40 binge-worthy TV shows: Watch them all right now because who needs sleep
By Sundi Rose
Photo: NBC
Frasier – Netflix
Lest we forget, Frasier started out as a spin-off from the very popular NBC show, Cheers. We met Frasier Crane first as Diane Chambers’ stuffy, elitist fiancé, and then again when he relocated to Seattle to voice his own psychology radio show. The show is NBC at its best. It’s smart and funny, and best of all, it’s not afraid to make fun of itself or its characters.
By his very nature, Frasier Crane is pompous, uptight, elitist and a little foppish. He likes the finer things in life — opera, ballet, fine wine — and isn’t afraid to make his tastes known. His brother also strives to live firmly in the upper crust of Seattle society, and they are tremendously obnoxious in their pursuit.
While this might seem like it could grating at times, the show inserts his blue collar father and housekeeper into the mix for balance. Most times, we’re watching Frasier and his brother, Niles, through the disapproving eyes of Martin and Daphne, and we’re rolling our eyes and laughing at them right along with them.
Even though Frasier and Niles could be insufferable, you grow to like them, and find their antics to be amusing, even if they are a little misguided. The conversation about class and privilege that runs as an undercurrent has held up since it aired in the ’90s.
Starring: Kelsey Grammer, David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves, and Peri Gilpin