Frasier (1993) s05e15 – Room Service

While this episode does a great job with Eugene O’Neill references—Kelsey Grammer at one point remarks to David Hyde Pierce they’re brothers out of an O’Neill play (because Hyde Pierce is suffering narcolepsy due to divorce proceeding stresses and Grammer is a sex maniac regarding ex-wife Bebe Neuwirth) and then the title cards all riff on O’Neill plays… it does have a gaff with Hyde Pierce talking about Freud. He’s a Jungian. Writers Ken Levine and David Isaacs, who turn in a fantastic script, gaff-included, hadn’t been watching the show apparently.

Or there just aren’t any good Jung jokes for after you sleep with your brother’s ex-wife.

Neuwirth is in town visiting Grammer after her marriage suddenly collapses—her husband leaves her for another man, which never gets too cringe vis-à-vis homophobia but does make a couple hard jokes at Neuwirth’s expense—and ends up canoodling with Hyde Pierce. The majority of the episode has them in her hotel room trying to reconcile their passionate night the morning after, with Grammer arriving to complicate things.

Most of the episode is just the one scene, which oscillates between screwball comedy (people hiding, Hyde Pierce’s narcolepsy causing trouble) and comedically minded dramatic conversation. Or maybe dramatically minded comedic conversation. The actors do a phenomenal job, with Hyde Pierce and Neuwirth quickly establishing a rapport—the “seduction” happens offscreen, with their initial meeting in the episode being humorously prickly—as they try to resolve the situation with and without Grammer’s involvement.

Grammer mostly gets to act the horny buffoon in the first section of the episode, grinding against Neuwirth as opportunity presents, unable to stop himself. It’s a funny turn of events given how unsympathetic Grammer gets in his lusting.

There’s only a little for the regular supporting cast, with Peri Gilpin and Neuwirth mini-bonding in the opening, then John Mahoney and Jane Leeves literally running out of the episode to avoid Neuwirth at the apartment. Mahoney comes off best—he’s at least got a gag, whereas Leeves is a passive sidekick to it—but it’s an exaggerated, easy joke, betraying a lack of effort towards character development in the script. It’s a rush to the main, morning after sequence, which is more than excellent enough to cover for the slightly bumpy opening.

Good direction David Lee, great performances from Hyde Pierce, Neuwirth, and Grammer. Also John Ducey as the room service waiter. Ducey’s essential.

Frasier (1993) s05e14 – The Ski Lodge

It’s a very fun riff on Midsummer Night’s Dream with confused romantic intentions at a ski resort weekend. There’s a very quick setup with Kelsey Grammer combination guilting and bartering Peri Gilpin’s ski weekend prize away from her—as she’s pregnant and can’t enjoy the weekend, Grammer’s passive aggressive reasoning goes, wouldn’t it be better for someone else to have the weekend instead. It’s initially a very unlikable bit, but does have a decent resolution once Gilpin catches on to Grammer’s machinations. She’s out of the episode after that first scene, with Ski Lodge quickly on its way to being a family only episode.

Well, family only but with a couple important guests—in order to get David Hyde Pierce to go on the ski weekend, Grammer’s got to let Jane Leeves bring her friend along. Her friend turns out to be swimsuit model Cynthia LaMontagne, who Grammer salivates over—which would probably be more problematic if Grammer were in the episode more instead of straight man because he’s trying to manipulate LaMontagne into the sack–and then there’s French ski pro James Patrick Stuart. Stuart’s not French but does a great over-the-top lascivious Frenchman.

Leeves likes Stuart a lot.

Only Stuart likes Hyde Pierce, who’s decided it’s finally time to tell Leeves how he feels. Except LaMontagne is all about Hyde Pierce.

There’s also Stuart thinking LaMontagne and Leeves are lesbians, which thankfully barely factors into anything—nothing plot-wise and just a couple conversations—because it’s entirely based on LaMontagne and Leeves giggling off screen at one point.

John Mahoney’s along to make hot buttered rum in the kitchen while his ears are plugged up from a cold so he can’t understand anyone and keeps mishearing people so he gives other people incorrect advice. The scene where Stuart’s impressed at Mahoney being okay with Hyde Pierce being gay is a standout. But even more than Grammer, Mahoney’s just around for a comedy prop. Grammer at least gets to work his way through the adjoining bedrooms of confusion, leading to some really funny reveals.

Good direction from David Lee—there’s a lot of big movement during the confused bedtime sequence, as people change rooms, confuse rooms, and then try to find their way to their presumably intendeds’ beds. Joe Keenan gets the script credit; outside the occasional zinger, the script’s strength is in getting all the pieces moving. Hyde Pierce gets to play Ulysses, traveling from room to room, picking up temporary passengers on the arc until everyone’s in play and present, so the episode can give it a nice, tidy, very funny resolution.

