Frasier

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Television series
German title Frasier
Original title Frasier
Frasier title logo.svg
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 1993-2004
Production
company		 Grub Street Productions ,
Paramount Network Television Productions ,
Paramount Television
length 22 minutes
Episodes 264 in 11 seasons ( List )
genre Sitcom
Theme music Darryl Phinnessee
idea David Angell ,
Peter Casey ,
David Lee
music Bruce Miller
First broadcast September 16, 1993 (USA) on NBC
German-language
first broadcast		 April 24, 1995 on kabel eins
occupation

Frasier is one of the most successful American sitcoms . From 1993 to 2004, 264 episodes were broadcast in eleven seasons of 24 episodes each on NBC . The series was developed and produced by David Angell , Peter Casey and David Lee for Paramount Television .

The subject of the series is the private and professional life of the Crane family and especially the title character Dr. Frasier Crane , a psychiatrist and host of a psychological advice program on the radio. The series is set in Seattle - and above all Frasier's apartment in a posh high-rise, the broadcasting studio of the fictional radio station “KACL”, in which Frasier works, and the “Cafe Nervosa”, where the main characters often meet for coffee .

characters

main characters

  • Dr. Frasier Winslow Crane is a psychiatrist and works for the radio station "KACL" in Seattle, where he moderates a psychological advice program under the motto "I'm listening" (German: "I am all ears"). Frasier is divorced and has one son who lives with his mother in Boston. Frasier's thirst for validity and his snobbery as well as his attempt to organize the coexistence with his old father and besides all this his repeatedly unhappy attempts to find a partner for a lasting relationship are the focus of the series. Another reason for funny moments is his tendency to interfere in the lives of others and to maintain neither the necessary discretion nor the appropriate distance.
    David Hyde Pierce at the 1994 Emmy Awards
  • Dr. Niles Crane , Frasier's two years younger brother, is a psychiatrist and runs a practice. He and his brother share a desire to belong to the upper class of Seattle and a penchant for luxury. In terms of snobbery, he is in no way inferior to Frasier. Despite or precisely because of these similarities, allies often turn into bitter competitors. In addition, Niles distinguish various neurotic traits in everyday life. He starts to bleed from his nose while lying, has various allergies and is overly clean. Niles drives a Mercedes with a license plate that reads “Shrink” (colloquial for psychiatrist), is the president of the wine club, a supporter of the theories of Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung and has an IQ of 156. In the first seasons of the series, he is with the - never seen in the picture - married millionaire heiress Maris, who puts him far in the shade when it comes to neuroses. Above all, however, Niles fell in love with Daphne, his father's physiotherapist, from the start, about which she knew nothing until the middle of the series' seventh season. Due to his unhappy marriage, his unhappy infatuation, his elitist attitudes, his neuroses and his quirks, this character is characterized by running gags and as an ideal projection surface for the comedy of the series.
  • Martin Crane , the father of Frasier and Niles, is a widower, a retired police officer and disabled from a gunshot wound. At the beginning of the series, because of this handicap, he moves in with his son Frasier in his apartment. The only piece of furniture he brings back from his old apartment is a shabby TV armchair, which becomes his regular place in Frasier's apartment. There he sits with his dog, the Jack Russell Terrier Eddie (portrayed by the terrier “Moose” and from season 8 by his son “Enzo”), drinks beer and mostly watches sports broadcasts. He thus forms the contrast to his subtle son and his exquisitely furnished apartment. A recurring motif in the series is Martin's success with women, which, regardless of his age and walking disability, dwarfs the mostly unsuccessful efforts of his sons in this field.
  • Daphne Crane (née Moon) is an English-born physiotherapist who is employed to look after Martin Crane, move in with him and Frasier, and run the household for them. For a long time she is the unsuspecting object of the desires of the unhappily in love Niles. Only when she falls in love with another man in the seventh season and wants to marry him does this change. At the beginning of the 10th season, she marries him. In addition, Daphne is convinced that she has the second face .
  • Roz Doyle is the set manager on Frasier's radio shows and over time she becomes a friend of the whole family. A running gag is her constant search for changing sexual partners and the fact that she is far more successful in this search than Frasier and Niles - which they comment over and over again in the course of the series with a mixture of ridicule and envy; especially Niles stands out. A running gag of the first seasons are the accidental insults Niles made to her because of his inability to remember her name or who Roz is.

