Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs
July 3, 2013 10:38 PM Subscribe
Because you are familiar with internet, you have already guessed what Laser Frasier might be like before clicking it. And if you consider it a moment, you'll probably (and correctly) agree that someone, somewhere, must maintain a collection of fiercely imagined plot synopses to 'unproduced' episodes of the long-running Cheers spin-off. But can you explain why these comic strips are so wonderful? (I can -- it is because KC Green made them.)
I like all of these things better than the television show itself, and wanted to share.
I like all of these things better than the television show itself, and wanted to share.
(And I constantly re-watch Frasier as my background show while I'm eating dinner. Constantly.)
The Frasier re-runs on the Hallmark Channel are my go-to background viewing during the late evenings when I'm half-focusing on other things. It's like comfort food, or comfort television, so to speak. And the "fiercely imagined plot synopses" link had me thinking "Oh I would totally enjoy that episode!" (if if existed, heh).
posted by amyms at 11:04 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Frasier re-runs on the Hallmark Channel are my go-to background viewing during the late evenings when I'm half-focusing on other things. It's like comfort food, or comfort television, so to speak. And the "fiercely imagined plot synopses" link had me thinking "Oh I would totally enjoy that episode!" (if if existed, heh).
posted by amyms at 11:04 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
Having recently re-watched the entire run of Cheers, I think it's interesting that Frasier was a show much more "of the 90s" than Cheers was a show "of the 80s".
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:05 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:05 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
What does it say about us that pretty much all of our "culture" is made by a small group of people who go to the same websites, retweet the same horse-based tweets, and know the same people?
I'll let the Baffler deal with the whole "this is all from the 80s-90s" thing, though
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 11:08 PM on July 3, 2013
I'll let the Baffler deal with the whole "this is all from the 80s-90s" thing, though
posted by This, of course, alludes to you at 11:08 PM on July 3, 2013
What does it say about us that pretty much all of our "culture" is made by a small group of people who go to the same websites, retweet the same horse-based tweets, and know the same people?
I don't know what this statement has to do with the Frasier links, but I was under the impression that all of our "culture" was based on lolcats. (Of course, I could be wrong. I'm about a generation behind, because I live in the middle of nowhere).
posted by amyms at 11:17 PM on July 3, 2013
I don't know what this statement has to do with the Frasier links, but I was under the impression that all of our "culture" was based on lolcats. (Of course, I could be wrong. I'm about a generation behind, because I live in the middle of nowhere).
posted by amyms at 11:17 PM on July 3, 2013
I loved laser frasier, but I feel like the explosion was anti-climactic. I'd rather have seen the eyes, then seen them disappear, then cut straight to the credits. The arc went normal -> weird -> slapstick. I think normal -> weird -> normal, would have been funnier.
posted by sp160n at 11:35 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by sp160n at 11:35 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
The Frasier re-runs on the Hallmark Channel are my go-to background viewing during the late evenings when I'm half-focusing on other things.
I switched from Hallmark to Netflix because Hallmark bleeps out literally everything. Everything. Bastard. Hooker. Everything. And because they cut out certain one-liners that are actually pretty funny to keep syndication run times low.
When you've literally watched and nearly memorized every episode, it's pretty fun to re-watch on Netflix and pick up on first-run jokes you may not remember that well and definitely don't remember from Hallmark viewings.
posted by disillusioned at 11:48 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I switched from Hallmark to Netflix because Hallmark bleeps out literally everything. Everything. Bastard. Hooker. Everything. And because they cut out certain one-liners that are actually pretty funny to keep syndication run times low.
When you've literally watched and nearly memorized every episode, it's pretty fun to re-watch on Netflix and pick up on first-run jokes you may not remember that well and definitely don't remember from Hallmark viewings.
posted by disillusioned at 11:48 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]
I switched from Hallmark to Netflix because Hallmark bleeps out literally everything. Everything. Bastard. Hooker. Everything. And because they cut out certain one-liners that are actually pretty funny to keep syndication run times low.