The Ski Lodge is a great episode, albeit one leveraging the cast’s comedic abilities over their dramatic ones—it’s screwball after all, and screwball doesn’t need drama in thirty minute doses.

Frasier (1993) s05e11 – Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do

It’s a potentially great episode, done in by David Lee’s oddly inept direction during the most important scene—though Ken Lamkin’s photography doesn’t help—and the script. Jay Kogen gets the credit. I’m starting to recognize the new crop of writers on “Frasier” and it’s never for good reasons.

The episode resolves one of the show’s longer running subplots, John Mahoney dating Marsha Mason. Mason hasn’t been around much this season and she gets an okay part this episode (it’s like someone else wrote the dramatic stuff, which is great until Kelsey Grammer can’t act it). She and Mahoney get stuff to do in the second half. The first half is the rest of the cast freaking out about Mahoney proposing to Mason. Rest of the cast except Peri Gilpin. The only thing Kogen can find her to do is a mini-scene leading into another scene in the cafe. It’s a good joke and the episode ends up not having room for Gilpin, but she’s missed when it’s not focused on Mahoney and Mason.

Jane Leeves has found an engagement ring and tells Grammer and David Hyde Pierce about it. All three of them are freaking out, though Hyde Pierce most of all because he hires a private investigator to snoop on Mason’s past. Grammer’s taking the more respectful of Mahoney’s wishes route, though if the detective’s already done the work what’s the harm….

There’s some bad material with about sex jokes about Maris (at , there are a couple transphobic jokes—which is apparently Kogen’s thing, he had one the last episode he wrote too—but eventually, when the story becomes about Hyde Pierce and Grammer intruding on Mahoney’s life, it gets surprisingly good, mostly because of the acting. So it’s even more disappointing when Grammer’s got no idea how to play the dramatic scenes with Mahoney later on. The same ones Lee can’t figure out how to direct and Lamkin can’t figure out how to light. There’s this exceptional performance from Mahoney, but the show lets him down.

It ends up being better than it ought to be, but never deserving of the good work Mahoney puts into it.

I spent the entire last scene wondering how Lee could whiff it so much on the direction; he’s always been absolutely competent to this point and he just cannot make it happen. And then there’s Grammer’s bad approach to it too. Thank goodness for Mahoney, shame he had to Atlas it.

Frasier (1993) s05e09 – Perspectives on Christmas

Perspectives on Christmas is an exceptionally easy episode, starting with the title. There’s even a plot point about someone not trying hard enough with Christmas presents after making a big deal about trying hard with Christmas presents, which seems to be some kind of meta plea to be allowed an easy Christmas episode from writer Christopher Lloyd.

The episode is split into four parts, with John Mahoney, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce, and Peri Gilpin all telling their masseuse what’s been going on the last couple days regarding Christmas. It’s an easy gimmick and sets up a bunch of good laughs, but they’re all exceptionally easy. Like Mahoney being bad at singing a note in a Christmas carol, Leeves thinking Mahoney’s dying, Hyde Pierce in a slapstick bit, Gilpin having a screaming match with Kelsey Grammer while she’s dressed as Mrs. Claus and he’s Santa, around a bunch of shocked kids.

It’s all very, very easy.

And some of it absolutely hilarious because the cast is great. But it always feels like Lloyd and director David Lee are getting away with something, leveraging the cast, leveraging the situation, instead of actually reaching for anything. There’s no attempt at being a great Christmas episode in terms of the “goodwill” vibe, rather everyone’s in one state of miserable or another, even though there’s very little specific to the characters outside Gilpin’s pregnancy causing a plot point. But there’s no discussion of Grammer’s kid, Mahoney’s girlfriend, Leeves’s family back home, or Hyde Pierce’s martial troubles. Again, it’s all very easy, which sometimes can up the antics—Leeves in hysterics over everything Mahoney says, Hyde Pierce and the slapstick, Santa and Mrs. Claus melting down.

There’s some vaguely interesting developments—well, at least one—we get to see how Leeves experiences Hyde Pierce’s doting, which is both wonderful and creepier. Mahoney gets an absolutely fantastic finale to his arc, which has him trying to hide his participation in a Christmas pageant from Leeves. Some of the deception leads to her thinking he’s dying, but it’s all very problematic when you consider she’s a trained healthcare professional.

