Alright, I admit it: I am a fan of “Frasier”. I have been ever since Kelsey Grammer first appeared as Dr. Frasier Crane on “Cheers”. Some people (read: fools) attribute my fondness to this series to the fact that I tend to act exactly like Frasier’s brother, Dr. Niles Crane (played to the hilt by the incredibly sexy David Hyde Pierce… yes, David, I will have your babies). Personally, I think I enjoy the show because it was well-written and included a cast of wonderful people: John Mahoney as Frasier and Niles’ father, Martin Crane; the lovely Jane Leeves as Daphne, the spunky English housekeeper (later to become Niles’ wife…after the unseen Maris left, that is); and Peri Gilpin as Roz, Frasier’s slutty producer (and quite possibly, the closest thing to a best friend).

Also in the cast this season are semi-regulars Dan Butler as Bulldog (former sports show host), Tom McGowan as Kenny (station manager), Edward Hibbert as Gil Chesterson (the food critic stuck in the closet), Millicent Martin as Gertrude (Daphne’s mum) and Patrick Kerr as Noel Shempsky (hopeless “Star Trek” geek and quite possibly the only man in Seattle Roz hasn‘t slept with).

While Season 10 of “Frasier” is not as brilliant as some prior seasons, the laughs are still there. Sure, you can see where the series was losing it’s steam here… but the clever writing is still evident in a sitcom that managed to last longer (and should still be running in my opinion) than that god-awful abomination “Friends” or anything else that people think is better. “Frasier” was the King, yo! Long live the King!

Aw, to hell with it - no one’s listening anyway. Here are the episodes:

Episode 1 - The Ring Cycle. Niles and Daphne finally tie the knot. Several times.
Favorite Moment: Living so close to Reno and having been there a near-infinite amount of times, I can‘t help but wonder which Reno the set designers visited. Perhaps they were confusing Reno with Las Vegas…I know, they’re so similar sounding.

Episode 2 - Enemy At The Gate. After pulling into a parking garage, Frasier changes his mind and begins to leave. He still gets stuck with a hefty $2.00 fee anyway. Of course, in Frasierland, this totalitarian oppression simply will not do so it’s time to make a stand ONCE AND FOR ALL! The great Luis Guzman plays the unfortunate parking garage attendant.
Favorite Moment: Frasier makes a speech about the evil parking garage to his listeners, not knowing they think he’s talking about his one-nighter with Roz.

Episode 3 - Proxy Prexy has Frasier running for Condo Board President. Since he realizes no one in their right mind would vote for him, he talks his dad into running against him. Either way, he wins. Roz becomes the butt of a running sex joke (no pun intended) between Niles and Daphne when she mistakes an offer of fruit salad as a come-on.

Episode 4 - Kissing Cousin. Roz’s younger twenty-something cousin (Zooey Deschanel) shows up and breaks the heart of station manager Kenny (Tom McGowan). Poor, dumb clod… Frasier and Marty try to cope without Daphne…it doesn’t work.
Favorite Moment: Marty’s subtly suggestive method of making Niles cook dinner.

Episode 5 - Tales From The Crypt. Revenge! Frasier can not rest until he comes up with the ultimate payback after he falls for Bulldog’s Halloween prank. Meanwhile, Daphne’s mum Gertrude fuels a tit-for-tat war with one really ugly fat kid down the hall (much to Niles and Daphne’s dismay).
Favorite Moment: Frasier’s step-by-step plan to psychologically strike back at Bulldog by making him subconsciously afraid of red balloons…complete with diagrams. Ooh, and zombies too!

Episode 6 - Star Mitzvah. It’s that time for little Freddy and, in a vain attempt to get as many gifts as possible, he’s invited everyone to his Bar Mitzvah, including Noel, the radio station’s biggest geek. Noel makes a deal with Frasier: in exchange for a translation, Frasier has to attend a “Star Trek” convention for Noel (Shatner has a restraining order against him) to obtain Scott Bakula’s autograph (who would want that?). When Frasier fails to do so, Noel teaches him how to do his speech in Klingon instead of Hebrew (it’s amazing how much Klingon and Hebrew sound alike!).
Favorite Moment: Marty’s camera and its blinding mega-flashbulb.

