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(from left) Bulldog, Roz, Niles, Frasier, Daphne and Martin
Baby I hear the blues a-calling
Tossed salads and scrambled eggs - mercy.
And maybe I seem a bit confused;
Well maybe; but I got you pegged - haHAAhaha!
But I don't know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs:
They're callin' again.
Good night Seattle, we love you!
- Kelsey Grammer, singing one of the many variations of the show's closing theme.
A Spinoff of Cheers, in which psychiatrist Dr Frasier Crane ( Kelsey Grammer) has moved back to his home town of Seattle to take a job as a radio shrink on KACL, aided by producer Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin). Frasier's father Martin (John Mahoney) is forced to move in with him following his retirement from the Seattle police force after being shot in the hip, and joining them are Martin's physical therapist, Englishwoman Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves); and Jack Russell terrier Eddie (Moose) who keeps staring at Frasier. Frasier's brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce), who like Frasier is a psychiatrist but is even more pompous and stuffy than Frasier, is a frequent visitor to the apartment; and despite being married to the never seen Maris, has a crush on Daphne that she was blissfully unaware of in the early years. Completing the cast is Frasier and Roz's colleague, sports jock Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe (Dan Butler).
As the show went on, Frasier's relationship with Martin improved drastically after they started living together. Niles and Maris separated then divorced after Maris had an affair, and at the end of Season 7 Niles and Daphne finally got together after she jilted her fiance at the altar. They later married and had a son, David.
The series was able to run contrary to almost every other sitcom ever made by focusing on wealthy, snobbish milquetoasts as opposed to the Average Joe — although Mahoney's rendering of Martin Crane was a brilliant working-class counterpoint able to deflate the pomposity of his sons with ease (and often glee). The emphasis was upon understatement and taste, using title cards in place of establishing shots and being one of the first sitcoms to completely dispose of Full House Music.
Frasier has quite an amazing effect on the mind. Just watching an episode is a pretty damn sure cure for the blues.
This show provides examples of:
- Aborted Arc: Season 10 built up an Unresolved Sexual Tension between Frasier and Roz that culminated with Roz leaving the station due to jealously towards Julia. When Season 11 rolled around, the A-team of Frasier writers (Joe Keenan, Chris Lloyd, Rob Greenberg) returned, declared season 10 a misfire, and gracefully undid all the damage in two episodes.
- A Day At The Bizarro: Freudian Sleep, the "unusual dreams" episode.
- A Day In The Limelight: Most notably Daphne's flashback episode Dark Side of the Moon, where a series of stressful situations lead her to seek therapy.
- Also Head Game where Niles becomes the shrink to a famous basketball player. This has an interesting reality subtext as the plot was meant for Frasier, but as Kelsey Grammer was being treated for his alcoholism he was unable to fulfill the role.
- All Love Is Unrequited: The Ski Lodge features one of the most complicated love tangles ever. With an especially cruel twist, as once it's all sorted out, Frasier is left to come to the hideously painful realization that no one was lusting after him.
- Also, for most of the series, Niles and Daphne. Niles eventually seemed to get over his crush on Daphne and move on... just in time for Daphne to develop a crush on him.
- Amplified Animal Aptitude: Eddie, played by Moose (his son Enzo took over the role in later seasons), were incredibly well-trained. John Mahoney has stated that he considered them animal actors rather than token pets.
- Analogy Backfire: Used often in a variety of situations by different characters.
- And Zoidberg:
Frasier: "Thank you, Niles. You're a good brother and a credit to the psychiatric profession. "
Niles: "You're a good brother, too."
- Animal Reaction Shot: Eddie was able to display several "emotions".
- Animated Credits Opening: Just like the rest of the show, classy and understated. Counts as a form of Couch Gag as there are several variations.
- Arson Murder And Jaywalking: Turns up in places you'd least expect. Sometimes becomes part of the scene-stealing moment.
- A Simple Plan: That often backfires because Frasier and Niles build up hundreds of assumptions without resolving the entire issue by simply asking questions of the people involved.
- Daphne defied that once or twice by directly asking the people in question when she realized what Frasier and Niles were going to do.
- Also double subverted on occasion where Daphne would suggest this course of action to Frasier or Niles and be ridiculed and dismissed.
- Baby Got Back: Niles has quite an affection for Daphne's rear end.