Good to know, thanks. I hadn't even noticed that. I guess that's due to the nature of my "background" approach to watching/paying attention.
posted by amyms at 11:51 PM on July 3, 2013
Good to know, thanks. I hadn't even noticed that. I guess that's due to the nature of my "background" approach to watching/paying attention.
posted by amyms at 11:51 PM on July 3, 2013
Laser Frazier was pretty cool. The TV show had some good points...but I always felt that it never lived up to its potential. But hey...at least it was smarter/better than crap like Friends by a factor of about 79 billion.
posted by davidmsc at 11:58 PM on July 3, 2013
posted by davidmsc at 11:58 PM on July 3, 2013
In a similar vein, and from the mind behind Crimer: The delightful Frasser Show.
posted by ominous_paws at 12:01 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by ominous_paws at 12:01 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
The episode of Frasier that came out just after 9/11 was interesting. It didn't have that much to do with 9/11, but David Angell, one of the producers, (the "A" in KACL) was sitting behind Mohamed Atta before they took the plane into the World Trade Center.
Interesting episode.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:13 AM on July 4, 2013
Interesting episode.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:13 AM on July 4, 2013
I can't put my finger on the reason, but those "fiercely imagined plot synopses" are giving me the full-on creeps --- the same kind of feeling I got from Candle Cove. Maybe it's just the uneasy combination of entirely plausible plot elements with storylines straight out of nightmares. It's eerily effective.
posted by Elsa at 12:24 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
posted by Elsa at 12:24 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
I find Frasier to be one of the most cringe-inducing and unfunny things ever broadcast.
There's a TV station here that for some reason has decided Frasier reruns are appropriate material for the 07:00 - 08:00 time slot and (because sports news bore me even more), I will occasionaly watch an episode while pumping enough caffeine into my system to get me started for the day. I can tell you tired middlebrow humor and Morning Horror do not go well together.
If this was a just world, I would be compensated by David Lynch directing a few seasons' worth of the fiercly imagined plot synopses.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:35 AM on July 4, 2013
There's a TV station here that for some reason has decided Frasier reruns are appropriate material for the 07:00 - 08:00 time slot and (because sports news bore me even more), I will occasionaly watch an episode while pumping enough caffeine into my system to get me started for the day. I can tell you tired middlebrow humor and Morning Horror do not go well together.
If this was a just world, I would be compensated by David Lynch directing a few seasons' worth of the fiercly imagined plot synopses.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:35 AM on July 4, 2013
For post 9/11 Frasiers, the fun starts with Bla-Z-Boy. It will take years for scholars to appreciate the subtext.
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:37 AM on July 4, 2013
posted by twoleftfeet at 12:37 AM on July 4, 2013
I will occasionaly watch an episode while pumping enough caffeine into my system to get me started for the day. I can tell you tired middlebrow humor and Morning Horror do not go well together.
Man, I mean, to each their own and all that, but there are complete moments of brilliance throughout the show. It's written incredibly intelligently and features some completely perfect wordplay from start to finish that sometimes reveals itself even further on repeat viewings. (Though perhaps, not early morning, pre-caffeine viewings.) The acting is pitch-perfect and the byplay between Frasier and Niles is completely worth it.
The getting gets real good in about season 4-7, and if you ever want to give it a serious try, check out the following episodes (while fully awake) on Netflix:
Ham Radio (Season 4, Episode 18)
The Ski Lodge (Season 5, Episode 14)
Beware of Greeks (Season 5, Episode 16)
The Seal Who Came to Dinner (Season 6, Episode 8)
Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz (Season 6, Episode 10, SERIOUSLY hilariously executed)
Three Valentines (Season 6, Episode 14, possibly the greatest cold open I've seen on a sitcom, and completely wordless)
Door Jam (Season 10, Episode 11)
That's a selection of particularly good episodes which really work well from an execution perspective. Some of them are fun and almost a bit slapstick, but they're pulled off so smartly that I honestly think most people would enjoy them.
More importantly, they all work without context, for the most part, so they don't come in the middle of an arc that seems out of place or requires episodes leading into them to still work.