Minor characters with repeated appearances

Jane Leeves , 1994

Frasier's colleagues at KACL:

  • Bob Bulldog Briscoe ( Dan Butler ), a typical macho and - mostly unsuccessful - philanderer, who can be sure of the contempt and distrust of Frasier because he enthusiastically hosts a sports program and repeatedly plays rough pranks on the rather unsporting Frasier.
  • Gil Chesterton ( Edward Hibbert ), an effeminate restaurant critic who has an original “ coming out ”.
  • Noel Shempsky ( Patrick Kerr ), who builds his enthusiasm for Star Trek into his regular awkward approaches to Roz.
  • Kate Costas ( Mercedes Ruehl ), in the third season the first female boss of the station, in whom Frasier is not only interested in her job.
  • Kenny Daley ( Tom McGowan ), the station's managing director since the fifth season, who is not always as harmless as he would like to appear to his employees.

Relatives and friends:

  • Frasier's ex-wife Dr. Lilith Sternin ( Bebe Neuwirth ), also a psychiatrist, who is portrayed as ice cold and poor in feeling, and who occasionally appears to cause fear and horror in the Cranes.
  • Frasier and Lilith's son Frederick ("Freddy") , (in the third season Luke Tarsitano , later Trevor Einhorn ), a highly gifted boy whom Frasier would like to see shaped according to his ideas of culture and education, but who also has part of the typical Crane- Inherited neuroses.
  • Frasier's agent Bebe Glazer ( Harriet Sansom Harris ), a woman with a lot of ambition and without any scruples, who is one of the top class in her profession.
  • Marta ( Rene Olga Lopez ), Maris' Colombian housekeeper who is loyal to her mistress.
  • Daphne's miserable brother Simon Moon ( Anthony LaPaglia ), who, during his visits, causes the Crane family to suffer due to his tendency to live at the expense of others.
  • Daphne's father Harry Moon ( Brian Cox ) has guest appearances on episodes 23 and 24 of season 9.
  • Daphne's mother Gertrude Moon ( Millicent Martin ), who initially interferes in her daughter's life by phone from England, but is abandoned by her husband in the ninth season and moves to Seattle.
  • the barmaid Sherry Dempsey ( Marsha Mason ), a loud and boyish person with a golden heart, with whom Martin was in a relationship for a time, to the horror of his sons.
  • Donny Douglas ( Saul Rubinek ), the lawyer who represents Niles in the divorce from Maris and to whom Daphne is now engaged.
  • Dr. Mel Karnofsky ( Jane Adams ), Maris 'cosmetic surgeon and Niles' second wife, with whom he shares some of his obsessions.
  • Lorna Lanley ( Jean Smart ), Frasier's choleric high school sweetheart, now a real estate agent, divorced and chain smoker.
  • Lorna's son Kirby ( Brian Klugman ), who is rather unsuitable for normal working life, but manages to get one of the coveted internship positions at KACL due to his social intelligence.
  • Ronee Lawrence ( Wendie Malick ), once babysitter for Frasier and Niles and now interested in Martin.
  • Charlotte ( Laura Linney ), a matchmaker who tries to find a wife for Frasier, fails and succeeds at the same time.

