Frasier (1993) s05e20 – First Date

First Date is a sequel episode to Moon Dance, the season three episode where Niles (David Hyde Pierce) lucks into a perfect date with Daphne (Jane Leeves), full of high romance but still entirely safe for the then married character. I mean. From network and pop cultural norm viewpoints. The Maris thing is misogynist.

Anyway.

It’s Kelsey Grammar directing again (I think Moon Dance was his first episode as director too), with Rob Hanning getting the script credit. If Hanning stood out for anything, I’ve forgotten—once again regretting not keeping track of the writers; he does a solid job here. The setup isn’t great, with Grammar trying to avoid people talking about a torrid TV miniseries’s conclusion, and the initial stuff with Hyde Pierce talking about asking Leeves out is stodgy. Grammar, as an actor, is worst in that section, which is weirder since he directed the episode. It’s like he can’t figure out a reaction so tries not to do one.

But there’s a good immediate twist, then another twist—people hearing the wrong things from other rooms and so on—and it quickly becomes a comedy of errors, but one with Hyde Pierce and Leeves running the episode. And then all of a sudden Grammar’s directing kicks in and it’s just wonderful. The way Grammar finds the comedy chemistry—both Leeves and Hyde Pierce can do physical and dialogue humor. The show’s been syncing them up—possibly intentionally—this entire season and it’s got a great pay-off here.

Even if the ending resolution is wanting.

Though the credits sequence with Grammar and Eddie the dog is pretty funny.

Oh, and John Mahoney. Mahoney gets some of the first act weirdness but is able to get out of it quicker than Grammar with his stuff. The original Moon Dance had something like eight years credited; Date has one, but it really doesn’t seem like the same person wrote the opening and the finish.

Good guest spot from Caroline Aaron.

It’s a rocky win but it’s a win.

Frasier (1993) s05e19 – Frasier Gotta Have It

“Frasier” has always walked a really fine line with David Hyde Pierce’s crush on Jane Leeves, never letting it get too creepy—usually keeping Kelsey Grammer around to rein him in or just to have Hyde Pierce and Leeves to have a sincere moment to eschew the romantic—but the joke in the end tag of this episode is Hyde Pierce is going to spy on Leeves while she sunbathes.

On par for writer Rob Greenberg, who either always goes for the cheap and creepy or just doesn’t ever do anything so I remember he doesn’t.

It’s an ick finish, particularly because it decidedly does not let Hyde Pierce back out of it or qualify it. He’s just going to spy on his brother’s employee, taking advantage not just of that situation but also Leeves’s canon regard for Hyde Pierce as a friend. Not all heroes wear capes.

The rest of the episode is about Grammer having a purely sexual relationship with guest star Lisa Edelstein, who’s playing a hipster artist. She’s also vegan but the term wasn’t in popular enough use for them to say vegan. Or Greenberg was too busy writing sexual predator jokes to look it up. The episode opens with Grammer telling Hyde Pierce about it and Hyde Pierce commenting on the unlikelihood of Grammer forming a substantial relationship with Edelstein because of their age difference.

Edelstein’s like eleven years younger than Grammer. Their window is sitcom regular, which the episode seems to appreciate later on when they keep bringing the differences up a notch. There’s some funny stuff, but it’s just okay. Similarly, Edelstein’s just okay. A lot of it is the part—everyone who interacts with her character comments on her flakiness, even before Greenberg’s got to keep upping the ante with her eccentricities. Would a better script help? Definitely. Could Edelstein succeed with a better script? Unclear.

Dan Butler (not appearing in the episode) directs and does an all right job. He does a lot better with the regular cast than with Edelstein and Grammer’s subplot, particularly with Peri Gilpin’s scene in the family apartment where everyone’s talking about their most extreme sex experiences (Hyde Pierce’s got a solid “when in Niagara Falls”-type tale, though it ties into the sexual predator stuff so sorry, no).

It’s got some decent laughs and Grammer’s clearly proud of his barrel chest—he spends the last scene with his shirt off—so go on, I guess. But it’s a tepid episode. And then it’s a very gross one.

Frasier (1993) s05e18 – Bad Dog

It’s time for the Seabees again—the Seattle broadcasting awards show where the cast can reliably have antics once a season—this time with Kelsey Grammer emceeing the event. We get a lot of exposition real quick—Grammer, Dan Butler, and Peri Gilpin are waiting for coffee. We find out Butler’s nominated too, Grammer and Gilpin don’t have a chance because emcees never win, and the reason there’s a line at the café is because Grammer had complained about sanitary conditions.

