now works as Martin's physical therapist and Frasier's live-in housekeeper. Niles falls in love with Daphne but is still married to Maris at the time. Daphne becomes the subject of Niles' infatuation and becomes one half of the Friends-style "Ross and Rachel will they or wont they get together" storyline. In the earlier episodes Daphne often has psychic visions which are amusing. In one episode Daphne proclaims that she senses "great evil" is approaching and is stricken with a terrible migraine. We discover that Frasier's ex-wife Lillith has come to Seattle and Daphne's migraine lifts as soon as Lillith leaves.

-Martin-
Martin showed the most character progression in the series. He began as a grumpy old man who complained about everything (think The Man who Came to Dinner- a comedy film about a grumpy invalid who comes to dinner but never leaves.) But Martin ends up a cheery, witty and lovable father and friend. He serves as a stark contrast to Frasier and Niles- where they are highbrow Martin is an "everyday kind of guy".

-Eddie-
A little scamp who tortures Fraiser -"Eddie's staring at me again!"- and who is as much a main character as the humans.

-Maris-
We never actually see Maris but the references to her almost inhuman appearance are another source of comedy. She is described as being very thin, very pale, very rich and very strange.

I can't emphasise enough how brilliant this show is. It's full of comedy of course but also endearing characters. Make it a priority to watch this if you never have- you've been missing out.

(c) TheWriter

Summary: There's a reason why this show has received so many awards & acheived such high success- its genuis