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Frasier

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Frasier is a television sitcom, produced by Grub Street Productions in association with Paramount, that was created as a spin-off from the highly successful sitcom Cheers. It stars Kelsey Grammer, reprising his character of Dr. Frasier Crane from the earlier series. It has become highly successful in its own right.

Credits

Creators

David Angell - who worked on Cheers before. Died on the 9/11 attacks.
Peter Casey - worked on Cheers and Wings
David Lee - worked on Wings with Peter Casey

Actors

actor
role
Kelsey Grammer
Dr. Frasier Crane
David Hyde Pierce
Dr. Niles Crane
John Mahoney
Martin Crane
Jane Leeves
Daphne Moon respectively Daphne Crane
Peri Gilpin
Roz (Rozalinda Doyle)
Dan Butler
Bulldog (Briscoe)
Bebe Neuwirth
Lilith
and of course Moose the Dog
as Eddie

Storyline of the Series

Dr. Frasier Crane is a psychiatrist who hosts a radio talk show in Seattle on KACL 780AM. His friend and producer is single mother Roz Doyle, and his colleague, the sports show host Bulldog Briscoe is always on hand to annoy Frasier and hit on Roz. Frasier lives with his father, retired cop Martin Crane, who was shot in the hip at work and walks with a cane. Martin is looked after by his Manchester-born health care worker, Daphne Moon, who is the love interest of Frasier's brother Dr. Niles Crane, a fellow psychiatrist who is even more stuffy and pompous than Frasier. Completing the lineup is Martin's dog Eddie (a well-trained Jack Russell Terrier) who just stares at Frasier all the time. When not hosting his radio program, Frasier drinks coffee at the Cafe Nervosa, a pre-Starbucks Seattle coffee house.

Niles nursed a crush on Daphne for many years, despite being married to Maris Crane. Maris is never seen or heard, only referred to (see unseen character). After a lengthy divorce and other complications, Niles declared his love for Daphne, which she accepted. They are now married with a baby on the way.

Most of the humor (or humour if you're English) is derived of Frasier and Niles competing against each other, and trying to be as snobby as possible. And usually failing. Other themes include Frasier's search for romance, social class conflict with his blue-collar ex-cop father and the lifestyle of a minor celebrity.

The Series Finale

On May 13th Frasier will see its series finale after a 11 year run. Several circumstances led to this decision:

  • The high costs per episode (around $75 million for the last season)
  • The fact that Kelsey Grammer always aimed at the same number of seasons as cheers had
  • The changing airing time of the show - it was moved several times, and had to compete against very popular shows like American Idol, 24 and ABC's According to Jim
  • The lower ratings (11.1 million viewers instead of the 14 million it reached before), seldom reaching the top 10 in the last seasons (somewhat related to the moving time slot)

The show will be dedicated to the creator of Frasier, David Angell who died in the American Airlines Flight 11 on the 9/11 attacks.

Record Books

The series and its cast holds several tv records:

  • It is until now the series which won the most Emmys (31). Kelsey Grammer won 5 of them as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy.
  • After this season Kelsey will also be known as the actor with the longest running character on tv - as he played Dr. Frasier Crane for 20 years now.
  • Kelsey Grammer is by far the highest paid tv star in history, getting the unbelievable salary of $ 1.6 million per episode.
  • Actor David Hyde Pierce aka Niles Crane earns as much as $1 million per episode - making him the highest paid co-actor in a tv series.
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