But then there’s an attempted hold-up—an attempted attempted hold-up—and somehow Butler comes through it the hero. Grammer, however, remembers the event occurring differently and after getting the advice of friends and family (though never Gilpin, who’s convinced Butler saved her from danger), the episode becomes a “Grammer obsesses about x” episode. In this case, he’s trying to get Butler to admit his dishonesty by guilting Butler’s conscience into acting.

To do so, Grammer uses the platform of awards emcee to bring in various people from Butler’s life who should produce honesty and remorse for lying. There’s plenty of good material for Grammer, Butler, and John Mahoney as everything Grammer tries fails and Butler gleefully keeps lying to everyone for his own benefit. Mahoney’s the primary advice giver in the supporting cast because David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves end up having a nice little subplot about Hyde Pierce getting nominated for an award too.

However, there’s not really room to focus on Grammer, Butler, and Hyde Pierce at the awards show, so Hyde Pierce has to go offscreen for a while (returning for the grand finale). Having Leeves help Hyde Pierce with his awards speech—just in case—leads to them having some private in-jokes later on and it’s a nice, deft touch. Hyde Pierce and Leeves getting material not based on him mooning over her is welcome character development.

The script, credit to Suzanne Martin, is pretty good. The punchlines have pay-off, even if Grammer’s obsessive arc is a little pat. Director Pamela Fryman’s got some weird montages but it’s also the Seabees so maybe they get a pass.

It’s a fine episode, just not particularly distinctive a Seabees one.

Frasier (1993) s05e17 – The Perfect Guy

As much as I’ve liked Billy Campbell over the years, seeing him guest on this episode of “Frasier” reveals his weirdly affable lack of network charm. His timing is just off or something. He lacks rapport with the costars. He’s fine, but he’s not great in what seems like a very Billy Campbell way. And he needs to be great because the B plot is about John Mahoney needing to pull one over a French store clerk to get Eddie the dog gourmet food. The A plot has Campbell starting work at the radio station and Kelsey Grammer being intensely jealous over Campbell’s good looks.

That intense, obsessive jealousy leads to Grammer befriending Campbell and throwing a party in his honor. Only we never see them hanging out. We never get an idea of what it looks like for them to hang out, which leads to the friendship having even less personality than Campbell. Meanwhile, the Mahoney subplot also brings in David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves. Hyde Pierce introduces the store to Mahoney, who gripes about the prices and pretense and pisses off shop keep François Giroday. Mahoney’s got to get more dog food and has to play nice with stuck-up French caricature Giroday, eventually involving Leeves in his schemes. It’s all very funny.

Whereas the A plot is just amusing. There’s a decent scene with Grammer, Peri Gilpin, Dan Butler, and Edward Hibbert at the radio station with everyone mooning over Campbell from afar. It’s the standout until the resolution. And the resolution’s great, but it’s like they figured out the punchline for the episode and just filled on everything else. Rob Greenberg gets the writing credit. It’s impressive for the Mahoney arc, less the Campbell one.

Oh, and Grammer’s got this weird romantic subplot with done-in-one coworker Lindsay Price, some twenty-one years his junior, who fawns over him. It sort of plays like an ego trip but for the comeuppance leg of the journey. It’s not even Price being bad, it’s just her being an absurd match for him.

It’s a fine episode, funny stuff at times, just something off about it starting with Campbell and spreading throughout.

Pi (1998, Darren Aronofsky)

The incredible thing about Pi is how well director Aronofsky is able to compensate for his lead. Pi is about mathematician Sean Gullette discovering a pattern hidden in the stock market—or so he thinks—and trying to navigate the repercussions of his discovery. Wall Street firm lady Pamela Hart is after him for the equation, so’s Hasidic Messianic Jewish guy Ben Shenkman; Shenkman wants the code to bring about the coming of the real Messiah, Hart wants it to control the world economy. Basically Pi might be a prequel to Sneakers or it might be a prequel to Prince of Darkness or it might just all be in Gullette’s imagination because Pi is about him suffering a tragically debilitating psychotic break. Besides showcasing Aronofsky’s direction, Matthew Libatique’s wonderful high contrast photography (hiding some of the low budget aspects and instead making them appear to be personality), and Clint Mansell’s sometimes great, sometimes annoying music, Pi is mostly just a great look at how people sometimes really need mental health care and the results of them not getting it is very bad.

There are touchstones to Gullette’s experience of the film—fetching, caring neighbor Samia Shoaib is pretty for sure real, ditto nice little neighbor kid Kristyn Mae-Anne Lao, who does math problems with Gullette. And Mark Margolis, as Gullette’s former professor, current Go opponent (Aronofsky and Libatique lean in on Go being monochrome) and life mentor; Margolis is pretty real.

