sdelmonte | Frasier Has Left the Building

So about seven or eight months ago, Frasier landed on Netflix. All eleven seasons. Long ago, I was a regular viewer, and somewhere midday through its run, I got a bit tired of it. But I remembered loving it at first, and starting a rewatch. Which got a bit bumpy on occasion. I needed to take breaks every now and then, and I skipped some episodes and didn't finish others. But the things that I liked were still there. The obscure references, the ensemble cast, the often perfect comic timing.

So I plowed on. Went past the point I had stopped at. And found that, remarkably, the show got its legs back and stayed funny and clever and smart and well acted for a long time. Even through the end of the long, long flirtations of Niles and Daphne. Even through a lot of awkward moments and farce that would put the French to shame. Given that I haven't watched any sitcoms besides Arrested Development and Futurama in the past decade, I was surprised that the form still holds its charms. But then, Frasier was always different. I don't know of any show that reveled so much in its intelligence.

Tonight, I watched the last episode. It was full of sitcom cliches and subplots of the sort that you expect in a series finale. And it was very funny and very heartfelt and the sort of finale that you hope for. Even though it aired nine years ago, and even though I knew how it ended. I am glad I stuck it out. And I will miss it.

And I figure in another ten years or so, I will come back and watch it all again.