- Bachelor Auction: Frasier gets won by Kristina Harper (Claire Stansfield) in Can't Buy Me Love. Despite the fact she's gorgeous and completely adores Frasier, he blows it.
- Baseball Episode: The Unnatural, which has Frasier attempting to play on the KACL softball team at the behest of Freddy. We don't see the match itself but judging from Frasier's "training" by Martin, he didn't do too well.
- Better As Friends: Frasier and Roz.
- Big Fancy House: Maris's house, and Niles's apartment after they split up. The latter has a gift wrapping room.
- Leads to a VERY amusing scene where Frasier is convincing Niles he needs to save money during his divorce from Maris, with Niles refusing to admit it:
Niles: You can't blame me for the housing market - this is a simple apartment!
Frasier: Well, this simple apartment of yours is going to bankrupt you! You must admit it's a bit large for one person?
Niles: Oh, don't forget I have a pet.
Frasier: Are you saying that your BIRD requires both a study and a library?
- A little later:
Frasier: You have a THIRD floor?
Niles: It's practically a crawl space. (into intercom) Go out the door to the left. (to Frasier) Don't look at me like that! I have to have a roof over my head!
Frasier: You have THREE roofs over your head!
- Blah Blah Blah: One episode even has a gag black-and-white POV shot from Eddie the dog, where everybody just makes yammering noises except when they mention his name. Soon after, a POV from Martin during one of his boys' discussions does the same thing, except in color.
- Brain Bleach: "I have to gouge out my mind's eye." In fact, just check out that trope for more quality examples.
- British Accents: Daphne's supposedly Mancunian family are mostly played by real British actors, but from all over the island, leading to
unintentional hilarity for British audiences.
- British Stuffiness: Unusually, inverted - Frasier and Niles are elitist and stuffy while most of the British characters are cheerfully working-class.
- Broken Base: Having Niles and Daphne get together is a source of debate for the fans. The general consensus was that it didn't work; not because it was a bad idea, merely because the plots written for them were not as entertaining or amusing as the earlier UST ones.
- Broken Pedestal: Played with; after discovering that his mentor and Roz are having a relationship, Frasier believes he's experiencing this (and it's not helped by the fact that he saw his mentor wearing nothing but Roz's robe) but he comes to realize that it's actually jealousy that Roz has become attracted to someone very similar to him whilst having never demonstrated any kind of attraction towards him.
Roz: "Frasier, did you ever stop to think there may be something special about not being picked?"
Frasier: "Roz, that didn't work when I was cut from pee-wee football, it's not gonna work now."
- Casanova: Averted with Frasier. Whenever it looks like he is on a "hot streak" with several women lusting after him at once, generally they all become aware of each other and he is left with no-one.
- At one point, Frasier admitted "I'm a one woman man. If that."
- Catchphrase: Many, and usually quite subtle.
Frasier: "I'm listening.", "What the hell was THAT?!", "Wishing you good mental health." and "Oh, dear God!"
Niles: (about Maris) "The poor thing..." and "Well, I hope you're HAPPY!"
Martin: "Oh, geeze..."
Bulldog: "This stinks! This is total BS!"
- Celebrity Endorsement: Several references throughout the show and a whole episode dedicated to the ethics of putting a respected name on a product; Selling Out. Also a Real Life example where Frasier hawks a soft-drink
 , which seems unusual given his penchant for fine wines and distaste of his father's junk food habits.
- Character Derailment: Daphne in the last three seasons. She changes from a charming, forthright, eccentric Manchester lady to a possesive, jealous, dull and barely accented background character, whose dialogue mostly consists of complaining to (and about) Niles.
- Character Filibuster: The very thing that Frasier runs on, frequently noted by his friends and family.
- Chekhovs Gun: A seemingly insignificant comment or action by one of the characters will often inspire the plot resolution (or at least drive it forward) later on. The show was always very subtle about the way it handled such things.
- The Chew Toy: Frasier really is, but often deserves it for being a variant of Insufferable Genius. Especially during the season 6 story arc when he loses his job and becomes despondent and desperate.
- Chez Restaurant: Quite a few, like "Chez Chez".