Episode 7 - Bristle While You Work (Part 1). The beginning of a weak and somewhat useless three-parter. Frasier gives in and lets his father choose the new housekeeper (Ana Gasteyer)…who turns out to be exactly what Frasier expected: a flake. Niles keeps beating impossible odds and figures it’s a bad sign. Sure enough, he’s diagnosed with a critical heart condition and must have surgery immediately (well, the next episode).

Episode 8 - Rooms With A View (Part 2). The worst episode of the season. Everybody has flashbacks to their experiences in the hospital while Niles is in for his heart surgery.

Episode 9 - Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (Part 3). Feeling that he has cheated Death following his heart surgery (not to mention he’s afraid of winding up in the same predicament if he goes back to his old lifestyle), Niles starts to embrace life and drives everyone loco about it.

Episode 10 - We Two Kings offers up yet another argument between Frasier and Niles…this time it’s where to have Christmas dinner. Lucky Martin gets to make the final decision, so he chooses to work on Christmas Day instead.

Episode 11 - Door Jam. Just when you start to wonder if Frasier and Niles are still the pretentious, yuppie-scum that we’ve come to know and adore, they do this… Frasier accidentally gets a neighbor’s invitation for a new, exclusive day spa in his mail. And, since he didn’t get one, he has to get in there. Look for “Queer As Folk” star Hal Sparks as the Spa receptionist.
Favorite Moment: David Hyde Pierce does his finest physical humor in this episode (in a body wrap).

Episode 12 - The Harassed. “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman plays Julia, the station’s new financial analyst. She’s also a complete bitch to everyone. After an argument ensues, Frasier makes a pass at her (typical), which leads to the whole station attending a Sexual Harassment class.
Favorite Moment: The Sexual Harassment class is conducted by none other than Mike Judge (creator of “Beavis & Butt-Head”, “King Of The Hill” and Office Space).

Episode 13 - Lilith Needs A Favor. The Ice Queen cometh…again. Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) shows up with a request: sperm. Yes, Freddy’s bar mitzvah has awoken a solitary emotion within her and she wants to have another child.
Favorite Moment: Brent Spiner (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) makes an appearance as a nerdy physicist who is just perfect or Lilith.

Episode 14 - Daphne Does Dinner. After nine seasons of disastrous dinner parties, Daphne decides that she can outdo the Crane boys with a fun little soirée. She soon learns what it’s like to be a Crane.
Favorite Moment: This is why I don’t do soirées. That, and I don’t have very many friends (well…that, and I can’t stand the ones that I do have).

Episode 15 - Trophy Girlfriend. When Niles chooses a complete jock as his new squash partner, Frasier goes co-ed with an elementary school gym teacher named Chelsea (Jeanne Tripplehorn). Naturally, Frasier has to allow some kind of psychological defect to get in the way of his newfound relationship…in this case, every time he looks at Chelsea, he sees his old grade school coach (Bob Hoskins).
Favorite Moment: Bob Hoskins makes such a wonderful woman!

Episode 16 - Fraternal Schwinns has Frasier signing up for a Bike-A-Thon in an attempt to impress Julia. He even convinces Niles to join him. The downside: neither of them can ride a bike.
Favorite Moment: Talk about hitting close to home! Look, I think it’s time I admit it: I cannot ride a bicycle to save my life. Anything with two wheels or less is not good in my book. If you see me on a motorcycle by myself, look for the training wheels. If you see my on a motorcycle as a passenger (or, ‘riding bitch’ as they say), enjoy the amusing sight of me clenching my fingernails into the chest and face of the person driving.

Episode 17 - Kenny On The Couch. With his divorce now final, Kenny finds himself as Frasier’s first patient in years. Frasier gets ticked, however, when his dad starts taking Kenny out to the bar as an ‘alternate’ form of therapy. Niles and Daphne hire a yoga instructor (Alan Cumming).
Favorite Moment: If it wasn’t for Alan Cumming, this episode would really suck.

