Just finished watching the first 3 seasons for the first time (about to start on the 4th), and while there have been some duds along the way, on the whole it's been pretty fantastic. I'd actually heard that the series declines as it goes on (before improving a bit toward the end), not that it got better. I guess I'll just have to find out for myself.
Nah, when people say that it's just because the show took a temporary dip in quality for a year or so about 3/4 of the way through it's run. Even then it was still better than most sitcoms. I don't believe for a second it was a sitcom that spent half its life in decline. I thought the final season was fantastic.
While all art is subjective, particularly humour, I do think that Frasier lost something during the seventh season. Here is my long and boring examination of my feelings on the subject which I'm sure you will all be fascinated by.
I think the first season was good, but they were still finding their legs and trying to figure out the characters. Frasier in particular seems to act more like the Frasier from
Cheers than he would in the rest of the series. Season 2 is when they really got the ball rolling and the characters clicked into place. Seasons 3, 4 and 5 built on this and the show got into its groove with humour that built upon the previously defined character traits. Some think there was a decline in season 6, but I love the tone of that year and it is perhaps my favourite season. I think
Dinner Party may be my favourite episode of the show.
I think the show began to decline in season 7 because the writers were getting tired, and there was those awful episodes involving Poppy. It was still very good, but not as good as the previous seasons. Season 8 suffered because Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan left the writing staff so the show's tone shifted somewhat. There was also that stretch of four episodes where Jane Leeves wasn't around due to her pregnancy. Still very good, but there was more clunkers than usual.
Season 9 lost focus and started feeling more like a typical sitcom rather than the unique style the show used to have. Having Daphne's mother moving in with Niles was a terrible idea, she annoyed the crap out of me and I just don't know what they were thinking. Season 10 had better quality writing, and I don't mind that they went more dramatic with stories like Niles' heart-scare, but Daphne's mother was still around, they introduced Julia who also annoyed me and they tried to do a will they/wont they relationship between Frasier and Roz.
Season 11 was a big improvement. Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan returned to head the writing staff and they got rid of Julia, and stupid Roz/Frasier storyline, and Daphne's mother was almost completely ignored. They also upped the farcical element of the show which had gotten stagnant while they were gone,
High Holidays and
Caught in the Act were top-notch Frasier. That was a great season for the show to go out on.
