Why Frasier wasn't influential like Seinfeld and Friends?

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by FaithMonkey, Dec 28, 2019.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. Claude

    Claude Senior Member

    Location:
    Luxembourg
    Niles needs Maris, who is coming from a rich and influential family, to remain part of the Seattle high society.

    Frasier is a well-known radio host, but Niles can only compete with him thanks to Maris' circle of friends. Remember that episode where they are finally separated and Niles no longer gets invited to important social events. He is completely crushed. He also has to cut down on his pompous lifestyle without Maris' money.

    A also think this had to drag on for so long for dramatic purposes. When Niles finally was in a relationship with Daphne, that part of the plot became rather boring. Niles clumsily seeking Daphne's attention was one of the funniest aspects of his character.
     
  2. One of the reasons I got tired of the show after about three seasons was its increasing reliance on idiot plots - ie, Frasier or Niles would strenuously avoid saying or doing the obvious thing so they could spin the episode out to 23 minutes or so. Which was ironic for a show lauded for its cleverness.
     
  3. swandown

    swandown Under Assistant West Coast Forum Resident

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Because every episode was a variation on the same theme:

    1. [Frasier/Niles] has a conflict with [Dad/Roz/Daphne] that is sparked by their [cultural and/or educational] differences.

    2. there's some kind of misunderstanding.

    3. Frasier tries to get laid but fails.

    That's it. Seriously. Half the plots are just re-hashed "Three's Company" scripts, with Frasier playing the Jack role and other characters borrowing heavily from various people in Jack's life -- Daphne is a ditz like Crissy, Dad is a skeptic like Mr. Roper, Roz is sarcastic and oversexed like Mrs. Roper, Bulldog is a lecher like Larry, etc.

    The show worked because it had a top-notch cast and crew, not because it had groundbreaking concepts or scriptwriting.
     
    jupiter8, vconsumer, dkmonroe and 2 others like this.
  4. Jay_Z

    Jay_Z Forum Resident

    There are a couple of problems with Frasier being an influence. First, it's a second generation show. Inherently there is more artifice. Cheers was a show developed about a bar, and they went from there. Friends were young millenial New Yorkers.

    I don't think there was a lot of market for Frasier without the preexisting character and creative team. Work and home life of a Seattle based radio psychologist. Not all that interesting. Niles and Daphne, even at the time, there were complaints with how long the writers dragged that out. Frasier's most interesting adventures were IMO on Cheers. I think there is some validity to the comments that the seams start to show once you look under the classy gloss. For second generation shows, Gomer Pyle USMC was probably a more solid base for comedy.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  5. Balthazar

    Balthazar Forum Resident

    Off topic, but I've really grown to hate the Frasier theme song.

     
    the pope ondine and VU Master like this.
  6. redfloatboat

    redfloatboat Forum Resident

    I personally cannot see how the three shows mentioned by the OP are remotely funny in any way, unless you've not watched lots of English comedy over the years. Seriously!
     
  7. Balthazar

    Balthazar Forum Resident

    Finally put this curiosity to bed.

    The Story Behind the Frasier Theme Song 'Tossed Salad and Scrambled Eggs'

     
  8. Balthazar

    Balthazar Forum Resident

    The low point of Frasier? Any episode with Kirby.

    [​IMG]
     
    Aftermath and Matthew Tate like this.
  9. LilacTeardrop

    LilacTeardrop "Roll It Over My Soul...and Leave Me Here"

    Location:
    U.S.
    Have you seen the IFC British show: "Year Of The Rabbit"? I missed the 2019 season; didn't know about it, but after Graham Norton this last Friday night in U.S. Soooo good. :laugh::thumbsup: (British comedy is usually, decidedly, different from U.S. Not saying I didn't enjoy any of 3 in thread title.) One line, I almost spit out my water. - I created a thread on it, if interested.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2020
  10. the pope ondine

    the pope ondine Forum Resident

    Location:
    Virginia
    [​IMG]
     
    Billy Infinity and FaithMonkey like this.
  11. Hexwood

    Hexwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I'll take Will & Grace (the original series) over Friends, Frasier and Seinfeld.