Offshoots and cross connections

Offshoot

Kelsey Grammer (2006)

Frasier is an offshoot of the Cheers series . There was Dr. Frasier Crane's appearance was initially planned as a temporary one, then he became a minor character and eventually belonged to the main cast. After the end of Cheers , a follow-up series was developed around the character, the series universe (see below) largely coinciding with that of Cheers . The figure of Frasier was expanded and partially changed for the new series. The high level of sophistication and elitist attitudes of Frasier Crane that characterized him in Frasier were not to be found in Cheers . In Cheers , for example, he often takes part in pranks that the visitors and employees of the pub concoct. The frazier of the offshoot looks more mature, his clothes and his home furnishings show an elitist, trained taste. In addition, Frasier is interested in cultural events in Frasier , collects African art, plays the piano and no longer hangs out in a pub all night. Frasier Crane in Cheers drank mostly scotch or beer, depending on the setting of Cheers , while in Frasier he preferred fine wines and dry sherry. He only drinks beer occasionally, e.g. B. when he does something with his father.

Contradictions between the two series primarily concern the characters from Frasier's family and himself:

  • Frasier was an only child in Cheers , but because of the similarity between David Hyde Pierce and Kelsey Grammer, the idea for the character of Frasier's brother Niles came about.
  • Frasier claims in Cheers that his father was a scientist but has since passed away. When Sam Malone mentions this during his visit to Seattle, Frasier explains the contradiction in terms of the bad relationship with his father at the time. When Martin indignantly states that a police officer was probably not good enough for him as a father, Frasier counters: "You were dead - it no longer mattered!"
  • Frasier's mother Dr. Hester Rose Crane (also a psychiatrist) appears in Cheers as the domineering mother who finds it difficult to let go of her grown son and threatens Frasier's fiancée Diane Chambers with a gun. At the beginning of the series of Frasier she passed away. Martin and his sons remember her as an understanding and wise woman. In the flashbacks, she is also portrayed by a different actress than in Cheers . In the episode "Don Juan in Hell - Part 2" (Season 9, Episode 2), Frasier appears on an excursion with all the women from his life. At this point, Frasier's mother and Diane take up their dispute and the incident with the gun again.
  • Frasier's first wife Nanette appears once in Cheers and twice in Frasier , each portrayed by different actresses.
  • Peri Gilpin, who plays Roz Doyle, is a reporter in the final season of Cheers . John Mahoney , who plays Martin Crane, appears in the same season as a composer who is supposed to write a promotional song for Cheers .
  • Different actors play different characters in the two series. For example, Milo O'Shea appears as a priest who performs Woody's wedding in Cheers , while in Frasier Dr. Schachter embodies a colleague of Frasier and Niles who tries unsuccessfully to conduct couples therapy with the two brothers.

Several characters appear in both Cheers and Frasier :

  • Besides Frasier, his ex-wife Lilith was also part of the regular Cheers cast . In the course of the series it is described how both get to know each other, get married, have their son and finally separate.
  • From the original series, Sam Malone ( Ted Danson ), the owner of the Cheers, and the bartender Woody Boyd ( Woody Harrelson ) have guest appearances in one episode each. Diane Chambers ( Shelley Long ) can even be seen in three episodes of Frasier . In the first episode with Diane (Frasier and Diane, episode 14 of the third season) Cheers has a guest appearance itself. Diane performs a play in Seattle that is set in Cheers. You can see this on the theater stage.
  • As a result, Cheers zum Abschied (Cheerful Goodbyes) , Frasier visits Boston with his family and meets Carla Tortelli ( Rhea Perlman ), the cheer's waitress, and regulars Cliff Clavin ( John Ratzenberger ) and Norm Peterson ( George Wendt ).