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Though generally sane, Daphne has moments where she'll lapse into non-sequitur dialogue, often about her family and the strange things that have happened to them. In Flour Child, it prompts this response:
- Compliment Backfire
- Cool Car: Something of a subversion in that the brothers pride themselves on having top-of-the-line saloons, but they often break down. This eventually led to the episode Motor Skills where they attempt to improve their practicality.
- Covert Pervert: Niles, as far as Daphne is concerned. Frasier often shouts at him or gives him a certain look in order to snap him out of his fantasy.
"I'm sorry, I was someplace else......... it was a warm and friendly place."
- Critical Psychoanalysis Failure: Niles and Frasier often come across as more neurotic than the people they treat, and even end up in therapy in the flashback tale Shrink Rap.
- Several episodes revolve around Frasier and Niles analyzing the crap out of an issue, when it's really far simpler than they ever would have guessed.
- Cross Over: Multiple characters from Cheers dropped by. The producers said the they moved Frasier to Seattle to avoid this, but couldn't hold out forever.
- Lilith was the first and the only one to recur. Justified in that Lilith was
Frasier's ex the mother of Frasiers son, and therefore more a part of the Frasier-verse than the Cheers gang.
- Frasier's son Frederick appeared about once a year, played by two different actors, neither of them the "Frederick from Cheers.
- Sam Malone (Season 2)
- Diane Chambers (Twice in dream sequences, once in a season 3 makeup episode with Reality Subtext - Shelley Long and Kelsey had a rivalry on Cheers, but they made up in the course of filming the episode.)
- Woody Boyd (Season 6)
- Cliff, Norm, Carla, and a bunch of the Cheers regulars (Season 9, Cheerful Goodbyes).
- Loose crossovers with Caroline In The City and The John Laroquette Show.
- Damned By Faint Praise: Commonly used to spare someone's feelings, although Frasier sometimes can't resist following it up with a barrage of criticism.
- Dark Horse Victory: Not uncommon at some of the in-show awards ceremonies.
- Deadpan Snarker: Frasier and Niles exist to point out flaws, criticise things of a perceived "lower class" and generally have fun at the expense of others. Especially Niles.
Frasier: "What is the one thing better than an exquisite meal? An exquisite meal with one tiny flaw we can pick at all night."
- Directed By Cast Member (Kelsey Grammer and Dan Butler)
- Does This Remind You Of Anything: Bebe gives a monologue about smoking that sounds remarkably like a description of another oral activity.
- Do It Yourself Theme Tune: Kelsey singing the closing song in his booming baritone - and it's brilliant. The fact the lyrics are nonsensical is part of the joke.
- Double Entendre: Whenever Roz meets an attractive man, you can guarantee she'll use at least one.
- Dreadful Musician: The way Frasier solves his insecurity complex in The Perfect Guy is by revealing his Foil to be one of these.
- Dream Sequence: Including whole episodes based around one (The Impossible Dream and Freudian Sleep).
- Drinking Game: As it turns out, Frasier, Niles and their father are all fans of Antiques Roadshow. They make a game out of it, taking sips of brandy whenever someone says "veneer".
- Drop In Character: Niles, usually to get away from Maris.
- Dungeon Masters Girlfriend: Where Every Bloke Knows Your Name, used and subverted at the same time.
- Earworm: The closing theme.
- Embarrassing Cover Up: At least a couple per season.
- Ensemble Darkhorse: Niles. This is pointed out in one of the Season 2 DVD interviews with the writers.
- Erotic Dream: Frasier's homoerotic dreams about Gil Chesterton plague him in The Impossible Dream; Niles has many about Daphne.
- Establishing Shot: Almost completely averted: only once in 11 years did we see the exterior of Frasier's building.
- Even The Dog Is Ashamed: Eddie burying his head under the sofa cushions was a popular pose.
- Even The Guys Want Him: Dr. Clint Webber, a new radio personality at KACL in The Perfect Guy. This inspires HUGE jealousy from Frasier, who schemes to find an exploitable weakness.
- The Faceless: Maris Crane, who is also The Voiceless for a significant amount of episodes. The writers certainly enjoyed toying with The Reveal of both, but settled for The Unreveal for the hell of it.
- Another problem, according to a season 4 DVD special, was that the writers had ascribed so many bizarre features and qualities to her that no human could properly play the role.
- Failed Attempt At Drama: Roz mistakenly tells Frasier she is out of his life before she gets up to leave with a sprained ankle and crutches instead of after. And forgetting her purse didn't help.