Margolis is trying to convince Gullette he’s on a fools errand trying to discover the mathematic equation pi in the world around them, which would either let Gullette get rich off the stock market (or not) or just help him understand how the confusing world functions. The film leaves a lot open in the end, with very little revealed about protagonist Gullette despite him narrating and Pi being a character study; Gullette wouldn’t be able to handle it, acting-wise. Aronofsky has to figure out how to do a character study where it doesn’t matter the lead actor, who’s in every scene of the movie (albeit only an eighty-four minute one), is at his very best doing a combination Johns Turturro and Cusack impression. At his very best, which is rare and always requires someone else to hold up the scene, like Lao or Shoaib; Margolis and Gullette rarely share shots in their talking heads scenes so who knows what Margolis was acting off. Who knows how good Pi might be with a compelling lead performance.

Aronofsky and his crew try to compensate, doing a rapid, handheld urban nightmare. Libatique’s photography is striking enough you wish they’d slow it down so the scenery would make an impression instead of being flashes of light. It’s technically superlative photography. Just gorgeous. The movie’s just too fast for it to really resonate past how Aronofsky needs it to work, what he needs it to convey, because he can’t rely on Gullette to do the work.

Gullette’s the only bad performance. Besides his lead, Aronofsky seems to care about acting. Margolis almost has a great part; he’s excellent and the part goes to pot along with the movie in the third act so it doesn’t matter much. Shenkman’s really good. Hart’s fine. Stephen Pearlman’s good in a cameo. Lao’s cute. Shoaib’s good. It’s just Gullette. His performance appears to be thoughtless. If it’s not thoughtless, there’s a real problem with how Aronofsky directed him then.

I mean, Pi’s a lot better than I remember. Though everything wrong with it I remember is still wrong with it this time.

Frasier (1993) s05e16 – Beware of Greeks

I want to know who had the idea to give the Crane family Greek in-laws—well, Greek in-laws once removed or whatever (John Mahoney’s brother, John Mahon, is married to Patti LuPone). Was it David Lloyd, who gets the script credit? Because it’s an inspired idea. And years before My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Throwing Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce into a situation where they can’t mock people for not being WASPs? It’s awesome.

LuPone’s the fearsome matriarch of the Greek side of the family, which we learn about in the opening scene; they haven’t been mentioned before—Grammer tells Peri Gilpin and the audience—is because Grammer gave cousin Joseph Will some advice LuPone didn’t appreciate. Grammer told Will to follow his dreams of being a street juggler instead of going to medical school and LuPone’s banned the Crane boys since.

Based on Will’s age, these events presumably took place before “Frasier” started but after “Cheers.” It only matters it’s been long enough Grammer can quickly patch things up with LuPone in time to get invited to Will’s upcoming nuptials. He’s going to be marrying the very WASP Valerie Dillman, who LuPone adores.

Thanks to the reconciliation, Grammer, Hyde Pierce, Mahoney, and Jane Leeves get to go to the wedding—starting with the rehearsal dinner at the family restaurant (see, it really does seem like a Greek Wedding knock-off). There Grammer tries not to interfere with Will’s imminent wedding, even though Grammer suspects Dillman might not be the best match for his cousin, Hyde Pierce runs and hides from another, amorous cousin, Lori Harmon, who’s been after him since youth, Mahoney gets to reconnect with Mahon, and Leeves gets to be upset after LuPone assumes she’s Mahoney’s escort. The last plot point is initially somewhat unpleasant, until Leeves and Mahoney get wrapped up in a joint subplot about erasing a wedding video.

Hyde Pierce’s entirely playing hide and hide again with Harmon, Grammer happening across him as Grammer learns more and more from Will to suggest he needs to intervene. Only LuPone is hovering, waiting for Grammer to make a mistake.

It’s a really funny episode. It gives Grammer a chance to do his meddling thing, with LuPone a worthy de facto antagonist, and the end is great. Strong direction from Jeff Melman. It’d be nice if Hyde Pierce and Harmon had a subplot instead of a series of gags, but small gripes for a fine episode.

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.

Michael Hayes (1997) s01e22 – Vaughn Mower

So I missed the penultimate episode because streaming rights or something but I wouldn’t be surprised to find it had more of a conclusive feel than this episode. Something about the one feels like they held it from an earlier airdate and retooled it.

