Little-known tidbits about 'Frasier'
| • | 'Frasier' bids a fond adieu |
| • | Grammer strengthens character, on and off set |
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
Heading into the "Frasier" finale tonight, here are some fun facts about the show.
Warner Bros.
• Only one regular character has been played by two different actors. That's Eddie, Martin Crane's dog.
Moose, a Jack Russell terrier, was the show's original Eddie. The show's finale airs tonight.
He was originally played by Moose. When Moose retired, the role went to his son, Enzo.
• Sharp-minded viewers might have noticed a flaw in the "Frasier" concept, star Kelsey Grammer wrote in his autobiography:
In "Cheers," it had been established that Frasier Crane's father was dead and he didn't have a brother.
• For a while, it seemed like there wouldn't be a series centering on Frasier Crane.
In his book, Grammer says there was a time when he wanted the series to involve a new character. The producers came up with one:
"I would play a bedridden mogul who had been crippled in a motorcycle accident," Grammer wrote. "A man so driven and wealthy that being in bed didn't stop him from virtually running the country."
The idea never got beyond the president of the production company, Paramount. He explained that bedridden isn't funny; the producers scrapped that idea and did the obvious — a series centering on "Cheers" character Frasier Crane.
• One other change came early:
The original actress cast to play Roz Doyle was dropped. Peri Gilpin, who had previously done NBC's failed "Flesh 'n' Blood," was cast instead.
Don't feel bad for the first actress, though. That was Lisa Kudrow, who soon went on to star in "Friends."
• Honors: "Frasier" has won a record 31 Emmy awards.
That includes five for best comedy. It also includes three for best actor (Kelsey Grammer) and three for supporting actor (David Hyde Pierce), plus four (to various people) for writing.
• Longevity: Ending its 11th season, "Frasier" is the third-longest-running fictional show on TV.
The oldest is "The Simpsons"; it's finishing its 15th season, making it the longest-lasting situation comedy ever.
Kelsey Grammer played Frasier Crane during the final nine years of "Cheers" and then the 11 years of "Frasier." That adds up to 20; it ties with James Arness' Matt Dillon on "Gunsmoke," as the longest-lasting series character in TV history.
• When the character Frasier Crane first appeared on "Cheers," producers just wanted someone to break up Sam and Diane. They figured he'd be there for seven episodes. Instead, he stayed on that show for nine years and then did 264 episodes of "Frasier."
• The set design of Frasier Crane's condo tends toward accuracy. There's a delicate Dale Chihuly glass sculpture on the fireplace that "does not come out until show time," producer David Lee says. The volumes in the bookcase are highbrow types. A staffer was allowed to go on a spending spree at local bookstores. The CDs, however, are random. Frasier Crane might be startled to note that he has rock music in his living room.
• Even Jane Leeves — an English actress playing the English-born Daphne — sometimes needs help with her accent.
Leeves is from Sussex. Her character is from Manchester. Surprisingly, John Mahoney — who plays Martin Crane and sounds Middle American — also is English.
"I was born and raised in Manchester," Mahoney once said. "So I'll sometimes contribute here and there, if a word is wrong or a phrase would sound better."
• Shortly after the series started, Kelsey Grammer granted that he knows plenty about therapists.
He has one of his own, he says, who must keep her patients anonymous. "It kills her that it's her husband's favorite show and she can't tell him she works with me."
Grammer recalled being spotted by other patients walking through a therapist's office. "They must think, 'Oh my God, he's got a practice! He's a real psychiatrist!' "