Great performances from the cast; okay, easy writing and directing; it’s an often really funny episode, but it needs to be since Lloyd is going for three jokes a minute to cover for not having the story down. If it weren’t for the actors, they’d never be able to get away with this episode.

Frasier (1993) s05e05 – The 1000th Show

I glazed over the director credit—I knew it was David Lee, but David Lee turns in particularly distinctive episodes, usually just competent ones. But this time he gets to do something special—half the episode is shot on location in Seattle (the only time in the series, apparently), with David Hyde Pierce and Kesley Grammer walking around landmarks and doing their bits as they try to get to the Space Needle.

See, it’s “Frasier Crane Day” in Seattle, celebrating the thousandth episode of the radio show (which seems low for five plus years—yes, it means they take off like sixty days a year). The opening, studio-shot material has Grammer pish-poshing the idea of a celebration, so when Peri Gilpin takes him at his word and gets it shut down, he’s got to reverse course.

The script—credited to Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan—sets up some eventual pay-offs in the studio material, with Hyde Pierce getting more and more jealous of Grammer as the anniversary approaches and Jane Leeves getting a seemingly busywork subplot about renewing her passport only for it to eventually involve a very special guest star (on location).

Meanwhile, John Mahoney’s got a speech to give for the event, only he didn’t write it and it’s not funny. It’s a strange episode in how well Grammer and Hyde Pierce do while out and about in single camera location shooting land, but how badly the show does by Mahoney and Gilpin on location. Leeves comes out best of the supporting players, thanks to that pay-off cameo.

But Hyde Pierce and Grammer doing their bickering schtick while in the Public Market or on the monorail—or when we get to see them do their Crane Boys run on location—it’s a delight. Even as the episode showcases the differences between multi-camera and single camera, studio and location (there are a few times where the timing is all wrong, even though it’s a sturdy enough joke), it’s a delight.

The opening attempts at serious situational stuff—Grammer wanting praise, Hyde Pierce being jealous—don’t succeed, but when the episode actually works to a more dramatic conclusion… it’s good. The episode’s able to find a more appropriate balance.

The opening material doesn’t wow, but the location material is enough to make up for it. Though it does just make you wish they’d been able to do a whole episode with the full cast out and about.

Michael Hayes (1997) s01e13 – Arise and Fall

Even with some big cop outs—so big it’s practically another soft reset of the series—it’s either the best or second best episode with show co-creator John Romano’s name in the writing credits. Most of the episode is a “day in the life” of the people working at the U.S. Attorney’s office; more of a few days in the life, but still. The episode’s got a nice scale to it.

Arise and Fall starts with David Caruso complaining about cockroaches to secretary Jodi Long, which ends up driving both B plots. There’s going to be some evidence mishandling, giving Ruben Santiago-Hudson something to do all episode, but also will provide another aspect to the Peter Outerbridge learns blue bloods can be problem employees too story arc. Outerbridge has just won a case with previously unseen because it’s a huge office attorney Brian McNamara (and Hillary Danner). They’re going to form a subplot group throughout the episode, starting with them opening up the series’s hang out restaurant for coffee after a night of celebrating.

Outerbridge hasn’t had a lot to do on the show and he handles this story arc quite well. Though the episode completely goes with “sexually harass a woman” to fuel her male colleagues’ character development trope. Women, regular cast or guest stars, are fairly disposable around here. Mary Ward even shows up for a couple scenes to establish something for back again David Cubitt to pick up later.

Caruso spends the first half of the episode dealing with the outstanding “girlfriend Helen Slater is possibly on the mob payroll” multi-episode arc, which has Arye Gross showing up for a two scenes as the investigator, which ends up being as many scenes as Slater gets. It’ll end up being one of the big cop outs.

The second half’s A plot—the episode’s fairly balanced so the only reason it’s the A plot is because it’s Caruso’s—is about Cubitt turning himself in and Caruso trying to work it all out.

Outside the opening cockroach conversation, most of Caruso’s scenes have him pensively, silently reacting to either news or giving news to someone. The episode takes its time with those moments, with director Richard J. Lewis letting Caruso find the meat in the scenes. It’s nice Lewis takes the time, especially since the only other distinctive aspect of his direction is how poorly he directs kid Jimmy Galeota. Like, the writing’s not great on Galeota (who’s emotional fodder for the Cubitt subplot, just like Ward) but still. They should’ve kept doing takes until they got something a little better.

It’s a mostly high mediocre episode (as it combats the first half cop out), with the second big cop out dragging it down at the end.

But, hey, maybe they’ll finally figure out what to do with the show next episode.