Though there was a recent plot point where someone made fun of Rebecca Rigg’s hair so maybe she got it recut to match her original hairstyle.

The episode’s about Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s first wife’s murderer, Luis Guzman, getting out on parole and Santiago-Hudson stalking him. Given Santiago-Hudson’s first wife is a retcon (or at least a “this episode” reveal), it doesn’t end up being a particularly effective arc. Partially because there’s just no weight behind the story since it’s all new backstory, partially because director Tim Hunter—whose contribution I was pleasantly anticipating—absolutely fails on the direction. The scenes between Santiago-Hudson and new wife Tembe Locke are really thin. And Guzman’s a wasted guest cast.

The B plot is Caruso investigating former boss and very infrequent guest star (hasn’t been around since the first thirteen) Philip Baker Hall on bribery allegations. The show seems to forget it’s already used this exact plot line with one of Caruso’s other mentors, but maybe going through three or four batches of show runners confused everyone. Especially if this episode is airing nine episodes late, since it appears to have Mary S. Ward and Jimmy Galeota dealing with David Cubitt in the witness protection program. Only the last anyone saw Cubitt he was bleeding out on the sidewalk in a hastily done scene, which literally no one ever refers to again. Because the show doesn’t assume anyone watches the show; never a good sign.

It only gets really interesting at the end, when all of a sudden—out of nowhere—there’s this heavy implication Ward has been madly crushing on brother-in-law and better dad to her kid than his brother Caruso the entire show. Even though there’s been not even zero romantic chemistry between them but anti-romantic chemistry; Cubitt being irrationally jealous was one of his character traits.

Really bad series finale. Okay episode, minus the weirdly bad direction from Hunter, who either couldn’t figure out how to compose for perspective or was trying a new style thing and it’s just bad. He seems to be going for environments confining the actors thing, which does not work with the worst in a while music from Roger Neill. The music’s obnoxious.

“Michael Hayes” is a sterling example of could’ve, should’ve, would’ve. It’s really too bad they couldn’t crack the series, given the cast quality, though it really did teach Caruso how to act for CBS. Good for him and all, just not good for his acting. But who knows… maybe they just cut all the character work. Sure seems like it at the end of this episode.

It’s too bad.

It’s also really unfair they never had Jodi Long as a regular even though she did more episodes than anyone but Caruso and Santiago-Hudson.

Frasier (1993) s05e13 – The Maris Counselor

After a rough opening—with Peri Gilpin trying to gin up interesting callers in a bit where transphobia and ableism are the punchlines—the episode quickly becomes a David Hyde Pierce episode. Kelsey Grammer’s always around, but is always playing support to Hyde Pierce, who gets two great comedy set pieces. John Mahoney gets the subplot, which is about him finally agreeing to go on a date with one of their neighbors.

The episode (sort of) juxtaposes Mahoney’s dating adventure against Hyde Pierce’s latest marital woes, which has he and ever off-screen Maris finding a marriage counselor they both like—a very funny Bob Dishy—but Maris maybe likes him a little too much, leading to breakdowns and breakthroughs for Hyde Pierce. Grammer’s around to offer advice, but not really. They’re finally ready to resolve Hyde Pierce’s season and a half long marriage separation subplot. Also, as Hyde Pierce points out, Grammer’s actually not equipped to offer good relationship advice.

In the end, it’ll be a nice Crane boys episode for Hyde Pierce, Mahoney, and Grammer—particularly well-directed, courtesy Jeff Melman, who does well all episode and then goes out on a high point with the finale—though Grammer’s just along for the ride. They also make a big deal about Mahoney being unlucky in love, but he only broke up with Marsha Mason like three episodes ago so they’re clearly stretching to make it work.

David Lloyd gets the script credit. Outside the rough opening, he does a low okay job. The really funny scenes are really funny because Hyde Pierce is excellent. There’s one where Hyde Pierce is getting ready for some romance, which means he gets to show off physical comedy, then there’s one where he hijacks a couples group with his own problems, so dialogue comedy.

Hyde Pierce is great, Grammer and Mahoney are both good (the script’s not there for either of them as much). Gilpin only gets that crappy opening scene and Jane Leeves has a moment in Mahoney’s dating subplot but disappears fast. There just doesn’t seem to be space for them in the episode.

It’s a bit of requisite episode—Hyde Pierce’s outstanding separation subplot needs to get some resolution—with some highs and lows. It’d be nicer if it could’ve gone out on a high instead of a return to a low but Lloyd’s got to get some ageism in at the last minute for the end credits. But as a Hyde Pierce showcase (and for Melman’s return to directing form), the episode works well enough.