- Frasier yells at the apartment board and turns to leave, but his briefcase opens and he has to stay and pick everything up.
- Failure Knight: When it comes to Frasier and women, his luck has certainly turned him into a prime example, which is brought to the fore in Don Juan In Hell.
- Fake Brit: Daphne's least favorite brother, Simon (played by Australian Anthony LaPaglia)
- John Mahoney is a subversion: a real Brit without a British accent.
- Faux Yay: Martin in the episode Out With Dad.
- Fawlty Towers Plot: There wouldn't be a show without it!
- First Name Basis: When Daphne and Niles get married, she finally starts calling the Crane men by their given names, not their titles.
- Five Five Five: The call-in number for the KACL radio station.
- Flashback To Catchphrase: Martin says "I'm listening" when Frasier forces him to have a conversation in You Can Go Home Again.
- Fridge Logic: Martin is disappointed that his sons ended up as snobbish, effete sophisticates. However, with Prophetic Names like "Frasier" and "Niles," what else could they possibly have become? It's like naming your son "Thrungnir the Bold," then being surprised when he grows up to be a Barbarian Hero.
- They're named after lab rats. Anything could happen.
- Full House Music: Notably averted. Even during the rare Very Special Episode, the dramatic climaxes are handled with no music, letting the dialog and acting speak for itself.
- The Fun In Funeral: The only way Frasier can make it through a eulogy in Martin Does It His Way.
- Genius Bonus: Almost every episode.
- Girl Of The Week: Pretty much every love interest Frasier has. Sometimes he gets lucky and they last the course of a short story arc.
- The Ghost: Maris.
- Green Eyed Monster: The brothers run on this, always trying to outdo each other by any means they can muster. It often ends up with them both losing out, and reconciling while noting how badly they acted to get what they wanted, which wasn't that important after all.
- One episode has them acknowledge that they're locked in a pattern of jealous behaviour they're unlikely to break out of, but acknowledge that it's not all bad; their relentless jealousy of each other and subsequent competitiveness has inspired them both to excel.
- Halloween Episode: Cleverly, there is an episode set at Halloween, but it subverts the trope by calling very little attention to the fact, instead basing the plot around Roz being pregnant (and many overheard conversations that lead to hilarious confusions about the situation).
- The episode ""A Room Full Of Heroes"" is a more textbook example.Frasier holds a halloween party, and one of the main jokes revolves around all the children thinking he eats brains.
- Not So Imaginary Friend: The supermodel in Frasier's Imaginary Friend.
- I Have Just One Thing To Say: Frasier is the undisputed master of these.
- Henpecked Husband: Niles, in all of his marriages.
- Human Shield: Bulldog's deplorable behaviour in Bad Dog causes him to use a pregnant woman as a shield, and later on even his own mother. As Frasier was the only one who saw what really happened, he spends the episode trying to get Bulldog to own up and stop taking advantage of the adulation.
- Hypocrisy Nod: Sometimes Frasier and Niles are intelligent enough to know when they're being hypocritical and will pompously point it out.
- Hypocritical Humor: One of the many fuels this show runs on.
- Incredibly Lame Pun: Whenever possible, these exist.
- Their general use is Frasier describing his sexual conquests, such as:
Frasier: "I guess someone wanted to rack up a few more frequent Frasier miles."
- In a convention in Aspen:
Frasier: "My fellow psychiatrists, as I watched you on the slopes today I realised I had never seen so many Freudians slip!"
- Instrumental Theme Tune: The Opening Theme is notable as it changes frequently (a form of Couch Gag). There were more permutations introduced as the show ran longer and longer, all with a light jazz feel which set the tone nicely for the content of the episode.
- Ironic Birthday
- Is That What They're Calling It Now?: Zora's reaction to Martin introducing Daphne as his physical therapist in Beware Of Greeks.
- Its Been Done
- It's Like I Always Say
- Kwyjibo: In Goodnight, Seattle.
Charlotte: "Her grandmother's bed was warm and... quilty."
Frasier: "And why is she lying there? Because she’s feeling all “befevered” again?"
- Lampshade Hanging: Out With Dad where Frasier drags Martin to an opera. Martin complains about the unlikely farcical plot elements (escalating lies, staged entrances and exits), a critique which neatly encapsulates all that follows in the second act.
