View From the Bushes

Tonight is the series finale of Frasier. This, combined with Friends ending has led many people to speculate on the death of the sitcom. I myself hesitate to be so hasty. I suppose it's possible, but then again anything is, so that's hardly a statement with much spine. I actually intended to say that I don't think so, that television is cyclical and even if sitcoms were on their deathbeds that a resurrection would happen eventually; then I thought about westerns. I was unable to find exact figures, but there were a truly staggering number of westerns on TV during the late 50's and early 60's. These days, with a couple of abberant exceptions (For example was Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman really a western?), there are none.

Okay, so sitcoms my or may not be dying and I have no clue which it is though if the best sitcom material anyone can come up with these days is to regurgitate Dick Van Dyke and Carol Burnett then maybe they are in trouble (not that I dislike either -- I just feel that it bespeaks a certain desperation when you're jumping back 40 years for material). Having gotten that out of the way we can move to an actual discussion of Frasier.

As spin-offs go, Frasier was insanely good. Quality of writing has always been excellent. The acting is extraordinary and most important, it has been consistently funny for it's entire run. That being said, it is one of the few shows which definitely jumped the shark (to be fair, most shows aren't good enough to jump the shark). So much of the genius of the show was Niles' infatuation with Daphne and once that was resolved, the show lost a big part of its appeal. Nevertheless, I'm definitely going to be watching the series finale tonight, though it's been a while since I've been truly impressed with the last show of a series.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross