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Even Frasier Can’t Handle The Heat Wave

By Andrew Sanford | TV | June 29, 2021 |

By Andrew Sanford | TV | June 29, 2021 |


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Someone call Glenn Frey because the heat is ON (nailed it)! The United States is currently facing a record-breaking heatwave. The Northwest is getting hit particularly hard. So, the folks at The Late Show With Stephen Colbert asked the question that’s on everybody’s mind: how would this heat affect television psychiatrist Frasier Crane?

Sometimes the best jokes are the most straightforward. We get the classic Frasier opening engulfed by an ever-growing sun, followed by a clip from the original show where Frasier and Roz are knocked out at their desks from heat exhaustion. It’s a simple cold open that made me realize … I’ve never seen an episode of Frasier. Not one. I know the music, I know the character, have never seen the show. The only reason I got Roz right is because I guessed it was her as a joke and ended up being correct!

You’re probably saying, “Why does that matter?” It does! I grew up in the era of TV babysitters and those TVs were fickle. I couldn’t pull up whatever I wanted to stream; I watched what was on. Cheers, Yes, Dear, Welcome Back, Kotter, Living Single, Everybody Loves Raymond, Taxi, My Mother The Car. If it was on, I watched it. I’d even watch shows I didn’t want to watch because something I did want to watch was on right after. Yet, somehow, the closest I ever got to seeing an episode of Frasier was when Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce were both on The Simpsons at the same time.

Despite my limited Frasier knowledge, I thought this bit was funny. That’s my overall point. It’s a straightforward joke that gets to the point and doesn’t linger for too long. Good stuff. I chuckled like an upper-class psychiatrist helping others find love even though he can’t find love himself … is that Frasier?