- Large Ham: Any time Frasier gets riled up, any time Niles gets... let's just say many.
- Best example: Jackson Headley in The Show Must Go Off, who delivers a performance so hammy Brian Blessed would be proud.
- Last Second Word Swap: Often a last second phrase swap, used by all the main characters especially Frasier.
- Lemon Wacky Hello: Martin's accidental ingestion of a "special" brownie in High Holidays, with hilarious results.
- Local Hangout: Cafe Nervosa - subverted in that the cast did not have a "regular" table they always sat at; they sat at different tables throughout the series.
- Long Runner: While the show barely qualifies (11 seasons), more notable is the character of Dr. Frasier Crane, who was played for 20 years over two shows (and a guest appearance on Wings).
- Mad Artist: Caitlin in Frasier Gotta Have It. She makes collages out of dead mice and stuffs pillows with human hair.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: The above Caitlin. It doesn't work out though, as all they shared was sex.
- Memetic Badass: Frasier's aunt Zora is a violent person feared by all, said to have joined the WWII Greek Partisans just so she could strangle Nazis. Since she was about 5 at the time, they say she did it with a jumping rope.
- Men Are Uncultured: Averted - Frasier and Niles are very cultured, loving Opera and fine wines. Their father doesn't understand this at all, but he's not stupid, he just has more traditionally "manly" tastes.
- "I still think a couple of years of military service would've done you two a world of good."
- Missing Mom: Hester Crane, although she appeared occasionally through flashbacks.
- Mistaken For Gay: The show specialises in these, and handles them with panache.
- Happened to Frasier in The Matchmaker and The Doctor is Out. Leads to a hilarious "on-air outing" in the latter as he tries to explain why he was there:
Frasier: "All right, I am going to put an end to this discussion, because there is nothing to discuss. On my way home from the gym, I popped into Bad Billy’s looking for a man I was hoping was in the bathroom. I had a quick sherry with my French polisher and then I left. As for how I got into another man’s shorts, that is no one’s business!"
- Martin's pretending to be gay backfires on him in Out With Dad.
- Niles is consistently mistaken for gay, which becomes more amusing when you consider that David Hyde Pierce's homosexuality was an open secret at the time.
- Bulldog was also accused of being gay by a lady who thought he was overcompensating by being so testosterone-driven. Dan Butler (who plays him) is actually gay in real life.
- Subverted in Fathers and Sons: Martin is convinced Leland is the boy's actual father as he has so much in common with them, but as it turns out he only loved Hester as a friend and admitted to her that he was gay at a time when that was considered socially unacceptable.
- This went on for years with effeminate food critic Gil Chesterton, until it came out that that he's married. Everybody just assumed the "Deb" he kept mentioning was his cat.
"Honesly, the conclusions people make, just because a man dresses well and knows how to use a pastry bag."
- Actually, Frasier never believed Gil when he said he's married.
- Nobody did. And in the the aforementioned episode where Frasier made the faux pas about his mistaken foray into the gay bar, Gil can clearly be seen surreptitiously slipping into the bar during the closing credits.
- Mistaken Identity: An interesting twist in Secret Admirer; Frasier mistakes himself for the object of Maris' affections when it is actually Niles who is supposed to receive the gifts.
- My Name Is Not Durwood
- My Own Private I Do: Niles and Daphne of the Elope First, Plan Later variety. It got really silly when they ended up having two fake ceremonies, before eventually spilling the beans.
- Naked People Trapped Outside (Bulldog, in the episode "The Dog That Rocked The Cradle")
- New Old Flame
- The Niles: Trope Namer.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Dr. Nora, an unusually thin parody of Dr. Laura and the small controversy about her qualifications. Dr. Nora's advice mostly consisted of telling her callers that they're sinners who are going to hell, and Frasier eventually learns her doctorate is in P.E. The station keeps her on because her polarizing personality is attracting listeners, until an attempt at goodwill by Frasier drives her away.
- No Indoor Voice: Chopper Dave got a little too used to reporting from a helicopter.
- Noodle Implements
- The Show Where Sam Shows Up
Sam: Hey listen... if you want to really put a smile on Maris's face let me tell you what you do.
[He whispers in Niles's ear.]
Niles: Exactly where am I supposed to find whipped cream and a car battery at this hour?
