MUSEUM OF TELEVISION & RADIO'S 12TH ANNUAL TELEVISION FESTIVAL IN LOS ANGELES, THE: FRASIER {LONG VERSION}
Summary
One in a series of evenings and special screenings presented as part of The Museum of Television & Radio's 12th Annual Television Festival in Los Angeles. Held this year at the Directors Guild of America Theatre Complex, the festival celebrates the excellence and diversity of American television, and is dedicated to television's creative community. This evening honors the popular and critically acclaimed situation comedy series, "Frasier," and is hosted by the Museum's president, Robert M. Batscha. Batscha introduces the following members of the cast and creative team: cast members Dan Butler, Peri Gilpin, Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, John Mahoney, and David Hyde Pierce; executive producer Christopher Lloyd; executive producers/creators David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee. Next, Peter Casey introduces two episodes of "Frasier" -- "Frasier Crane's Day Off" and "Matchmaker" -- which are then screened in their entirety. After the screening, the panel takes questions from the seminar audience, leading to comments on the following topics, among others: whether Niles' unseen wife, Maris, will ever appear on the show; the program's now trademark use of celebrity callers to Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show; Grammer's wish to sing the program's theme song; Grammer and Pierce's first meeting while working in theater; how the producers kept secret Shelley Long's cameo in a recent episode which featured Bebe Neuwirth; Mahoney's film work; Leeves' early work with Benny Hill; the frustrations of performing with Moose -- the terrier who plays Martin Crane's dog Eddie; the number of scripts that are written by staff and by outside writers; the influence of Jack Benny on Grammer's work; how the creators translated Frasier Crane from the series "Cheers," deciding to focus this program on the domestic side of his life; how the writers try to "write up" to an intelligent, educated audience rather than to the lowest common denominator; the joys of writing for such an able cast; the effects of being time-slotted against "Home Improvement"; the tendency for the writers to be inspired by events that happen in their personal lives; specifics of the writing process and the producer-writer collaboration; the program's unique titling of each act or sequence; and similarities between Martin Crane and his sons, Frasier and Niles. (The episodes screened, "Frasier: Frasier Crane's Day Off" and "Frasier: Matchmaker" are part of the Museum's collection, and can be viewed separately.)
Details
- NETWORK: Paley
- DATE: March 3, 1995 7:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:45:27
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:37718
- GENRE: Seminars
- SUBJECT HEADING: N/A
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Robert M. Batscha … Moderator
- David Angell … Panelist
- Dan Butler … Panelist
- Peter Casey … Panelist
- Peri Gilpin … Panelist
- Kelsey Grammer … Panelist
- David Lee … Panelist
- Jane Leeves … Panelist
- Christopher Lloyd … Panelist
- John Mahoney … Panelist
- David Hyde Pierce … Panelist