Series universe

Frasier shares a series universe with several series . First and foremost, of course, this is Cheers , from which the figure of Dr. Frasier Crane comes from. All of Cheers' main characters have also appeared in Frasier over the years , with the exception of bar manager Rebecca Howe ( Kirstie Alley ). In addition, some characters from Frasier have guest appearances in other, independent series and thus connect the realities of different series ( crossover ):

There are also indirect connections to other series via Cheers :

  • Frasier and Lilith appear (before Frasier ) in high-flyers (OT: Wings) (episode: Planes, Trains and Visiting Cranes, 1992).
  • The Tortellis series is also an offshoot of Cheers and depicts the life of Nick Tortelli, the divorced husband of Cheers waitress Carla Tortelli and his family. Three characters from Cheers - Carla Tortelli, Norm Peterson, and Cliff Clavin - made guest appearances.
  • In chief physician Dr. Westphall (OT: St. Elsewhere) the Cheers regulars Cliff Clavin and Norm Peterson appear.
  • A character from the series Die Nanny (OT: The Nanny) appears - like Niles and Daphne - in Caroline in the City .

Episode list

production

David Angell, Peter Casey and David Lee were among the screenwriters of Cheers , and they later produced the series. After their end, they designed Frasier together and then also produced it. In addition, Angell and Casey wrote scripts for the series, while Lee directed many of the episodes.

Before the last episode premiered, a two-hour special called "Analyzing the Laughter" was broadcasted containing selected scenes from all seasons. To this end, a framework plot was re-shot (Frasier has a session with his psychiatrist and talks about problems with his family and friends).

Christopher Lloyd was executive producer for seasons 2-8 and 11 .