Even just Three Valentines's cold open. Cracks me up every time. David Hyde Pierce is such a great physical and emotive actor and the scene just works.
It definitely may not be your cup of tea, but I wouldn't consider it middlebrow and it's considerably more layered than basically any sitcom from the 90s whose name wasn't Sports Night.
posted by disillusioned at 12:48 AM on July 4, 2013 [20 favorites]
Man, I mean, to each their own and all that, but there are complete moments of brilliance throughout the show. It's written incredibly intelligently and features some completely perfect wordplay from start to finish that sometimes reveals itself even further on repeat viewings. (Though perhaps, not early morning, pre-caffeine viewings.) The acting is pitch-perfect and the byplay between Frasier and Niles is completely worth it.
The getting gets real good in about season 4-7, and if you ever want to give it a serious try, check out the following episodes (while fully awake) on Netflix:
Ham Radio (Season 4, Episode 18)
The Ski Lodge (Season 5, Episode 14)
Beware of Greeks (Season 5, Episode 16)
The Seal Who Came to Dinner (Season 6, Episode 8)
Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz (Season 6, Episode 10, SERIOUSLY hilariously executed)
Three Valentines (Season 6, Episode 14, possibly the greatest cold open I've seen on a sitcom, and completely wordless)
Door Jam (Season 10, Episode 11)
That's a selection of particularly good episodes which really work well from an execution perspective. Some of them are fun and almost a bit slapstick, but they're pulled off so smartly that I honestly think most people would enjoy them.
More importantly, they all work without context, for the most part, so they don't come in the middle of an arc that seems out of place or requires episodes leading into them to still work.
Even just Three Valentines's cold open. Cracks me up every time. David Hyde Pierce is such a great physical and emotive actor and the scene just works.
It definitely may not be your cup of tea, but I wouldn't consider it middlebrow and it's considerably more layered than basically any sitcom from the 90s whose name wasn't Sports Night.
posted by disillusioned at 12:48 AM on July 4, 2013 [20 favorites]
For post 9/11 Frasiers, the fun starts with Bla-Z-Boy. It will take years for scholars to appreciate the subtext.
I'm going to break it down.
About 7 minutes and 33 seconds in, we wonder if it was an accident. About 10 minutes in we worry about the high-rise flames and potential collateral damage.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:13 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
I'm going to break it down.
About 7 minutes and 33 seconds in, we wonder if it was an accident. About 10 minutes in we worry about the high-rise flames and potential collateral damage.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:13 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
My wife and I watched all of Cheers on Netflix a few years ago, and then moved right in to Frasier. We ended up watching the entire series twice. It's a great show. There's something unique about watching multiple years' worth of teleplays featuring the same characters and settings, especially when the writing and characterization is well-executed.
Also if this is pejorative-middlebrow sitcom fare I'm really interested to know what the hell a highbrow sitcom is supposed to be...maybe Arrested Development?
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:16 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Also if this is pejorative-middlebrow sitcom fare I'm really interested to know what the hell a highbrow sitcom is supposed to be...maybe Arrested Development?
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:16 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I might give it another shot on the strength of you recommendation, but it's the disconnect between the supposed intelligence of the main characters and the stereotypically absurd sitcom behavior they exhibit that breaks it for me (occasional cheap HA HA SILLY INTELLECTUAL potshots don't help either). The other day I was watching one were Frasier finds himself naked on a bed, on the stage of a children's show - an entirely contrived effort to draw laughs from juxtaposing a horny middle aged guy who's too smart to get himself laid under less ridiculous circumstances with a bunch of kiddies.
On preview, comedy doesn't need to be highbrow at all - just funny.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:19 AM on July 4, 2013
On preview, comedy doesn't need to be highbrow at all - just funny.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:19 AM on July 4, 2013
The other day I was watching one were Frasier finds himself naked on a bed, on the stage of a children's show
That was one of the later episodes. The first five or six seasons were better.