Frasier (1993) s05e01 – Frasier’s Imaginary Friend

There’s very little as satisfying as the season premiere immediately addressing my problems with the previous season’s finale and remedying them. That episode ended with Kelsey Grammer, lovelorn, following a woman (Lisa Guerrero) onto an airplane and pretending he was always on her flight. This episode opens with Guerrero getting very creeped out by Grammer’s behavior and moving to another seat.

When Grammer tries his luck with the next available female passenger (Kimberly Oja), he soon finds himself hunting for another seat himself.

It turns out to be for the best because then he meets zoologist Ph.D. candidate and supermodel, Sela Ward, who thinks he’s swell. They hit it off so well, they become secret boyfriend and girlfriend while away; she’s going through a messy breakup from a football player and doesn’t want anyone to know she’s already started seeing someone else.

So when Grammer gets back home and everyone thinks he’s struck out on his impulsive trip to Mexico… it doesn’t take long before he starts bragging about her. Only no one believes him—with David Hyde Pierce and John Mahoney quickly going from amused to concerned (while Jane Leeves stays firmly amused, with some great one-liners)–and every time Ward has a moment for Grammer, she gets called away.

Eventually everything gets resolved (with half the same plot point as “Schitt’s Creek” would use decades later), after some amazing ranting from Grammer and great comedic acting from Ward. She’s mostly in the opening and closing of the episode—with a brief scene in between—and she’s really good at the comedy. It always seems like network drama actors were more impressive in the sitcoms.

There are some great scenes for Grammer as he tries to prove the relationship and not realize how absurd he sounds—though there are also a few shades of toxic masculinity about the secret ex-boyfriend football player—and both Mahoney and Hyde Pierce get some good moments as well. Rob Greenberg’s the credited writer and the script’s the best he’s had his name on so far. It’s such a convoluted, layered premise, there isn’t room for a lot of easy jokes. And the whole thing does play like a repudiation of the cringe-inducing previous season closer. Odd Greenberg’s doing it.

Solid direction from David Lee. Nothing earth shattering but just a good sitcom; he focuses well on having Ward guest starring. In fact, the episode doesn’t have any subplots—other than the supporting cast trying to figure out if Grammer’s full of it–it’s very focused.

It’s an excellent season premiere.

Michael Hayes (1997) s01e10 – The Confidence Man

The curse of the John Romano co-writing credit continues. Otherwise it’s an excellent episode about David Caruso’s old cop partner, Scott Lawrence, coming for help. An FBI informant (a slimy but not too slimy—or not in it enough to be too slimy—Alan Blumenfeld) is threatening fetching bank teller Tracy Douglas over bad checks. Douglas goes to the cops, meeting Lawrence; they get romantically involved.

So while Caruso’s trying to figure out whether or not he can disentangle an active investigation from Blumfield, which brings in a kind of wonderfully tepid Dann Florek as the handler, there’s rising concern for Douglas. And then a subplot about Caruso’s ex-con brother, David Cubitt, pulling jobs to pay off his debt to loan sharks. There’s no B plot exactly, just a bunch of C plots, including Jimmy Galeota’s tenth birthday party, Caruso telling sister-in-law Mary B. Ward how Cubitt thinks they’re lovers, then a weird thing about all the women in the office wanting to do things for Caruso and him being uncomfortable.

Like secretary Jodi Long being willing to pick up his laundry—leading to a weird attempt at a sitcom-esque gag (Long’s so good and has so little to do on the show) but then associate Hillary Danner being willing to date an FBI agent for information.

At least Rebecca Rigg—in her single scene—comes in to tell Caruso not to be stupid and only agrees to his orders under duress and with complaint. No wonder Romano never uses her. The Long and Danner stuff feels very much like what I’d expect from a Romano episode.

The scene with Ward and Caruso has promise but goes nowhere. It at least lingers long enough to give Ward some silent rumination to essay. Dan Lerner’s direction is rather patient, especially with Caruso, who will get his one-liner, then Lerner and editor Elba Sanchez-Short hang on it long enough for Caruso to act a beat. Certainly the best handling of a Romano episode so far.

Unfortunately, the finale is a disaster because it just sets up another cliffhanger in the Cubitt subplot. Cubitt’s real bad this episode… real bad. Maybe even worst ever. It’s particularly grating because the scene before, where Caruso and Lawrence do manly emotional labor for one another, is excellent.

Lawrence is pretty good, even as his character’s stuck in unlikely situations—wait, I just realized real NYPD cops are allowed to rape suspects in custody so never mind. A consensual relationship with a witness and victim is no doubt all good on TV in the nineties.

Decent Ruben Santiago-Hudson investigating material. Some excellent Caruso moments.