Others

  • The series was filmed in a Paramount studio in Los Angeles - incidentally on the same stage as Cheers . The scenes were played in front of an audience. There was also some outdoor shooting, especially in the later seasons. In Seattle itself, however, only those scenes were filmed that take place in the 100th episode entitled "The 1000th Broadcast" (5x05) on the streets of Seattle.
  • During the opening credits of each episode, a stylized skyline of Seattle is built up as a white line against a black background. This opening credits can also be seen at the beginning of Bridget Jones - Chocolate for Breakfast .
  • During the end credits, a short, silent gag can usually be seen, which takes up a motif from the respective episode again, often one that was only heard very briefly before.
  • The song Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs plays over the credits . In the first few seasons, a version sung by Kelsey Grammer can usually be heard, but occasionally an instrumental version can also be heard. At the end of later episodes, in contrast to the USA, only the instrumental version of the piece is played in Germany. In the 100th episode, the credits consist of a short excerpt from a stage show in which Kelsey Grammer and some crewmates sang the song live in front of a Seattle audience.
  • Frasier, Niles, and Martin are the only characters that appear in every episode of the series. Kelsey Grammer was prevented from doing Niles Crane / Head Game's treatment of his alcohol problem during the production of the episode Brings me the head of Niles Crane / Head Game , so the episode was rewritten and Niles took over the role of Frasier and u. a. also moderated his radio show. The few scenes with Frasier in this episode were shot with Grammer afterwards. Roz does not appear in the 244th episode ("The Babysitter" or "Without a Net and Cheese").
  • Jane Leeves became pregnant twice while Frasier was running . The first time her physical change was explained by eating disorders, which led to weight gain. Accordingly, while Leeves was having the child, paused filming, and missed a few episodes, Daphne's weight loss clinic was made history. One episode mentions that Daphne has already lost "9 pounds 12 ounces" (4422 g) - exactly the same as the birth weight of Leeves' baby. When she returns, she is scripted to be 60 pounds lighter. For Jane Leeve's second pregnancy, pregnancy was also written into the plot for Daphne.
  • The millionaire heiress Maris, to whom Niles is still married in the first seasons and who finances his luxurious lifestyle and otherwise makes his (married) life hell, is never shown in the picture. Viewers only get to know them indirectly through conversations about them, a device that is occasionally used in American series. So it is in Cheers Vera, Norm Peterson's wife, who only appears indirectly.
  • Frasier's apartment was in early 2005 by the readers of the BBC magazine published BBC Good Homes Magazine voted "most desirable TV apartment." In the first episode, Frasier himself describes the furnishing style of the apartment as “eclectic” and refers to furnishings by Le Corbusier , Eames and Marcel Breuer's “Wassily” armchair. In this episode and later, he claims that his brown suede couch is an exact copy of the couch that Coco Chanel had in her Paris apartment; in fact, Frasier's couch is much smaller and shaped a little differently.
  • As mentioned in the 'Special Features' of the Season 1 DVDs, the view out of Frasier's window was taken from a cliff near Seattle. In reality, there is no building in Seattle with this view.
  • The name of the radio station, hosted at the Frasier his counselors broadcast, "KACL", is a tribute to the inventor of the series, composed of the names A ngell, C asey and L ee. The K is a mandatory part of all radio and television stations on the US West Coast. (In comparison, the stations in the east start with a W).
  • David Angell, co-inventor and developer of the series and one of its producers, arrived with his wife in the New York attacks on September 11, 2001 as a passenger on American Airlines Flight 11 , the plane of which was flown into the north tower of the World Trade Center , about life. The episode Don Juan in Hell / Don Juan in Hell , which was broadcast after the attacks, contains the dedication “In loving memory of our friends Lynn and David Angell”. In addition, the child of Niles and Daphne is given the name David in homage to David Angell.
  • The callers who addressed Dr. Crane, are spoken of by celebrities, including world-famous Hollywood stars. These guest appearances can only be followed in the American original, as the caller voices are dubbed in the German version. The caller speakers of a season are honored with still images in the credits of the last episode of the season. Prominent callers include a. the German figure skater Katarina Witt (in season 3).
  • In the 200th episode of Frasier (9x08, Obsessed ) Bill Gates made a guest appearance as a guest on Frasier's show. To Frasier's outrage, his advisory program is then transformed into a hotline for Windows . In episode 8x16 (great hours ) the ex-Apollo astronaut and ex-US Senator John Glenn has a significantly longer guest appearance in which he u. a. jokingly reported an encounter with aliens.
  • Kelsey Grammer is the first actor in television history to be nominated for the same series character ( Dr. Frasier Crane ) for Emmys in three different series - alongside Cheers and Frasier for his guest appearance in Overflieger (Wings).
  • Overall, Kelsey Grammer played the character of Frasier Crane in the series Cheers and Frasier for a period of 20 years. With this, Grammer holds the record for the longest representation of a character in a US American main evening series, after he set the record for James Arness for his impersonation of Marshall Matt Dillon in the western series Smoking Colts . This is also dealt with in episode 11x15 when his ex-wife, who plays the child star Nanny G., asks him if he has any idea what it is like to embody the same character for 20 years.
  • Kelsey Grammer was now the highest-paid actor of all time on American television with $ 1.6 million per episode.
  • Her role as Daphne also made Jane Leeves the highest paid British actress ever - she earned £ 275,000 per episode over the last three seasons.
  • The high cost - the last season cost 75 million US dollars - was a main reason for the end of the series, along with declining audience interest.
  • Kelsey Grammer is the dubbing voice of Sideshow Bob (German name: Tingeltangel-Bob ) in the series The Simpsons ; in the episode "The Two Sneaky Brothers" David Hyde Pierce speaks Bob's brother Cecil . There is also a reference to Frasier in the same episode when Bob is released from prison.
  • In the series 30 Rock , in the episode "The Separation" Frasier is parodied about the mention of the fictional series "Black Frasier", in which Niles, Frasier and Martin Crane are played by African Americans. The voice actor of the "black Frasier" in the German version is, as with the real Frasier, Frank-Otto Schenk .
  • In episode 21 of the second season ("The Last Battle"), Gunnar is shown as a German in the English original , but as a Dane in the German dubbing. This type of modification is very often practiced in German dubbing so that the wit of the accent is retained, for example in Malcolm's case the characters Otto and Gretchen are German in the original English, but Danish in the German version.

