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Frasier

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Frasier is a television sitcom, produced by Grub Street Productions in association with Paramount. It 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 even more successful than its spin-off parent, a television first.

Credits

Creators

Actors

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 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 having the same number of seasons as Cheers
  • 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:

  • The series is currently the winner of the most Emmys (31); Kelsey Grammer won 5 of them as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy
  • After this season Grammer will be tied for an actor with the longest running character on TV, as he played Dr. Frasier Crane for 20 years now, with James Arness of Gunsmoke.
  • 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 (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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