Rating: 
Summary: CHEERS TO THE "CHEERS" SPIN-OFF!
Review: We were never Big-Time fans of Dr. Frasier Crane, though we fell hard for Eddie the dog. Then we sat down and watched, in order, the 24 episodes from season one. We watched and listened and laughed. And laughed. And laughed some more. Maybe without the interruption of commercial television, while in the privacy of our den (with a mug o' brew in one hand and the remote in the other), we were able to fully appreciate the popular "Cheers" spin-off and the antics of the popular radio psychiatrist. We understood and appreciated and, yes, laughed at life's flaws and follies. (Still, we do wonder how/why the show won 30 Emmys!) And we stand firm that John Mahoney is one of the most underrated geniuses on the small screen. And the special feature celebrity voices --- are a hoot!
Rating: 
Summary: Frasier will leave you laughing...
Review: Big Frasier fan here. Been one for awhile. In fact, the TV show has been a staple in my television diet since it's premiere way back in 1993. After the ending of Cheers, it was hard to imagine that anything could be as funny! Enter Frasier, revamped, making a new life in Seattle, reattaching himself to his family. Let the hilarity ensue.The release of the first season of Frasier on DVD is a masterstroke. Finally, you'll get all the wonderfully hilarious episodes of season 1 at your fingertips to love and enjoy all over again. See the first spark of Niles and Daphne. Meet agent Bebe for the first time. Watch Eddie tormenting Frasier ruthlessly. It's all there, and many, many, many laughs. In fact, laugh out loud laughs. You know you watch TV and you see something and you go, that's funny. But you don't laugh. Frasier makes you laugh out loud, even if sitting alone. Wonderful writing, expert directing, and the acting all lend themselves to your enjoyment. To be honest, it's the performances of the main cast that really stand out in this selection too. Kelsey Grammer's comedic timing is impeccable. David Hyde Pierce's everso fussy Niles plays off Kelsey's Frasier like a pair of matching bookends. John Mahoney is wonderfully gruff as Martin, while Jane Leeves plays a more cockney-ish version of Daphne, which would get more toned down later. Peri Gilpin, as one of my favorite characters Roz, has her edge back and biting. It's fun to watch these characters and actors as they started, and to realize how far they've come. Frasier always was a comedy for the thinking person. I think these DVD's are superb, and for the price you get quite bit. It's well worth your investment of time and money. Invite Frasier into your home, and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Step 1. Hit Ground, Step 2. Start Running
Review: I am a newbie so to speak having burned Seinfeld out just about completely in reruns. I decided to start taping reruns of a little show called Frasier after having "accidently" taping it once, watching it and thinking, "Wow, this is actually witty, and not just by television standards." Ok, so I was paraphrasing those thoughts, but that's the genesis. Anyway, I have yet to "get into" the new ones currently running, thought I'd get a heaping helping of backstory; enter this boxset (which I only heard about THE DAY BEFORE release! I was SHOCKED!) I like the sparks here, the little things. I see already Niles is deathly afraid of bugs, moths and bats, I find that to be amusing. I love picturing him as a child trying his best to avoid such things. Frasier is of coarse the anchor. Marty often the catalyst and of coarse there's Roz. I like watching these because as opposed to the reruns they are in order and I have a context for this little show called Frasier. With its superb writing, handsome box, clean picture, nice artwork, and superb sound it seems sad to think of how many people there out there (just like me) who would enjoy this show... if it were promoted "right". No, strike that. "AT ALL". Sound 5/5
Writing 5/5
Acting 4/5
Box/Disc Art 5/5
Rating:
Summary: The Good Doctor Crane Goes Home
Review: After Cheers went off the air in 1993, NBC spun off a new series starring Kelsey Grammer who continues his role as Dr. Frasier Crane. Instead of keeping Frasier in Boston, they moved him back to his hometown of Seattle (although that is never mentioned as his hometown in Cheers, but Seattle was the trendy, cool city in 1993). Frasier has taken a job as a host of radio talk show on KACL where he will dispense psychiatric advice. The show's pilot episode finds the newly divorced Frasier settling into his new job and new lavishly decorated apartment ready to enjoy life as a bachelor. This set up is disrupted when his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) informs him that their father, Martin (John Mahoney), can no longer take care of himself (the fact that Frasier has a father is a bit of creative memory loss on the part of the creators because in an episode of Cheers where Frasier's son is having his bris, Frasier mentions that his father has long been dead and that he was a scientist, thus even his job was different. He would mention that his father was dead in subsequent episodes as well.). Martin is a former policeman who has hip problems that resulted from a gunshot wound he suffered in the line of duty. Frasier reluctantly agrees to take his father in after Niles says that he can't do it and a nursing home would be wrong. This is more than Frasier bargained for as not only does his father bring his dog, Eddie, but his wacky physical therapist Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves) and a tacky green, beat up old recliner that is his favorite chair and clashes with Frasier's high end décor. Niles is an even more hauty, prissy and uptight than Frasier and Martin is nothing like either of his sons. He likes simple things like ballgames and beer as opposed to opera and fine wine. The show employs a trick used on Cheers where like Norm's wife Vera, Niles' wife Maris is often mentioned and talked about, but never seen. Daphne is from Manchester, England and is a psychic. At the radio station, we met Frasier's producer Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin) who is a brassy, man chaser. The show came up with a great gimmick to incorporate guest stars as callers into Frasier's radio show. Frasier would intone his now famous line of "I'm listening" and the guest voice would detail their problems and Frasier would respond. First season guest voices include actors Mary Tyler Moore, Christopher Reeve, Christine Lahti, Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks, Ben Stiller, Joe Mantegna, Jeff Daniels and Elijah Wood and non-actors Eddie Van Halen, Timothy Leary, Patty Hearst, Tommy Hilfiger, Dominick Dunne, Jay Leno, Rosemary Clooney and Gary Trudeau. Dan Butler's overtop character of Bob "Bulldog" Butler who hosts a sports talk show on KACL is also introduced and supplies big laughs every time he appears. Bebe Neuwirth was the first Cheers co-star to guest star on the show as she appears in sixteenth episode as Dr. Lilith Crane who comes to Seattle to try to reconcile with Frasier. A young Brittany Murphy has a guest role as a high school student in a hilarious episode where Frasier throws out Martin's chair and goes all over Seattle to find and it ends up it is being used in a high school play. Frasier is a rare spin-off that matched its parent series success. The show was an instant smash with the critics and in the ratings. The show has won a record number thirty Emmys in its ten year run and the show won five Emmys at the 1993-94 awards ceremony including the first of its unprecedented five consecutive wins for Outstanding Comedy Series (Cheers won four times). Mr. Grammer had been nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his role as Frasier twice before (he was also nominated once for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series in 1992 for guest shot he had on Wings playing Frasier, the Emmys for some reason included one-time guest appearances in with the continued roles, but wisely changed the guest shots to a separate category), but he finally broke through with a win for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. Frasier's first season had the advantage of being created, written and directed by the people who performed the same duties on Cheers. But instead of becoming a clone of Cheers, Frasier developed its own distinctive voice while maintaining the high standards set by Cheers.
