Thanks to its complex storytelling, witty dialogue, and memorable characters, Frasier emerged as not only one of the most popular television programs of all time, but the most popular spin-off of an already popular series, Cheers. It received no less than 37 Emmy nominations during eleven seasons of following Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), a respected radio psychiatrist navigating life and love in Seattle.
The phenomenal writing was only amplified by fantastic performances by the colorful cast of characters. The relationships between Frasier and his fastidious brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce), his father Marty (John Mahoney), and the rest of his friends and coworkers were some of the most meaningful and hilarious on primetime. Even the relationships that fans loved to hate, such as between Frasier and his ex-wife Lilith, were comedic gold. Here are the 5 relationships fans loved and the 5 that they hated on the popular series.
LOVED: FRASIER AND NILES
Part of what made the series so enjoyable was the dynamic relationship of the Crane Boys. As the elder brother, Frasier was pompous, vain, and insufferably convinced of his own intellectual superiority, but he was also a big brother. Even though he enjoyed a strong rivalry with his little brother Niles, he never hesitated to help him when he was in a financial or romantic bind.
Niles was neurotic, fatuous, and egotistical, but he made sure that Frasier had a full social calendar from the moment he returned home to Seattle. He remained his constant friend, and though they couldn’t live with each other, and couldn’t live without each other, their love of opera, antiques, gourmet food, and fine wine supplied the series with endless opportunities for humor.
HATED: NILES AND MARIS
Though we never get to see Maris, we felt her presence with every morose sigh and slump of the shoulders that her poor husband exhibited. Niles was trapped in a loveless marriage for the first few seasons of the series, and while it made for some amusing anecdotes, it was incredibly frustrating.
Niles lacked the backbone and the fortitude to cut things off with Maris, convincing himself that his uptight, controlling spouse was the right person to complement his indecisive and pliable nature. In reality, she simply made Niles into a submissive sycophant, and he never really blossomed into his own person until he was free of her.
LOVED: FRASIER AND MARTY
Frasier and his father got off to a rocky start at the beginning of the series, and it wasn’t just because Frasier had told the gang back at Cheers that his father was dead. Martin was a no-nonsense police officer and former homicide detective of the Seattle PD, and wasn’t fond of sharing his feelings (or his home) with his psychiatrist son.
Frasier’s sensibilities and cultured tastes didn’t mesh well with Mary’s blue-collar palate, which caused the bulk of their arguments. That, and Martin resented having to live with his son after getting wounded in action, and Frasier resented still feeling like he never measure up to his father’s expectations. But when Marty’s homespun wisdom was combined with Frasier’s erudite powers of perception, magic happened on the screen.
HATED: MARTY AND SHERRY
One of the most prominent relationships that Marty had on the series was with Sherry, a bawdy woman he met at Duke’s. A loud talker and dresser, Sherry often traumatized Frasier and Niles by dropping over to the apartment unannounced, trying to ply them with the doggie bag of food from a chain restaurant.
While Sherry did seem to share Marty’s blue-collar tastes and lowbrow humor, her personality was obnoxious. Because of her ill-timed remarks, she ruined several of Frasier’s promising romantic relationships, and embarrassed Niles to the point of paroxysm. Luckily, she opened up Marty just enough emotionally for him to be with Ronnie a few seasons later.
LOVED: FRASIER AND LILITH
Despite their ups and downs being as epic in nature as the Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, and their romance being as tumultuous as a Greek Tragedy, the relationship between Frasier and Lilith was never uneventful. Lilith was Frasier’s intellectual, moral, and fashionable equal, but they were never destined to be together.
Lilith’s appearances on the series were markedly different than on Cheers, where their relationship wasn’t nearly as strained and awkward. Frasier seemed to hate Lilith much more on his show due to the nature of their divorce. Still, she understood him better than anyone, gave the series some of its most venomously enticing dialogue, and was the tonic to spice up otherwise dull episodes.
HATED: FRASIER AND LANA
Frasier’s love life was one of the constant goldmines of amusement on the show. He was constantly in search of the perfect woman, or coming up with reasons why his many girlfriends wasn’t her. Of all the relationships that Frasier was in, one of the most ill-received was with Lana.
She had been the most popular and beautiful girl at the school that he and Niles attended, and when she gave him attention in his adult life, he was beside himself. However, Lana was controlling, manipulative, and not classy about it like Lilith. She was downright cruel in many episodes, and fans were elated when that ship sunk.
LOVED: NILES AND DAPHNE
From the moment that Niles saw Daphne in his brother’s apartment, he was smitten by the English rose. She had been hired as his father’s physical therapist, and despite being still married to Maris, he found her quirky personality charming, even when she claimed to be a psychic.
It would take seven seasons and relationships between them both before he finally got up the nerve to tell her how he felt about her, and was happily relieved when she reciprocated his affections. Their relationship wasn’t always filled with bliss, but it was fulfilling for fans to finally see them get together.
HATED: DAPHNE AND HER MOTHER
Daphne’s family dynamic was unique in that it was a chaotic, unpredictable, and mired in guilt. Daphne left Manchester to start a new life in America, but her family troubles often followed her when her brothers would spill onto Frasier’s doorstep, or her mother Gertrude would come to stay.
Gertrude always played the victim and the perpetual martyr, making Daphne feel poorly about herself in every possible way. Rather than play for laughs, their dynamic seemed like it was played for sobs. Fans were always glad to see Gertrude go back to England.
LOVED: FRASIER AND ROZ
Roz and Frasier had the sort of chemistry that you would normally find in the best of romantic relationships, but they managed to remain friends. Though there were a few episodes where the producer and her radio host played around with romance, they knew that they were ultimately better best buds.
Roz’s salt-of-the-Earth acumen paired well with Frasier’s astute intellectualism. They were able to remain friends despite exchanging barbed words at KACL, and were always there to back each other up in a tight situation, like when Roz became a single mother. They’re one of TV’s finest examples of a platonic relationship between a man and a woman.
HATED: NILES AND MEL
As though Maris weren’t a bad enough companion for Niles, he went out of the frying pan and into the fire with Mel. She was every bit as annoying as Maris, but visually present. Her snobby, condescending personality brought out the worst possible version of Niles.
She was every bit as controlling and manipulative as his first wife, as evidenced by the fact that even after he left her, she demanded that he pretend to carry on their married life for a time before she’d ever let him be free of her with his reputation intact. It was a small price to pay for being able to be with his true love, but it was misery watching him step to her every diabolical whim.