Daphne lost her psychic ability after the first few episodes. You can't judge the series on a few episodes.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:29 AM on July 4, 2013
That was one of the later episodes. The first five or six seasons were better.
Daphne lost her psychic ability after the first few episodes. You can't judge the series on a few episodes.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:29 AM on July 4, 2013
The thing about the HAR HAR SILLY INTELLECTUAL thing is...well I think it's more nuanced on Frasier. Maybe not at first --the show does take a season or two to really find its voice, but I find in general the contrivances are NOT about Frasier's or Niles's supposed idiocy-in-spite-of-ivy-league, but rather the majority of the humor is derived from their strong need to compete. It's more a critique of upper-class jockeying than it is anything to do with some kind of anti-intellectualist "ain't smart people dumb" shtick.
Contrast this with Big Bang Theory which is 100% about laughing at stereotypes of "nerds" or what have you.
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:30 AM on July 4, 2013 [4 favorites]
Contrast this with Big Bang Theory which is 100% about laughing at stereotypes of "nerds" or what have you.
posted by Doleful Creature at 1:30 AM on July 4, 2013 [4 favorites]
Three Valentines
I don't know what it is -- but that scene is like a microcosm of the whole show. It just kind of annoyed me. It seemed predictable and forced. And yet, I know I've seen similar things on other shows (e.g. the IT Crowd), and they did not bore me as much. Maybe I identify and care about the characters more… Mostly I just want to punch the entire cast of Frazier in the face.
As for middlebrow, I would have to say the Frazier sits firmly in this category with any other sitcom. Given the kind of praise I've heard for it, versus my own experience, it seems almost like the Jeopardy of sitcoms, popular for making the audience feel like they're smart.
Anyway, to each their own. :-)
posted by smidgen at 1:44 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I don't know what it is -- but that scene is like a microcosm of the whole show. It just kind of annoyed me. It seemed predictable and forced. And yet, I know I've seen similar things on other shows (e.g. the IT Crowd), and they did not bore me as much. Maybe I identify and care about the characters more… Mostly I just want to punch the entire cast of Frazier in the face.
As for middlebrow, I would have to say the Frazier sits firmly in this category with any other sitcom. Given the kind of praise I've heard for it, versus my own experience, it seems almost like the Jeopardy of sitcoms, popular for making the audience feel like they're smart.
Anyway, to each their own. :-)
posted by smidgen at 1:44 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I would have to say the Frazier sits firmly in this category with any other sitcom. Given the kind of praise I've heard for it, versus my own experience, it seems almost like the Jeopardy of sitcoms, popular for making the audience feel like they're smart.
You spelled Frasier wrong. It's not Frazier.
So there you go.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:48 AM on July 4, 2013
You spelled Frasier wrong. It's not Frazier.
So there you go.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:48 AM on July 4, 2013
But can you explain why these comic strips are so wonderful?
I prefer the saga of Dark Homer (bonus fan comic).
posted by Rhaomi at 1:49 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
I prefer the saga of Dark Homer (bonus fan comic).
posted by Rhaomi at 1:49 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
I think we can all remember where we were when we found out that Niles was gay.
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:57 AM on July 4, 2013
posted by twoleftfeet at 1:57 AM on July 4, 2013
I switched from Hallmark to Netflix because Hallmark bleeps out literally everything. Everything. Bastard. Hooker. Everything.
Not on the Golden Girls they don't.
THEY WOULDN'T DARE.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:07 AM on July 4, 2013 [4 favorites]
Not on the Golden Girls they don't.
THEY WOULDN'T DARE.
posted by louche mustachio at 2:07 AM on July 4, 2013 [4 favorites]
What does it say about us that pretty much all of our "culture" is made by a small group of people who go to the same websites, retweet the same horse-based tweets, and know the same people?I.... think it means that you've mistaken your idiosyncratic browsing habits for "our culture"?
posted by delmoi at 5:16 AM on July 4, 2013
You spelled Frasier wrong. It's not Frazier.