Rating: 
Summary: No captioning is UTTERLY inexcusable!!
Review: Paramount needs to be told just what a COLOSSAL blunder it was not to include any captioning of any sort on these DVD's. It isn't just inexcusable--for this particular show with all the foreign words and elevated language--it's a downright TRAVESTY!! There is NO excuse for this. NONE! This is the ONLY DVD I have EVER seen with no captioning at all, and it needs it more than almost any other TV show. This is a fatal flaw. Let Paramount know how unacceptable this is!
Rating:
Summary: Brillant Frasier on DVD
Review: I can't think of any other sitcom that rivals the outstanding acting, writing and comedy of Frasier during it's first five seasons. Seinfeld and Friends were more popular during the 1990's, but Frasier ( along with the Simpsons ) was the best show of the decade. It was no mistake that Frasier won a record five consecutive Emmy awards during it's first five years. Every episode during this time is a classic, a tour de farce !
Rating:
Summary: Destined to be a classic!
Review: One of the best-written sit-coms of all time, "Frasier" is destined to go down in television history as a classic. The first season begins a hilarious, and at times touching, journey into the life of Dr. Frasier Crane as he comes back home to Seattle and seeks to rebuild his life and reacquaint himself with his father, Martin, and his brother, Niles. Season One is the beginning of a story about relationships; about familial love and understanding, all done with superb, intelligent writing. Great writing combined with an outstanding cast make this show unique in television history and deserving of the many honors it has received. If you like quality TV, you'll *love* "Frasier."
Rating:
Summary: The Best Sitcom of the 90's Finally Comes To DVD
Review: I know Friends and Seinfeld have their fans, but in my opinion Frasier outshines them both in terms of both writing and acting. It's truly the best sitcom of the 90's, and the ONLY one I watch regularly these days. A better matched, more well-tuned group of actors you will simply not find. The writing is sharp, funny, and sometimes poignant. This show is smart but with a heart. Having it on DVD will mean I can finally throw out all my VHS tapes which are showing their age anyway (most were recorded during the original NBC run). And the first season is really one of the best, it's full of classics and is the perfect place to begin for those who have never seen this delightful and witty show.
Rating:
Summary: greatest sitcom ever
Review: First season of frasier was somethin i never could have imagined from a tv show. Season one set the ground for a series that was about to come propably the most loveable sitcom in the world. Why frasier is so good?the chemistry between the"original three"(fras, marty and niley) is so spectacular that it alone would keep in front of the tv screen for hours. but it is just not that. fiery dialogs, amazing actors, both leading roles and supporting ones, full of remarks to history, culture, entertainment, human relationships, snoby lifestyle and much much more. Its unbelieveable that after so many years frasier still keeps its fresh touch, and doesnt bore or make one yawn. This dvd version is a biggest boon;) that can happen to all of us fras-a-holics.
Rating:
Summary: Finally on DVD!
Review: For those of us who love sophisicated, urbane comedy, Frasier has been our lightning rod for the last ten years. Far better than its predecessor, Cheers, it almost harkens back to its spiritual predecessor in Jack Benny. (It was no accident that Kelsey Grammer hosted a prime-time retrospective on the comedy of Benny.) The merits of this show are almost too numerous to mention in a short review, but let's start with the cast. A strong group of ensemble players who are given free reign by the star (most refreshing that Grammer is not tempted to hog the limelight when confronted by this group) to define AND broaden their characters. No one remains static. I realize that to go on is only to continue preaching to the choir. Those who have seen the show know all about it. Even those who have not seen the show have more than an inkling of what it's about. So let me now give you the most compelling reason to buy this DVD: The only way to see the first season as it now stands is to watch it in reruns on various television stations. One also realizes on second or third viewing that more and more of the show is disappearing into the sea as more time is allotted for commercials. If you want to see it UNCUT and COMMERCIAL FREE at any time anywhere there's a DVD player and television handy, this is the only way you will ever be able to achieve that goal, and for fans of Frasier, it is a goal more than worth the money.
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