If they’d just forgotten to tie up the Cubitt subplot, it’d be a pretty darn good episode. Sadly, thanks to the cliffhanger setup—and Cubitt’s lousy performance—it’s not.

The Equalizer (2021) s01e05 – The Milk Run

It took until after we’d finished watching the episode for me to realize there’s no Tory Kittles in it. He’s got a credit. He’s not in the show. Instead of the NYPD being the wrench in Queen Latifah’s plans, it’s Laila Robins and the CIA. Robins is playing a variation on her part in “The Boys,” which is fine. Like… Robins never got her due at the start of her career, might as well get some guest star checks.

But given the plot of this episode turns out to be Sneakers—with British unintentional math genius Christian Coulson not Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, or even Ben Kingsley with a ponytail—maybe don’t look exactly like something else if you’re flipping through the channels.

The episode starts with Latifah getting another job from Chris Noth—who’s in the episode a bunch until he needs to be part of the twist ending; it’s kind of fun seeing Noth just doing a supporting part. Though his mercenary-to-the-1% thing is funny given on his street scenes he’s always dressed like a schlub. And of the phoning in he’s done on the show, this episode’s probably the best phoning in.

Also best is Adam Goldberg and Liza Lapira, who are barely in the episode. There’s also the funny bit that Coulson’s obviously the better computer whiz than Goldberg, which no one seems to acknowledge. Goldberg’s supposed to be the best but not at all. A bumbler like Coulson’s better.

There’s not much with the family—Latifah’s missing a spa weekend with aunt Lorraine Toussaint (though it’d be a funnier episode to see her solving a crime at a spa weekend), while daughter Laya DeLeon Hayes is off for a weekend with dad. There’s a really good subplot about Latifah telling Hayes not to lie but Latifah lies to Hayes and Toussaint with every breath (they think she’s an international charity executive).

The end’s bad and Coulson’s not really good so much as amusing opposite Latifah (though the classical music versus hip hop in her car scene is a little… nineties) and he has more fun than the show usually allows.

Credited writer Keith Eisner—who’s got bonafides in his credits—is real bad with the expository dialogue here. Like he was listening to Sneakers play in the other room.

Sadly, no “my voice is my passport verify me” riff. But “The Equalizer” continues to amuse without distinction.

Frasier (1993) s04e18 – Ham Radio

Ham Radio relies heavily on the situation in situation comedy; it gets some good laughs, but because of who’s in the episode—and how it’s written for those particular guest stars (specifically Edward Hibbert). But the David Lloyd-credited script only advances by one-upping itself, trying to appear chaotic but always coming through linearly and predictably. Not to mention the episode relies way too much on cheap jokes. Not easy jokes, cheap ones. Like Dan Butler doing a very racist Chinese accent and then a humdinger of an ableist joke mixed in with some hard-core misogyny.

It’s frustrating because it really is a great idea for an episode (albeit entirely built around the situation). The radio station is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary so Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) wants to do a live mystery radio play; he’ll direct, the other radio station hosts and staff will play the other parts. The first scene sets up the special show and forecasts some of the drama via David Hyde Pierce’s concerns about Grammer’s “Orson Welles complex.”

As Grammer gets things arranged at the station with Peri Gilpin’s help, lots more foreshadowing of his eventual nitpicking, while also setting up Hibbert and Butler’s participation. There’s a table read sequence at Grammer’s apartment, which has guest star Richard Easton playing a “Man of a Thousand Voices” covering six of the parts. So it’s just a funny sequence of Grammer slowly getting more and more controlling, first towards Jane Leeves—who is helping time the rehearsal—then pretty much everyone. It’s good, well-directed by David Lee, minus the Butler joke with the Chinese accent, which gets an appropriate condemnation after the joke is made.

Later on when everyone makes fun of Butler’s girlfriend, Hope Allen, it’s just funny he’s dating a dyslexic stripper. Ha ha. She can’t learn her lines.

But all of the eventual disasters with the special show are pretty obvious, just none such a combination of icky and mean. But someone’s got novocaine, someone else gets mad about Grammer over-directing, someone else is mad about script changes—by the end of the episode, when Grammer’s peak megalomaniac director, it’s unclear why various people are even mad at him. Specifically. In general, sure, but specifically.

Patrick Kerr shows up for the first time in a while as the station technician; he helps with the sound effects. There are some funny set pieces with them and good recurring gags.

Hyde Pierce’s performance is probably the best, with Hibbert delightful as well. Everyone else is good, just no one quite excels, which isn’t great given it’s ostensibly spotlighting various actors throughout.

The Lee direction helps. But it’s never as funny as it ought to be and the missed opportunity hurts Grammer in particular.