10 Reasons Why Frasier Is The Best US Sitcom In History
9. The Set Design
A strange one for an American sitcom? Maybe not when you consider Frasier and his taste. From the moment we see the Elliot Bay Towers apartment with its view of the space needle we know this will be a place as important as the Cheers bar or Central Perk. Indeed, for eleven years we will watch these characters live here. Frasier's 'eclectic' taste is quickly battered down by Martin in the very first episode but the mix of furniture shows a character who is both fussy and classy. It's through the seasons though that we get to know the apartment from the erotic African art with the broken penis to the telescope bought for Martin but used to meet both men and women in opposite towers. Obviously there is the piano around which Frasier writes both a ridiculously OTT radio opener and Martin gets to live out his Frank Sinatra dream of singing Groovy Lady, these items all end up meaning something. Hell, even the toilet in Frasier's bathroom finds Billy Kriezel's head in it in Seat of Power. Even background works of art like the 1939 Jack Otterson find themselves in almost every shot. Perhaps best of all, though, amongst all of Frasier's expensive furniture, is Martin's Barca Lounger. After Frasier burns it and throws it off the balcony (long story) he goes out of his way to find master craftsmen to rebuild it, ironically making it the most expensive piece of furniture in the apartment. It's Martin's speech about the chair that really highlights how something as simple as a piece of furniture can really mean something to a person.
"Okay, I'll tell you what chair I want. I want the chair I was sitting in when I watched Neil Armstrong take his first step on the moon. And when the U.S. hockey team beat the Russians in the '80 Olympics. I want the chair I was sitting in the night you called me to tell me I had a grandson. I want the chair I was in all those nights, when your mother used to wake me up with a kiss after I'd fallen asleep in front of the television. You know, I still fall asleep in it. And every once in a while, when I wake up, I still expect your mother to be there, ready to lead me off to bed... Oh, never mind. It's only a chair."
