How Does The Frasier Revival First Season Finale Stack Up Against The Original Christmas Episodes?
The "Frasier" revival show has wrapped up its Paramount+ run with a Christmas installment that, at times, manages to recapture the "Frasier" magic which has mostly eluded the series thus far. Earlier episodes have provided significant nostalgia hits by giving us a touching tribute to the late Martin actor John Mahoney, and a special guest appearance from Bebe Neuwirth as Frasier's ex-wife Lilith. But showrunners Joe Cristali and Chris Harris have saved the best for last.
The tenth and final episode of the new series, "Reindeer Games," not only sees the writers try their hand at a classic "Frasier" farce, it also features the return of Peri Gilpin as Roz, Frasier's former radio producer from the original series. Not content with just one major nostalgia hit, the episode also opens with the titular doctor sitting mournfully among his late father's Christmas decorations, which feature two specific items that appeared in previous "Frasier" episodes. From there, we're treated to what is easily the best episode of the revival, as Frasier attempts to hold a fancy Christmas Eve dinner party, only for pretty much everything to go wrong before his guests slowly migrate across the hall to his neighbor Eve's (Jess Salgueiro) apartment.
Roz shows up towards the episode's end to simultaneously lift Frasier's spirits and admonish her former boss for feeling too sorry for himself, before the pair return home to find that Frasier's son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott), has put together the dinner party his father had envisioned. It makes for easily the best episode of the season, even if it doesn't quite rekindle the precise magic of past "Frasier" holiday celebrations.
Fa-la-la-la Farce
The original sitcom, which ran from 1993 to 2004, featured eight Christmas episodes throughout its run, many of which stand as some of the best "Frasier" episodes ever made. As such, the revival's season finale was always going to face stiff competition, which might account for why the writers seem to have gone the extra mile for "Reindeer Games," weaving a clever farce that sees the eponymous psychiatrist once again foiled by, well, himself.
The original "Frasier" writers constructed some of the best farces in sitcom history. The dead seal episode, which was inspired by real events, and the season five classic, "The Ski Lodge" are two of the best examples. But there were a couple of farcical Christmas installments that were arguably just as good. Season five's "Perspectives on Christmas," for example, saw the same story retold from all the core character's viewpoints, with Daphne (Jane Leeves) becoming convinced that Martin (John Mahoney) is dying after she misinterprets his visiting a church and his preparation for a vocal solo as part of the church choir. Meanwhile, Frasier accidentally reveals Roz's pregnancy to her mother, while Niles finds himself trapped in an elevator with some of Frasier's neighbors. The episode culminates in a huge argument between the central cast, before Dr. Crane diffuses things by suggesting they all get massages.
While "Reindeer Games," like the rest of the revival, is hamstrung from the outset by the lack of the original supporting cast, it does a great job of establishing a similarly farcical yet heartwarming tone. Frasier is constantly caught off-guard throughout, before things come to a wholesome conclusion that rounds out the season in suitably comforting fashion. But there's one farcical Christmas episode from the original series that "Reindeer Games" was never going to beat ...
Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz
Season 6, episode 10, "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz," is a "Frasier" farce done right. In it, the good doctor meets a woman, Helen Moskowitz (Carole Shelley), who sets him up on a date with her daughter, Faye (Amy Brenneman). When Helen makes an impromptu visit to Frasier's apartment, Faye reveals that she hasn't yet told her mother that her new beau isn't Jewish. This prompts a ridiculous series of events whereby Frasier pretends to be Jewish only to be foiled at every turn by his brother, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), father, Martin (John Mahoney), and Eddie the dog. Ultimately, Helen opens a bathroom door to find Niles in full Jesus attire, having just appeared in a Christmas revue, alongside a Christmas tree that was stashed in the room earlier in the episode.
"Reindeer Games" attempts to tell a tale wherein a similar series of unlikely but highly amusing mishaps occur, and does a decent job of it. Frasier's plans for a dinner party slowly fall apart once he discovers he's ordered a live goose instead of a cooked one, unwittingly booked an elementary school string quartet who play horribly labored takes on Tchaikovsky, and basically forced all his guests across the hall to a much more lively shindig.
Unfortunately, there's also a tortured b-story wherein Alan (British comedy legend Nicholas Lyndhurst) and David (Anders Keith) play a party game that's not even half as amusing as the two characters seem to find it. Likewise, the sudden and inexplicable love story between Toks Olagundoye's Olivia and Jimmy Dunn's Moose feels similarly forced. In that sense, while "Reindeer Games" manages some entertaining bathos in the vein of "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz," it doesn't quite display the same consistent quality.
High Holidays
When it comes to fan-favorite "Frasier" episodes, one other installment might have "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz" beat. The 11th episode of the final season, "High Holidays," is great not only because of its hilarious storyline that sees Niles trying to rebel by smoking "reefer" only to accidentally get his elderly father high, but because it perfectly demonstrates how "Frasier" never once faltered in terms of quality. The show hit its stride right from its pilot episode — which, as it happens, David Hyde Pierce didn't think was any good — and maintained that momentum until its final season. "High Holidays" is a great example of that consistency, and remains a fan-favorite for good reason.
The story sees Frasier film a commercial for the Seattle tourism board, only to be replaced in the final cut by Eddie, his father's dog. The moment an extremely stoned Martin turns on the TV having unwittingly consumed a pot brownie, only to see his own dog talking to him is surely one of the great moments in the show's history.
Does "Reindeer Games" manage anything similar? The aforementioned Frasier blunders are definitely funny. But the episode's high notes come not from any carefully constructed story beats that lead to comedic payoffs, but from the pure nostalgia overdose that is the return of Roz. Once Frasier discovers he's been abandoned by his son and all his dinner party guests, he descends into self-pity before his former producer knocks on the door and the two embrace. It's an undeniably moving moment for any fan of the original series to see Frasier and Roz reunited, and throughout the ensuing scenes you can tell both Kelsey Grammer and Peri Gilpin are emotional themselves. But this, and not the admittedly amusing comedic beats themselves, is by far the best moment.
An auspicious ending to a lackluster revival
The fact that the best moments come from the biggest nostalgia play in what is otherwise the best episode of the revival series says a lot about the new "Frasier." While the show isn't exactly bad, it's also never managed to feel like the "Frasier" of old, resulting in a revival series that's neither remarkable nor disappointing. Its inaugural episode, with its heartfelt homage to John Mahoney, was good. But as with the Christmas season finale, that just proves the show is at its best when it's looking backward, and not when it tries to survive on its own merits.
That said, the season finale is the only episode I watched more than once. For the first time during this revival series, I found myself wanting to revisit the modern world of "Frasier," which suggests the revival at least has the potential to elicit a similarly comforting aura to the original series, even if it has taken nine episodes to get there.
What's more, I'd happily watch "Reindeer Games" alongside any of the other "Frasier" Christmas episodes, such as season three's "Frasier Grinch" — the origin of the Rudolph wreath that shows up at the start of "Reindeer Games" — or season seven's "The Fight Before Christmas" — the episode closest to the revival finale, in which Frasier finds himself lacking Christmas party guests before one of his relatives helps him out. "The Fight Before Christmas" is also the first time we see the dancing Santa at which Dr. Crane gazes forlornly in the opening moments of "Reindeer Games." Maybe, just maybe, if "Frasier" 2023 returns for a second season, it can maintain the flashes of brilliance we saw in the season finale without relying on returning characters and the admittedly affecting nostalgia hit they bring.