Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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118 of 123 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Old faces return for a vintage Frasier finale , 23 Jul 2008
The eleventh and final season of 'Frasier' (tying in longevity with parent sitcom 'Cheers') marks the show's true return to form, set in motion by the average season 10. This can be attributed to the return of writers Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd who, individually and together, produced some of the all-time classic episodes in season's 1-7. Both writers bring a real creative force to this final season, and quickly set about dealing with some of the show's most recent problems. The grating Julia Wilcox (Felicity Huffman) is dispatched with early in the season, and the tensions between Frasier and Martin (a core theme of the early seasons) are renewed when father and son battle for the attention of Ronee Lawrence, Frasier's former babysitter. We also see more use of Roz; a better dynamic between Daphne and Niles (Daphne gets to be funny and kooky again!); and, the icing on the cake, the 'return' of Niles' oft-talked about, never-seen ex, Maris Crane.
The drama of past seasons is ditched in favour of fun storylines, and amazingly there are some episodes which can rightly be viewed as 'classic Frasier'. The first is the hilarious 'The Doctor Is Out', featuring Patrick Stewart in a superb performance as Frasier's new 'friend', a gay socialite with designs on the good doctor. Another classic episode is 'High Holidays' that makes excellent use of the main cast, especially John Mahoney as Martin. Versatile 'Roseanne' star Laurie Metcalf appears as Frasier's first wife, the children's entertainer Nanette 'Nanny G' Guzman, in 'Caught In The Act' which never lets up its frantic pace. Special mention must also go to the series finale, 'Goodnight Seattle', which - despite a bloated first half - is one of the best 'finales' you'll see. Many of the show's old favourites - Bebe, Noel, Gil, Kenny - get one last chance to shine in this episode but the true focus is on Frasier, who finally realises how he can be truly happy. The last few minutes of the show, when Frasier says goodbye to his family, friends and listeners, is a tear-jerker, and reminds viewers just what they are about to lose: one of the most intelligent, consistently brilliant comedy series ever produced for television. A few episodes in this final season are far from perfect, and everything ties up too neatly in the finale, but those minor niggles aside: don't miss out on this superb swansong for TV's favourite psychiatrist. Goodnight Seattle, we loved you!
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94 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great final season, 10 Sep 2008
The 11th and final season of Frasier on DVD has arrived. It completes a quite sublime comedy series of a standard that will probably never grace our screens again. This is some achievement given the drop in quality that was evident in seasons 8 and 9, which would normally have prompted the shows demise. However, in a final throw of the dice, the writers and cast have produced some excellent comedy and gone out on a real high.
To summarise - Frasier dumps that awful Julia (a priceless scene) and eventually finds true love, Roz returns to KACL and later becomes station manager, Niles and Daphne have a baby, and Martin also gets lucky in love.
There are some brilliant standout episodes that would be contenders for a Best-Of compilation (with past masterpieces such as 'The Innkeepers', 'The Matchmaker', 'Ham Radio', 'The Two Mrs Cranes', 'The Ski Lodge', 'Three Valentines' and 'Dinner Party'):
Ep.2 'A Man, A Plan and A Gal' - Frasier pledges to commit to Julia but soon regrets his boldness.
Ep.3 'The Doctor is Out' - Frasier is wrongly outed, leading to a new male friend (Patrick Stewart) with hilarious consequences.
Ep.8 'Murder Most Maris' - Niles shows admirable calmness when his crossbow is used as a murder weapon by Maris, until there are no straws left at Cafe Nervosa....
Ep.11 'High Holidays' - Niles tries to rebel by getting high but things backfire.
Ep.15 'Caught in the Act' - Frasier cannot resist his childrens entertainer first ex-wife (played by Laurie Metcalf) and following some badly-timed intimacy ends up on stage dressed as a baby!
Ep.16 'Boo' - To help a patient with a fear of clowns, Frasier dresses up as one!
Ep.23 'Goodnight Seattle' - the final frantic and very moving episode.
Despite my very positive review, I decided to give it 4 stars, rather than 5, because overall I think this season still doesn't reach the heights of seasons 1-7. Back then, Frasier was at its best with all the petty sibling rivalries and of course Niles chasing Daphne. It would also have been nice to actually see Frasier get his gal (Charlotte) at the end rather than assume things work out. In this series, we also get a lot of guest characters played by famous actors, which was never done earlier, or needed. Nonetheless, I recommend it to all fans of witty, often farcical, yet poignant comedy.
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64 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Buy it to complete your collection, but you won`t watch most of it very often!, 17 Jun 2008
It`s hard not feel a little shame when writing non-positively about Frasier. I`m such a huge afficianado of the series, and have spent so many hours watching and laughing, that I feel it`s slightly treasonable to grumble about the obvious lack of quality of the last four seasons - and bear in mind that the quality is only lower when compared to the other seasons of Frasier! It was better than anything else.
The problem is, I don`t really know what the writers were up to sometimes in Season 11. There are a couple of episodes that show Frasier, Niles, Martin et al. saying and acting in ways that are not at all in character. Even more annoyingly, the sub-plot with Roz returning to KACL is never resolved properly, just isn`t mentioned anymore. Julia Wilcox is an interesting character in terms of feisty arguments, but it`s almost like the writers panic when she and Frasier sleep together and quickly make her loathesome again...why? So they can introduce Charlotte as a matchmaker and new love interest. But an inferior one, in my opinion. The episodes with her, albeit vital for the culmination of the show, are not especially funny. We didn`t watch Frasier for drama - intelligent comedy, farce at times, psychological insights into relationships etc., yes - but not actual drama without anything amusing happening.
"The Placeholder" is a horrible episode; "Guns N` Neuroses" the only Lilith episode that isn`t top class; "Freudian Sleep" is pretty brainless. I won`t bother to watch them. So the whole season pays for three bad episodes? Not quite. There are a number of sub-standard (as opposed to poor) episodes too. "Coots & Ladders" has a few brief moments of fun, "And Frasier Makes Three" and "Detour" (particularly odd of the writers to introduce new characters only four episodes from the end!) aren`t special, and "Crock Tales" only shines briefly. So, that`s roughly half of the season that I`m not too enamoured about.
There are though some of the best episodes - (or maybe they look better with the company they share?) - too. Unlike other seasons of Frasier, these are generally ones with top guest stars. "Caught In The Act" is close to perfection, a superb performance from Laurie Metcalf as Nanny G, and Frasier is back to his sex-starved best, something we took for granted in the early seasons. "The Doctor Is Out" has Patrick Stewart misunderstanding Frasier`s orientation with "hilarious consequences". Oh, and the little matter of "High Holidays" - the best episode ever? Always good to have Freddie in a season, but this is a new, Goth version. Martin is funnier than ever, Niles is as brilliant as we expect, it`s just wonderful throughout. The final episode is poignant, rather than brilliant, but I can accept that the finale had to tie things up, and this will always mean some sentimentality.
Verdict - some dross, mostly decent, some exceptional. You won`t watch it as much as the first six seasons though. They were worth more than the five stars permitted. This season is a rather indifferent three star performance.
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