- Liar! Liar!
Bulldog: All right Doc, I’m going to need a blindfold, whipped cream and a glass coffee table.
[Everyone looks mystified]
Bulldog: What? Nobody went to camp?
- Not What It Looks Like: Interesting variation - Frasier often walks in on Niles and Daphne doing something completely innocent, unaware that out of context it looks like flirting.
- In several cases however, in Niles' mind at least, it is flirting.
- No You Hang Up First
- Obnoxious In Laws: Everyone related to Daphne. No wonder she moved to America.
- Oblivious Guilt Slinging: Especially with Frasier. The amount of times he's done something dishonourable and tried to cover it up...
- Oh Cisco: The silent gag that runs over the credits at the end of each episode.
- Oop North: Daphne. All of her family members had different accents.
- One Steve Limit: For a while, Daphne knew the men on the show as Dr. Crane, Dr. Crane and Mr. Crane. The Running Gag of this confusion culminated in one episode, when she overhears Frasier admit that he loves her (platonically) and would miss her if she moved out and Martin confirms that he's in love with her, thinking that by 'Dr. Crane' she meant Niles.
- A more typical variation might go like this:
Daphne: "Thank you Dr. Crane. Shame on you, Dr. Crane, why can't you be more like Dr. Crane?"
Marta (Maris' housekeeper): "Missy Crane say, no you Dr. Crane, no other Dr. Crane, and no Crane with a cane!"
- The Paolo: Donny and Mel, who were actually developed characters; plus numerous other minor characters such as Julia Wilcox.
- Pensieve Flashback: Within Daphne Returns Frasier and Niles discuss how Niles puts Daphne on a pedestal.
- Pretty In Mink: Not shown, but it's mentioned that Maris has an ermine lap robe, and her sister has an ermine muff (that she used to smuggle a chihuahua into an opera).
- Prophetic Names: Lilith. If you have a little information on that name, a lot of jokes about the character become a lot more understandable.
- Punny Name: The Shoutout to the creators in the station's name (KACL) is an inadvertant pun (cackle).
- Queer As Tropes: The show pioneered the use of realistic gay characters and treated homosexuality as a regular part of life. It was therefore able to successfully subvert or avert many of the cliches used by other shows.
- Radio Drama: In Ham Radio, Frasier takes the reins and drives the cast to distraction.
- Radio Voice: All the callers to Frasier's show, which is quite logical. Interesting in that some of the dialogue for those scenes is written, some is ad-libbed to give it a more believable feeling of sponteneity.
- Ready For Lovemaking
- Realistic Diction Is Unrealistic: Forever subverted.
- Reality Subtext
- Real Time: Twice; in Season 1's My Coffee With Niles and Season 6's Dinner Party.
- Really Gets Around: Roz.
- Recycled Set: Using Frasier's apartment to represent the apartment of his new boss Todd Peterson (Alan Tudyk), whom he mentors in the matters of style and sophistication during The Great Crane Robbery.
- Ret Con: Back on Cheers, the only family Frasier ever mentioned were his mother and dead father, both scientists. Awkwardness ensues for Frasier when Sam meets his brother and father in season 2, leaving him scrambling for explanations.
- Rich In Dollars Poor In Sense: The Cranes, but especially Maris.
- Right Through The Wall: At least twice; once when Daphne is talking about how she shut up her loud neighbours by faking sex noises, and once when Frasier thinks Lilith is having sex in the next room, so moans and jumps on the bed so she thinks his sex is hotter than hers.
- Ripped From The Headlines: When driving home from work, Frasier notices a statuesque woman standing on a street corner. Being the gentleman he is, he offers her a lift. The moment she gets in his car, police lights flash, and he's arrested for soliciting a prostitute. In jail, he asserts that he was just giving her a ride, but the cops don't believe him. When Niles & Martin come to bail him out (disgusted that he would be so immoral) the prostitute is lead out of the other interrogation room, no longer wearing "her" wig, and apologizes (in a now more masculine voice) for getting Frasier in trouble. The look on all three of their faces is priceless.
- This comes from an incident when Eddie Murphy was caught picking up a transexual hooker, and insisted that he was just giving her a ride home.
- Rocks Fall Everyone Dies. In Ham Radio, Niles got so upset at Frasier's over-directing a radio play, he decided to take action.
