On September 16 in 1993, the Cheers spin-off Frasier made its debut on NBC. The show starred Kelsey Grammer relocating his Cheers character Dr. Frasier Crane from Boston to Seattle. One of the reason for the relocation was because the creators wanted to distance the show from Cheers in more than one way. Had it been set in Boston, fans would have expected continuing cameos from Cheers characters.
Other characters included Frasier’s father Martin (John Mahoney), Frasier’s brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce), housekeeper-therapist Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves), and Frasier’s radio show producer Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin). And, of course, there also was the dog Eddie (played by Moose and then his son Enzo after season 7), who received more fan mail than anyone else in the cast.
Frasier stayed on the air for eleven seasons until May 2004 (matching the eleven seasons of Cheers) and won a number of Emmys. The success is not bad for a character who was supposed to only appear in a few episodes of Cheers before becoming a regular character there.
Few TV shows can make me laugh out loud, and Frasier was one of those shows. I miss it, although it is great that one can still catch reruns in syndication or streaming.
Below, travel back to 1993 with some highlights from the first season of Frasier.
Goodnight Seattle!
What is your favorite episode of Frasier? Leave your two cents in the comments.
(Some related Chimesfreedom posts.)
