These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.
YMMV: Frasier
Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Daphne truly oblivious to Niles' feelings for her, or did she know all along but choose not to act on them? Was she in love with him as long as he was in love with her?
Better on DVD: The show has a lot of subtle continuity (for instance, Martin offhandedly singing a few bars of "She's Such A Groovy Lady"). Some Canon Discontinuity as well, though. In Cheers, Frasier goes ice fishing to relax. In Frasier, he has no idea how to ice fish.
Big Lipped Alligator Moment: In one first season episode, Daphne admits that she was a star in the popular British television comedy, Mind Your Knickers, for four years; this is never mentioned again.
Bizarro Episode: "Freudian Sleep", the "unusual dreams" episode.
Broken Base: Having Niles and Daphne get together is a source of debate for the fans. Some think 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.
Others think them finally getting together marked a sharp upturn in quality and dimensionality in the already-great series.
Crazy Awesome: KACL Station Manager Kenny Daly takes over Frasier's show for a pinch in the series finale. It has to be seen to be believed.
Niles:(playing Frasier) Now, I want you to contribute, but only up to a point.
Frasier:(playing Mary) So you want me to stay in my place, Massa?!
Niles: She's not going to say "massa".
Frasier: What, am I gettin' too uppity for you? You sherry swillin', opera lovin', Armani wearin' elitist? You have no idea how difficult it is for a black woman in a white man's world!
Niles: Frasier—
Frasier:(practically snapping his fingers) I DON'T THINK SO!
To be more specific, the "Nightmare Inn'' debacle in the episode "Ham Radio".
As well as the botched 'Buttons and Bows' in the episode "Look Before You Leap".
Draco in Leather Pants: An in-universe example. Martin and the boys talk about Hester as if she were a saint, but from what we know about her: She cheated on Martin at least once, she egged on the rivalry between Frasier and Niles that continues to affect them in adulthood and that's not even counting her manipulative, shrewish behaviour on Cheers. On the other hand, they wouldn't exactly be the first grieving sons/husbands to ever decide to Never Speak Ill of the Dead when it comes to a deceased and clearly much-loved-and-loving-despite-her-flaws mother/wife, so this is perhaps understandable.
Dude, Not Funny!: It's usually played for Black Comedy, but the descriptions of the severe and vicious bullying Frasier and Niles suffered in elementary and high school can be uncomfortable to those who went through similar experiences in their childhood, especially when Martin displays No Sympathy and the experiences have clearly made the two very neurotic.
"Oh some boys go to college, but we think they're all wussies. Cuz they get all the knowledge, and we get all the—doom dodoom dududdoom dudoom dudoom."
Ensemble Darkhorse: Niles. This is pointed out in one of the Season 2 DVD interviews with the writers.
Fridge Horror: Yes, watching Niles struggle with his kite on Frasier's balcony (in the episode "Docu.Drama") is hilarious, but he comes close to being yanked onto the sidewalk from 19 stories up...
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.
He presumably let his wife name them (especially given she named them after her lab rats), along with most of their upbringing. If anything, it's surprising he doesn't see them more as Someones To Remember Her By.
A first season episode has him point out that their mother was a much more down-to-earth person who was very welcoming and didn't sneer at "lower-class" tastes. Martin's disappointment comes from how they don't take after her more than how they do.
Oh right, that's it. I've had enough of you two jackasses. I've spent all night hearing you make cracks about the food and the help. I got news for you. People like this place. I like this place. And when you insult this restaurant, you insult me. You know, I used to think you two took after your mother, liking ballet and all that. But your mother liked a good ball game too. She even ate a hot dog once in a while. She might have had fancy taste, but she had too much class to make me or anyone else ever feel second rate. If she saw the way you two behaved tonight she would be ashamed. I know I am.
The show often hints that Martin doesn't place a lot of stock in Psychology- a better question might be how or why he managed to marry a psychologist given his thoughts on the profession.
She was doing police forensics at the time. They fell in love over chalk outlines over murder victims.
The episode where Sam Malone shows up, Sam and Roz do a bit of flirting. Almost 2 decades later, Ted Danson and Peri Gilpin play husband and wife on CSI.
Ho Yay: Charlotte's boyfriend towards Frasier. He falls asleep leaning on him, he asks him for a neck rub, he gives him a longer goodbye hug than his ex-girlfriend...
Strawman Has a Point: In "Room Full of Heroes", Niles begins to say, in-character as Martin, that he and Frasier were disappointments to him. Martin sharply cuts him off and says he's portraying him as a "drunken judgmental jackass." While Niles was certainly over the line and had indeed had a few beers, considering how Martin treats the two of them and routinely expresses exasperation about their behavior, it's hard not to see why Niles would think this way.
This could be why Martin reacts so poorly, at least partly; Niles' performance was clearly beginning to hit a bit close to home in other ways (such as his drinking habits) as well...
Tear Jerker: Rooms with a View without tearing up. I dare you.
Season 4's Mixed Doubles; in particular, the final scene.
The finale. The man taking Martin's chair from the apartment and especially:
Niles: I'll miss the coffees.
Unfortunate Implications: Maris' housekeeper Marta knows German - because she worked for a German family in Guatemala who had relocated there after "the war".
The constant jokes at the expense of Roz's sex life are only ever meant in jest by the characters, but seeing as it's pretty much the only kind of joke made about her, it can come off as slutshaming.
Except a good share of those jokes come from Roz herself, and she encourages them sometimes.
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 with their therapist. After the brutal divorce is over, the woman he truly loves is dating his divorce lawyer. And the list goes on, and on...
On occasion, Frasier can also become this; particularly when his loneliness and romantic despair is stressed.
Even Daphne's fiancé, Donny, can fit; yes, we're rooting for Niles and Daphne to end up together, but he still gets it rough, and he's a fairly decent guy. His counterpart, Mel, never gets the same sympathy, as she's portrayed as a much crueler individual.
The first scene of Donny after Daphne and Niles get together, Frasier finds him sitting in the dark in his office, despondant and talking to the groom from his wedding cake, who he's named "Mr. Chump". He furthermore tells Frasier he doesn't hate Daphne for what happened, but he weakly jokes that as a lawyer, suing people is just his knee-jerk reaction to handling problems. While Frasier's confession of his hand in the events gets his riled up, the scene makes it clear that he was thrown into a Heroic BSOD by what happened and just doesn't know how to handle it.