Niles: Dr. Niles Crane: Okay, that's it. Never mind all that. I'm just going to take this gun off the table. (fake gunshot) So long, O'Toole; I guess we'll never get to hear your fascinating piece of the puzzle. (two fake gunshots) Or yours, Kragan and Peppo! Could the Mc Callister sisters stand back to back? I'm a little short on bullets. (fake gunshot) Thank you. (to Roz) What was your name again, dear?
Roz: Mithuth Thorndyke. (fake gunshot)
Niles: Thank you. Oh, and also Mr. Wing. (fake gunshot, and sound of muted bell on Mr. Wing's hat) And, of course, one final bullet for myself, so the mystery will die with me. (fake gunshot. Niles taunts Frasier) HA.
- Rousing Speech: In Frasier's mind EVERY speech and piece of advice he has given fits, but often other chracters will just tell him to be quiet. Sometimes played straight.
- Runaway Bride: Daphne, who abandons Donny and exits with Niles in a Winnebago during the second part of the two-part episode Something Borrowed, Someone Blue. However, they are decent enough to face up the their jilted lovers in the episodes that follow.
- Running Gag: Numerous.
- When Niles wants to leave a scene, he'll mention a seminar or group that he's got to visit, usually one that pertains to the very awkward situation he wants to leave, and wrapped up with some ironic remark. He's invariably lying, and starts running out of ideas after several seasons.
"I have to go, or my compulsive gamblers will start betting the passive aggressives that they can't make... the overeaters....... cry."
- Eddie staring at Frasier, especially when he's depressed or something in his life has gone horribly wrong.
- Daphne and Niles being caught in compromising positions.
- Frasier giving terrible advice on his show because he has been distracted.
- The distaste the two brothers have for Martin's tatty but beloved easy chair.
- The possibility that Bebe is in fact the Devil.
Frasier: "She has no scruples, no ethics, and no reflection!"
- That would be a vampire. Better examples include:
Bebe: If things don't work out, you know my number.
Frasier: Still 666, is it?
- In The Devil And Dr Phil, Bebe's room number is 666.
- In the final episode Goodbye, Seattle:
Frasier: I can’t say I blame you, it’s like the Ninth Circle of Hell out there!
(Bebe breezes in.)
Bebe: (cheerful) Don't you love this weather or what?
- Lilith's being cold and unemotional; even by Frasier.
- References to how thin and delicate Maris is.
Roz: "I don't see her, maybe she went back out. Oh, wait. I see her coat on a hat rack."
Frasier: "Look closer... is the hatrack moving?"
- Cheap shots at how "easy" Roz is, usually by Niles.
Roz: I'm helping Frasier find a man for Daphne.
Niles: What?
Roz: Here we go! He's a tennis instructor, and his name is Brick.
Niles: Dear God, Frasier - Sven, Gunther, Brick? Why not just lather Daphne up with baby oil and hurl her over the wall of a prison yard?
Roz: Excuse me, but I've dated all these guys.
Niles: Well, where do you think I came up with the imagery?
- Martin's (often unexpected) references to his time in the Korean War.
- Frasier's son Frederick's infatuation with Daphne, much to Niles' consternation.
- Sassy Black Woman: Frasier's complete opposite "Doctor" Mary, who falls into the "pleasant" version of this trope.
- Sdrawkcab Name: Tobor, Jackson Headley's science-fiction character in The Show Must Go Off.
- The Scrappy: Daphne's mother. Simon might have been annoying but she stayed for a lot longer than he did.
- Screaming Birth: The cabdriver in Flour Child, Daphne in Goodnight Seattle.
- Seven Minute Lull: Used whenever there was a party, or other gathering of some sort.
- Share The Male Pain: In one episode, Martin, Frasier, and Niles take Eddie to the vet to get fixed. During the procedure, all three can be seen cradling their crotches.
- Show Within A Show: Many, most notably the Frasier Crane Show, the Gonzo Sports Show (Bulldog's show), Restaurant Beat (Gil's show), but also innumerable others like Ray the Greengrocer and Trudy the Story Lady.
- Aside from the radio station, one episode also has mentions of a very strange cartoon that Frasier and Niles watched as kids.