Episode 18 - Roe To Perdition. After finding a ‘dealer’ of exquisite caviar, the Crane boys find themselves the recipients of many invites from some of Seattle’s finest (in exchange for an ounce of the good stuff, of course). Roz becomes a caviar junkie. Meanwhile, Daphne convinces Martin to return $40 an ATM machine accidentally gave him.
Favorite Moment: Diving face first into a bowl of fish eggs. Yum.

Episode 19 - Some Assembly Required. Frasier helps build a house for a couple (well, he stirs the paint, etc.) but his obsession with how the place should look doesn‘t quite meet with the new homeowners. Niles has to speak at a germ-infested elementary school when Marty gets sick. Since the old hag won’t leave, Daphne and Niles suggest Gertrude help out. Out of spite, she gets a job at Cafe Nervosa.
Favorite Moment: Niles introduces a whole generation to the wonders of germ phobia with his assistant, Officer Pocket-Square.

Episode 20 - Farewell, Nervosa. Frasier’s accountant-buddy, Avery (John Hannah) advises he cut back on costs…and then cuts in on Frasier‘s would-be relationship with Julia. Elvis Costello starts performing at the show’s regular hangout, Cafe Nervosa…causing the boys to seek a new coffee shop.
Favorite Moment: I need a Nervosa. Enough of this Starbucks shit.

Episode 21 - The Devil & Dr. Phil. Yes, the annoying self-help guru shows up in this one…making it damn near impossible to watch the scenes with him in it (FUCK YOU, PHIL!). Anyway, turns out Frasier’s former agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) is now managing Phil. Desperate for fame, will Frasier succumb to the evil Bebe once again after she begins to sweet talk him with promises of being even more popular than Dr. Phil?
Least-Favorite Moments: Dr. Phil’s footage.

Episode 22 - Fathers And Sons. Leland (David Ogden Stiers), the former assistant of Martin’s late wife, returns to Seattle after many years. Everyone from Roz right down to Eddie are amazed and puzzled at how similar the Crane boys are to Leland. Niles and Daphne try to think of a name for a child so they can submit an application to a prestigious preschool.
Favorite Moment: Hey, it’s Winchester!

Episode 23 - Analyzed Kiss. Avery dumps Julia and she breaks into his office (with Frasier) to steal back some software and then…finally! Sparks ignite between Julia and Frasier! Oh…no, wait…is it because she’s finally seeing something in the doc or does she just give him a peck on the lips so he’ll shut up for five seconds? You make the call! Roz gets a call from rival station KPXY-AM to be their Program Director. Niles develops a passion for handguns and nearly joins a militia group.
Favorite Moment: Everybody run, Niles’ got a gun.

Episode 24 - A New Position For Roz. The final episode of the Tenth Season. The station holds a farewell dinner for Roz. Niles and Daphne kick Gertrude out. Roz wants Frasier to dump Julia and demands he choose between them.
Favorite Moment: At least there’s an Eleventh Season.

Presentation
CBS/Paramount have done a fine job with the audio and video presentation of this season (which would not prove to be such a chore anyway since this season aired only a few years prior to being released). What I don’t get is why it took so long for seasons 8 and 9 to show up on disc. It was bad enough that they had to release them out of order (the final Eleventh Season came out in-between the Third and Fourth Seasons). But then, they had to stop throwing extras on the sets, then Seasons Six an Seven were released within a month of each other…I think Season Eight went under the radar without even being announced (I never heard about it at least)…the Ninth Season came out nearly a year after that…whoever was in charge of that decision no doubt needed a psychiatrist). Such inconsistency! It makes my obsessive-compulsive side furious! Damn you, Paramount!!

Extras
A promo for various comedy series on DVD. That’s it. Wow. I don’t get it: the first three seasons (and the last one, too) had Special Features, but none of the others do.

The Bottom Line
While it isn’t as downright hilarious as some of the previous seasons, “Frasier” Season 10 still provides.