Awards

Frasier is one of the most award-winning television series of all time (109 won, 193 nominated). The series was nominated for 108 Emmys and 24 Golden Globes, among others. Between 1994 and 2001, the series was nominated eight times in a row for the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, and Frasier is the only series to win five consecutive awards between 1994 and 1998. With the exception of Peri Gilpin, all leading actors have been nominated for both Golden Globe and Emmy Awards. David Hyde Pierce received an Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series every year of Frasier's life , winning the Emmy four times. Kelsey Grammer has been nominated for Best Actor every year except 2003 and has also received an Emmy four times.

In early 2006, Frasier was voted the best English-language sitcom of all time by television professionals in the sitcom sector in Channel 4 's “The Ultimate Sitcom” poll.

Was awarded Frasier among others:

Frasier in Germany

  • Script and dialogue direction - Stefan Ludwig
  • "Rainer Brandt Filmproduktions GmbH" was responsible for the synchronization, later "Arena Film GmbH & Co. Synchron KG".
  • In the German version of Frasier , Dr. Frasier Crane mistakenly referred to as a psychologist . In fact, he's a psychiatrist . The same goes for Niles, Lilith, and the mother of the Crane brothers, Hester Rose.
  • In German television, Frasier ran on free TV on kabel eins (1995/1996), since 1997 several times without the tenth season on Sat.1 and has been running again and again on Comedy Central Germany since 2010 . In addition, the series (also without season 10) ran several times on the pay TV channel Premiere .
  • The tenth season of the series was broadcast in Germany for the first time from June 9, 2008 on the channel Anixe HD and its offshoot Anixe SD . Anixe repeated Frasier from the fifth season on from November 17, 2008. The previous episodes were not available to the broadcaster, which specializes in HD programs, in high definition.
  • From February 2011, all 11 Frasier seasons were broadcast one after the other on Sat.1 Comedy for the first time in Germany and have been repeated several times since then.

List of callers

A list of callers is shown at the end of a season in the credits of the last episode. The list begins with the words "Thanks for Calling". The list in the credits is not complete and is completely missing at the end of seasons 1, 5, 7 and 8. The names not mentioned in the seasons with listing are marked with a *:

DVD release

United States
  • Season 1 was released on May 20, 2003
  • Season 2 was released on January 6, 2004
  • Season 3 was released on May 25, 2004
  • Season 4 was released on February 1, 2005
  • Season 5 was released on May 17, 2005
  • Season 6 was released on September 13, 2005
  • Season 7 was released on November 15, 2005
  • Season 8 was released on June 13, 2006
  • Season 9 was released on April 29, 2008
  • Season 10 was released on September 2, 2008
  • Season 11 was released on January 27, 2009
Great Britain
  • Season 1 was released on November 24, 2003
  • Season 2 was released on June 7, 2004
  • Season 3 was released on September 6, 2004
  • Season 4 was released on July 18, 2005
  • Season 5 was released on November 27, 2006
  • Season 6 was released on May 14, 2007
  • Season 7 was released on July 9, 2007
  • Season 8 was released on February 4, 2008
  • Seasons 9, 10 & 11 came out on March 23, 2009
Germany
  • Season 1 was released on September 4, 2008
  • Season 2 was released on February 5, 2009
  • Season 3 was released on November 12, 2009
  • Season 4 was released on April 8, 2010
  • Season 5 was released on October 4, 2013
  • Season 6 was released on January 3, 2014
  • Season 7 was released on April 3, 2014
  • Season 8 was released on July 3, 2014
  • Season 9 was released on December 4, 2014
  • Season 10 was released on March 5, 2015
  • Season 11 was released on August 6, 2015

literature

Web links

Commons : Frasier  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ What does "Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs" mean? by David Lee (co-inventor and one of the directors of the series) at faqs.org
  2. ^ A £ 20m journey for our best-paid actress Guardian article on Jane Leeves' Frasier contract dated Jan. 1, 2002, last accessed Oct. 22, 2011
  3. ↑ Frasier in the German synchronous file
  4. ↑ Subpage on Frasier at Anixe HD ( Memento from October 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )