Frasier question

[TheGodBen]

Without Kelsey as Frasier then we probably would never even have gotten a Niles character, because the producers only came up with the idea of a brother for Frasier after David Hyde Pierce's agent pointed out how similar he looked to the young Kelsey. On that basis alone, Kelsey was the superior choice.

 

[Captaindemotion]

^ Never thought of that! Good point. Now, who would have been John's Niles?!

 

[Owain Taggart]

Chevy Chase? He's actually older by just a few years... Looking at it though, Kelsey Grammer's just the right age for his part, so it's a good thing they got him when they did. John Lithgow is about 10 years older than Kelsey, and I think it would have changed the dynamic quite a bit.

 

[timothy]

now is anyone going to check him out in the new show BOSS where he play the mayor of chicago. which I find funny as hell cause when the show ends he's on an airplane to chicago chasing his girl friend.

what is everybody favorite moment on the show mine is when Rosz dressed up as wonder woman.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I might check it out, though I haven't heard very much of it so far. Does sound interesting though and it might be just what Kelsey Grammer needs rather than being stuck in a rut of bad comedies.

You know, one thing that bothered me about Frasier was when Jane Leeves was pregnant, they made her stuff her face on the show rather than writing the pregnancy in. I suppose it was because it didn't line up with their story-arcs, but it just came across as awkward and silly.

 

[Trekker4747]

There's only so many ways you can write a real-world pregnancy into a show, especially if relationships are heavily arced.

"Friends" was able to pull it off when Lisa Kudrow became pregnant, they wrote that Phoebe was serving as a surrogate for her half-brother and sister-in-law.

When Phylicia Rashād became pregnant during The Cosby Show, while Claire Huxtable was not supposed to be pregnant, elaborate measures were taken to hide her pregnancy by hiding her pregnant belly behind the island in the kitchen, grocery bags and even going as far as to make a "pit" in the master bed for her to lay in and look "normal." This seems to be the most "common" way to do things, in TNG and Voyager when Gates McFadden and Roxane Dawson became pregnant they tried to obscure it by having the actresses standing behind tables and wearing lab coats.

In Jane Leeves' case it probably didn't work to write the pregnancy into the show given her arc with her boyfriend, Niles and everything. However it seems they poorly decided to write her pregnancy into the show my having her gain weight rather than simply trying to hide her pregnancy my various means.

 

[Owain Taggart]

Exactly. It just seemed poorly done in contrast to everything else on the show. It's about the only thing I dislike about it.

 

[TheGodBen]

I didn't mind that because they gave her an actual reason to gain weight and used that to show that Niles' obsession with Daphne had led to a somewhat unhealthy relationship. So it works for me, if only for that one episode.

 

[Trekker4747]

It's been a while since I've watched Frasier, but didn't Niles accept "fat" Daphne and continue to love her just the same? That could have an ounce or two of "meaning" to it for the characters.

IIRC when the actress who played Roz became pregnant in real life wasn't her pregnancy written into the show as Roz being, well, Roz?

 

[46379.1]

It's actually quite interesting to read about how different shows handles pregnancies among the cast. Specially if you're really into the show and didn't noticed it at the time.
I had no idea that Julia L-D were pregnant on Seinfeld or that Julie Bowen expected twins in the pilot of Modern Family.

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah Julia Louis Dreyfus was pregnant during third season, it was hidden by having her either in baggier clothing or hiding the pregnant belly, in one instance sitting on the couch holding a pillow on her lap. Her absence at the start of Season Four was due to JLD's real-world maternity leave, in the show Elaine was out-of-the country with her current boyfriend, her psychologist, which oddly enough started a season-long arc with Crazy Joe Davola who fell off his meds since he couldn't get a refill while the psychologist was out of the country.

Shows can do it in crazy, fun, ways. But, "Ummm. She's getting fat," is an odd way to do it considering how "fat women" and "pregnant" women don't look that much alike and gain their weight in different ways.

 

[Seven of Five]

Yeah they really dropped the ball with Jane Leeves' pregnancy. Pretending she was just overweight was silly.

Now when I'd finished watching Seinfeld, I'd never even noticed that Julia Louis-Dreyfus had been pregnant. Her absence at the start of the following season didn't give it away either!

 

[46379.1]

Shows can do it in crazy, fun, ways. But, "Ummm. She's getting fat," is an odd way to do it considering how "fat women" and "pregnant" women don't look that much alike and gain their weight in different ways.

Yeah, I prefer "hiding behind things". It can become a funny thing itself if you're aware of it, like with Cobie Smulders and Alyson Hannigan on HIMYM.

 

[TheGodBen]

It's been a while since I've watched Frasier, but didn't Niles accept "fat" Daphne and continue to love her just the same? That could have an ounce or two of "meaning" to it for the characters.

Actually, Niles never even noticed that she had gained weight until she pointed it out to him, and that's not healthy. There's a difference between not noticing something and noticing it but not caring. Here's the scene where Frasier called him out on it.

[yt]v=mc157Q0iWEk[/yt]

 

[Trekker4747]

Yeah they really dropped the ball with Jane Leeves' pregnancy. Pretending she was just overweight was silly.

Now when I'd finished watching Seinfeld, I'd never even noticed that Julia Louis-Dreyfus had been pregnant. Her absence at the start of the following season didn't give it away either!

Watch the last episode of Season 3 (The Keys) at the end of that episode Elaine is sitting on the couch cradling a seat-cushion to hide the pregnant belly. That episode sticks out most to me as one where "hiding" it was the method. I think much of the time she was pregnant her conversations with Jerry were at the bar/counter, I think that's also the season where she had her "iconic look" of wearing summer dresses but without string the waist closed.

Actually, Niles never even noticed that she had gained weight until she pointed it out to him, and that's not healthy. There's a difference between not noticing something and noticing it but not caring. Here's the scene where Frasier called him out on it.

I need to watch through Frasier again.

Anyway, looks like Daphne "gaining weight" worked well, in part, for the way Niles and her carried out their relationship and how Niles was confronted with reality verses his dreams. He wasn't looking at her in a healthy way and it seems that was sort of the point. That was a good scene showing Frasier working in his chosen profession (quite a bit different than giving out advice on a radio show and maybe even showing his Freudian way of practicing psychology.