- Sibling Team: Especially common in the earlier seasons, Frasier and Niles would often pool their knowledge and resources in a joint venture such as a restaurant or investment opportunity, that would then backfire with farcical results. They even wrote a series of crime novels as children, in the style of Nancy Drew or The Hardy Boys.
Roz: "... The Nancy Boys?"
- Sibling Yin Yang: Inverted - Frasier and Niles are very similiar.
- Sleeping Single: Niles and Maris.
- Slobs Versus Snobs: A lot of the friction between Martin and his sons comes from his down-to-earth demeanour contrasted with their haughty, status-seeking attitudes. Over time some of their differences were resolved.
- Small Reference Pools: Inverted with gusto.
- Smite Me O Mighty Smiter: At points of great dispair both Frasier and Niles have resorted to cursing the heavens.
- Somebody Doesnt Love Raymond: The newsvendor in The Focus Group. Frasier just has to know why.
- Something Wicked This Way Comes: Bebe, and Lilith occasionally.
Niles: "Strange, I usually get some sign when Lilith is in town — dogs forming into packs, blood weeping down the wall."
- SORAS: Averted with Frederick and Alice - as they mostly used the same actors their age was taken into account whenever they appeared, with the character behaving appropriately for their age.
- Spoiled Brat: Maris.
- Spinoff: Arguably the most successful in TV history, running longer and receiving even more acclaim than Cheers, which itself was already one of the most popular sitcoms ever.
- Star Making Role: Hey Its That Guy from Cheers...and his has his own show!
- Straight Gay: In the show, Gil. In Real Life, inverted, as this show had more homosexuals in the cast than could be expected for a prime-time sitcom even now, let alone when it premiered. Aside from Edward Hibbert as the closeted Gil, Martin (John Mahoney), Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Bulldog (Dan Butler) are all straight characters played by gay actors.
- Stripper Cop Confusion: Officer Nasty in To Thine Old Self Be True, where Frasier attempts to organize a saucy bachelor party for Donny.
- Substitute Teacher: Ties in with A Day In The Lime Light.
- Such A Phony: Roz in Shut Out In Seattle, Frasier in Hot Ticket, many, many others.
- Sweater Girl: One of Frasier's girlfriends was said by him to really fill out a mohair sweater in high school.
- Take Our Word For It: Maris, when it became clear that no actual appearance of her could match the stories.
- That One Case: The Weeping Lotus Case. Solved by Martin, with "help" from Frasier and Daphne, during Season 2.
- Three Is Company
- Tsundere: Lana
- TV Genius: Depending on who wrote the episode, can be subverted, averted or played straight.
- Unrequited Love Switcheroo: Niles, Daphne, and Mel.
- Viewers Are Geniuses: Frasier often does this on his show.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Both Frasier and Niles and Frasier and Roz. Though obviously close, the characters were certainly not above needling each other about their foibles.
- Volleying Insults: Tying in with the above, both pairings aren't afraid to have polite slinging matches with each other when sufficiently riled.
- Wacky Marriage Proposal: Initially it appears this trope is to be used, but it is later subverted.
- Wedding Day: Several.
- Where Everybody Knows Your Flame: The wonderfully named "Bad Billy's" in The Doctor Is Out.
Niles: (reading the suggestively shaped sign) "Bad Billy's". What sort of place do you think that is?
Frasier: (reading a poster on the wall) Well, let's see; Tuesday is leather night, so it's probably some sort of shoe outlet. It's a gay bar you idiot!
[Niles mouths "I know that".]
- Where Theres A Will Theres A Sticky Note - in one episode, Frasier asks Niles and Martin to label any possessions of his they'd like to inherit in the event of his death.
- Whole Episode Flashback: A popular narrative technique which was used often. Most notably in the penultimate episode Crock Tales where an inanimate object is the basis for multiple flashbacks in different time periods of the show.
- Will They Or Wont They: Niles and Daphne.
- The Woobie: Niles. Although he's in love with another woman, he stays faithful to his cold and unloving wife for years, only to discover that she's cheating on him. After the brutal divorce is over, the woman he truly loves is dating his divorce lawyer. And the list goes on, and on...
- X Called They Want Their Y Back: Frasier's comment to the teenage daughter of one of his dates in Can't Buy Me Love.
- You Look Familiar: John Mahoney appeared as lackluster songwriter Sy Flemback in the canonically related Cheers. He went on to play Frasier's father Martin.
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