‘The key to the character’s success, and indeed his charm, is that Frasier was just as often the butt of the joke as he was the originator’

Around the age of 15, I fell madly in love. The object of my affection was unexpected: an older man, a Seattle-based psychiatrist who lived with his father and his father’s dog. Dr Frasier Crane – a vain, pompous, but ultimately kind man – is fictional. But he is as real to me as anyone else.

Much of his charm comes down to his humour. Frasier, as played by Kelsey Grammer, is A Funny Guy. But the key to the character’s success, and indeed his charm, is that Frasier was just as often the butt of the joke as he was the originator. It is impossible to distil the wit of Frasier into a single quote, particularly as Grammer is also a gifted physical performer, but the show boiled down to a simple premise: here was an urbane, cultured man who had it all – money, fame (via his radio show), and the (sometimes fractious) love of his family. Yet each week he found new and funny ways to act out human discontent.

His insurmountable problem was love – how to get it, how to keep it. He watched enviously as his brother, Niles, finally landed his love interest, for whom he had pined for almost a decade: “I hope one day to love a woman the way you love Daphne,” he tells his brother at one point. Almost 20 years on, I am cheered by his many failures in love. Who wouldn’t be?

Rewatching old episodes on Channel 4, I have discovered that it is this, as well as his incredibly close relationship with Niles, that is the crux of Frasier’s enduring appeal. The lesson is: even flawed people deserve love. If you took out the money and fame bit, he’s basically me.

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