Frajer!
posted by jason_steakums at 7:11 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
Frajer!
posted by jason_steakums at 7:11 AM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
I think we can all remember where we were when we found out that Niles was gay.
Actually the revelation that both Dan Butler and John Mahoney where also gay was a little more interesting. Or that Mahoney had completely erased his Manchester accent.
posted by The Whelk at 7:50 AM on July 4, 2013
Actually the revelation that both Dan Butler and John Mahoney where also gay was a little more interesting. Or that Mahoney had completely erased his Manchester accent.
posted by The Whelk at 7:50 AM on July 4, 2013
I switched from Hallmark to Netflix because Hallmark bleeps out literally everything. Everything. Bastard. Hooker. Everything. And because they cut out certain one-liners that are actually pretty funny to keep syndication run times low.
I do love me some Frasier, but yeah, Hallmark cuts out ---- near everything. Not even bleeps, just, silence, and odd choices at times too. Mind boggling.
The getting gets real good in about season 4-7
I forget the interview i read it in, but the creators were talking about how for those first ones, they were trying to figure out who would be the fall guy, straight guy, butt of the jokes, foil, etc and later on they figured there would be none, all characters would just have the jokes flow more naturally from their character. You can see this with Daphne and Martin among the main cast the most, but Bulldog really gets away from a one note joke (and characters like Chopper Dave just get put on a buss).
Frasier isn't perfect, but it's right up there for great farcical comedy, which goes all the way back to Shakespeare (which got pretty damn low brow and silly if people forget.) The fact that they got Daphne and Niles together, and it worked great (although once she got pregnant her character changed a bit to more bitchy and less cloud-cuckoo-lander bugged me) is a rare case of resolving the "will they or won't they".
posted by usagizero at 8:09 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
I do love me some Frasier, but yeah, Hallmark cuts out ---- near everything. Not even bleeps, just, silence, and odd choices at times too. Mind boggling.
The getting gets real good in about season 4-7
I forget the interview i read it in, but the creators were talking about how for those first ones, they were trying to figure out who would be the fall guy, straight guy, butt of the jokes, foil, etc and later on they figured there would be none, all characters would just have the jokes flow more naturally from their character. You can see this with Daphne and Martin among the main cast the most, but Bulldog really gets away from a one note joke (and characters like Chopper Dave just get put on a buss).
Frasier isn't perfect, but it's right up there for great farcical comedy, which goes all the way back to Shakespeare (which got pretty damn low brow and silly if people forget.) The fact that they got Daphne and Niles together, and it worked great (although once she got pregnant her character changed a bit to more bitchy and less cloud-cuckoo-lander bugged me) is a rare case of resolving the "will they or won't they".
posted by usagizero at 8:09 AM on July 4, 2013 [3 favorites]
You spelled Frasier wrong. It's not Frazier.
No, it's Frajer. I should know; I'm Frajer.
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:24 AM on July 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
No, it's Frajer. I should know; I'm Frajer.
posted by Cash4Lead at 8:24 AM on July 4, 2013 [2 favorites]
I certainly remember where I was when I learned John Mahoney was gay, oh, those many seconds ago.
posted by thebrokedown at 9:12 AM on July 4, 2013
posted by thebrokedown at 9:12 AM on July 4, 2013
Yes Netflix I am still watching Frasier. Please stop asking!
posted by zrail at 1:07 PM on July 4, 2013
posted by zrail at 1:07 PM on July 4, 2013
I'd like to see proof, or even evidence, that John Mahoney's gay. Being married to women doesn't preclude that, but: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mahoney#Personal_life
posted by juniper at 1:17 PM on July 4, 2013
posted by juniper at 1:17 PM on July 4, 2013
I would probably enjoy seeing proof that John Mahoney is gay more than I would enjoy seeing an average episode of Frasier.
posted by box at 1:21 PM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
posted by box at 1:21 PM on July 4, 2013 [1 favorite]
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(And I constantly re-watch Frasier as my background show while I'm eating dinner. Constantly.)
posted by disillusioned at 10:47 PM on July 3, 2013 [1 favorite]