Frasier - The Complete First Season Cast: David Hyde Pierce, John Mahoney, Jane Leeves
DVD - 4 Disc Set Learn more
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- DVD Release Date: 05/20/2003
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- Sales Rank: 1,957
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Features
Closed Caption; Commentary by executive producers/creators Peter Casey and David Lee on the pilot episode; "Behind the Couch - The Making of Frasier"; Frasier Crane's apartment; Celebrity voices
Full Product DetailsEditorial Reviews
Spin-offs are a dicey business, especially when the source is one of TV’s all-time great series. But there are rare instances when the new show matches, and at times even surpasses, the original. Such became the case when Kelsey Grammer picked psychiatrist Frasier Crane off his Cheers barstool and hopped a plane back home to Seattle. Despite the title, Frasier is far from a one-man show. And the beauty of revisiting the debut season comes in watching the ensemble blend together like a well-brewed Chai latte. The genius is evident from the pilot, "The Good Son," when our protagonist begins his shrink call-in radio show and starts sharing digs with his curmudgeonly dad, Martin (John Mahoney), and Dad’s dog, Eddie (who deservedly became a star in his own right). Such an arrangement could clearly have provided enough Odd Couple-style tension to keep viewers entertained. But adding brotherly love/hate tugs with Niles (the brilliant David Hyde Pierce), and sexual tension with Martin’s home care worker, Daphne (Jane Leeves), elevates matters above typical sitcom fare. A hilariously tangled web of neuroses, emotions, and head games unfurls throughout the first 22 episodes collected here. Worthy of an all-time great list are "Death Becomes Him," which finds Frasier staring mortality in the face, and "Fortysomething," wherein he confronts a midlife crisis when a voluptuous 22-year-old asks him out. The fraternal quarrels are always Frasier high points, too, and "Author, Author" -- in which Frasier and Niles attempt to write a book about their sibling rivalry -- is one of the highest. For a quick recap, the season kicker "My Coffee with Niles" unites the extended Freudian family for recollections on Frasier’s first year back in Seattle and poses the question, Is he happy? We know our answer. Peter Marchand, Barnes & Noble
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