Joseph J. Darowski teaches English at Brigham Young University and
is the editor of The Ages of Superheroes essay series which has
volumes on Superman, Wonder Woman, the X-Men, the Avengers, Iron
Man, the Incredible Hulk, and the Justice League. He is the author
of X-Men and the Mutant Metaphor: Race and Gender in the Comic
Books (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014).
Kate Darowski has a Master’s degree from Parsons School of Design,
where she studied the History of Decorative Arts & Design, with an
emphasis in 20th century modern design and pop culture in design.
She attended Brigham Young University-Hawaii, where she majored in
Cultural Studies. She has written about design for Modern Magazine.
He was originally called Frasier Nye, and, way back when he was
conceived as a supporting player on the hit sitcom Cheers, the
people who created the character imagined John Lithgow in the part.
But eventually the he was renamed Frasier Crane, and Kelsey Grammer
played him for 20 years, in Cheers and then in its spinoff,
Frasier. The authors’ focus in this 'cultural history' of a
fictional character is on Frasier, but they can hardly ignore
Cheers, since the differences between the two shows, and, indeed,
the differences between Frasier as he appeared in both shows, which
range from the obvious to the subtle, are central to the character
and his development. Obvious: Cheers and Frasier had vastly
different comic and dramatic tones. Subtle: in Cheers, Frasier once
said his father, a research scientist, was dead, while in Frasier
his father, Martin, a former cop, was very much alive. The authors
explore various elements of Frasier— the show’s production design,
its use of intertitle cards, its casting (Niles, Frasier’s brother,
was in the show only because somebody noticed how much David Hyde
Pierce resembled a younger Kelsey Grammer)—to show how the
producers were determined to make a spinoff that was markedly
different from the original show and to make a comedy unlike
anything else on television. For fans of Frasier, and for anyone
who enjoy solidly researched, entertainingly written books about
the making of a television show, the book is absolutely a
must-read.
*Booklist, Starred Review*
Frasier, the story of a
Boston-psychiatrist-turned-Seattle-radio-show host, aired on
prime-time television for 11 seasons, received 27 Golden Globes,
and garnered a record 37 prime-time Emmys. A spin-off of the
long-running bar-room comedy Cheers, Frasier stepped out of the
typical trajectory of many Hollywood spin-offs and found a way to
become its own show. Based on family relationships, Frasier
portrayed interactions between elitist intellectuals (Frasier Crane
and his brother, Niles) and a colorful cast composed of their
father, Martin Crane (a blue-collar ex-cop who had been shot while
on duty), Roz Doyle (Frasier’s sassy producer), Daphne Moon
(Frasier’s live-in housekeeper and Martin’s physical therapist),
and Eddie, the Jack Russell terrier really named Moose. The book
discusses all elements of the program—character development, class
issues, set design, gender roles, and even Martin’s favorite Eames
lounge chair and ottoman. For those less familiar with Frasier, the
authors included synopses of all 264 episodes. Siblings Joseph J.
Darowski and Kate Darowski have written an engaging, enjoyable
analysis of this long-running, award-winning show. This
easy-to-read cultural history is ideal for the general reading
public, as well as undergraduate and graduate students.
Summing Up: Recommended. General readers; Lower-division
undergraduates through faculty.
*CHOICE*
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