    I know people over 50 who enjoy Friends as much as those who are in their teens and twenties. If the show's intended demographic is as narrow as you think, it wouldn't be the most streamed TV show in the world.
     
  12. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    There are some pretty awful UK comedy shows. Seinfeld is now available for streaming free in the UK, so I might revisit it.
     
    Dudley Morris likes this.
  13. recoverydog

    recoverydog Forum Resident

    Seinfeld and Frasier meh.
     
  14. BeatleBruceMayer

    BeatleBruceMayer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    I love Seinfeld, watched it almost from the beginning. It's a show that is constantly quoted and referenced. It was groundbreaking in that anything could become a premise for the show. It wasn't formulaic.

    I tried Friends. Once Ross and Rachel got together, it was downhill. Like someone said, Jennifer Anniston's hair was influential as was "Hey now" or "How you doin'?" But nothing else really. Suddenly, the font for the title of the show is appearing everywhere. Other than that, it's just a popular show, especially among females.

    I watched some episodes of Frasier, but never made it a point to watch. It was funny.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  15. WLL

    WLL Popery Of Mopery

    ...People certainly made a lot of Seinfeld in its day. I remember a cover-blurred article in the New York Review of Books title , away Seinfeld? in the Nineties:eek:. Perhaps I should resubscribe so I can read it again (Just had to let it slip that I've past-subscribed to the NYRB!:cool:).
    Fraser was a continuation of Cheers, after all, maybe it would be less mote influenced that influential:rolleyes:.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  16. BeatleBruceMayer

    BeatleBruceMayer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    Seinfeld wasn't cookie-cutter. How many shows had episodes about getting in limos reserved for neo-Nazis, masturbation contests, questioning your sexuality because of an arousal from a massage, and nearly killing a person in an insulated bubble?

    I don't think Frasier was at all a continuation of Cheers. It was a continuation of Frasier Crane.
     
  17. Avenging Robot

    Avenging Robot Senior Member

    Yes, Seinfeld played a much, much wider field. So did Cheers for that matter.

    While I'm at it, Cheers didn't drop the ball after Sam and Diane got together. Frasier did when Niles and Daphne got together. Badly. If there's one singular thing that ruined Frasier and its' legacy, it's that.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  18. Stereo68

    Stereo68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    CO-USA
    As to the OP's question, I don't have a clue. I am a big fan of "Frazier" and find the other two shows un-watcheable. Whenever I tuned them in, I was on the road and looking for something to fill the evening time, yet still I would change channels after a few minutes. I just don't 'get' either one of them.
     
    beat_truck likes this.
  19. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    I think Friends suffered the same fate when Monica and Chandler got together.
     
  20. BeatleBruceMayer

    BeatleBruceMayer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    That was probably the nail in the coffin for me. The Big Bang Theory was one of my favorite shows until they all had girlfriends. I felt like I was watching Friends at that point.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  21. Dave S

    Dave S Forum Resident

    Seinfeld got around this problem with having them breakup all the time. Even George's relationship to Susan ended with him buying the cheap envelopes that caused her death.
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
  22. formbypc

    formbypc Forum Resident

    What "influence" are we talking about here...?
     
  23. formbypc

    formbypc Forum Resident

    ...and the best of these Friends catchphrases are ... what?
     
  24. formbypc

    formbypc Forum Resident

    Frasier waxing lyrical about one of his lady friends;

    "She cried with me at La Pagliacci, laughed with me at Figaro, fell asleep with me at Philip Glass"

    That would not fly on ANY comedy apart from Frasier (with an S, not a Z...)
     
  25. BeatleBruceMayer

    BeatleBruceMayer Forum Resident

    Location:
    Florida
    The only ones I know from Friends is "How you doin'?" Did Joey say, "Hey now" or is that Howard Stern?
     
    Matthew Tate likes this.
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.

Share This Page

molar-endocrine