Hard-boiled, chewy, soft or sticky, sweets play an important part of our childhood memories. These wickedly tempting treats are surprisingly easy and satisfying...... more

Hard-boiled, chewy, soft or sticky, sweets play an important part of our childhood memories. These wickedly tempting treats are surprisingly easy and satisfying to make at home. This book features more than 90 recipes of classics such as Butterscotch, Salt-Water Taffy and Peanut Butter Fudge as well as child-pleasers such as Raspberry Lollipops.

... less

Hard-boiled, chewy, soft or sticky, sweets play an important part of our childhood memories. These wickedly tempting treats are surprisingly easy and satisfying...... more

Hard-boiled, chewy, soft or sticky, sweets play an important part of our childhood memories. These wickedly tempting treats are surprisingly easy and satisfying to make at home. This book features more than 90 recipes of classics such as Butterscotch, Salt-Water Taffy and Peanut Butter Fudge as well as child-pleasers such as Raspberry Lollipops.

... less

PRODUCT INFORMATION: This photo and all photos sold by Tenth Planet Events are Genuine, and ontained personally by the company, there are no fakes or copies and...... more

PRODUCT INFORMATION: This photo and all photos sold by Tenth Planet Events are Genuine, and ontained personally by the company, there are no fakes or copies and only genuine. Standard size signed photos are 8" x 10" (some may vary give or take an inch or two). Please see our other items, there are thousends to choose from. COMPANY INFORMATION: We at Tenth Planet Events are specialists in supplying TV and film replica Jewellery and Props AND signed Autographs. We have hundreds of different items from many popular TV programs and films including Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Twilight, X-Men, Buffy, Resident Evil, Batman, Lord of the Rings and so much more. Check out our other listings and be sure to add us as one of your favorite buyers. Please contact Tenth Planet Events for if you have any special requirements, we strive for customer satisfaction and will do our upmost to deliver a profesional service, with fast delivery times and positive feedback left and we appriciate feedback from buyers. We have over four thousend different autographs all of which are personally obtained by Tenth planet Events and are 100 percent genuine, please check out our shop.

... less

A computer techie by trade, Dewey Pellicano must exchange code for calico as the proprietress of Quilter Paradiso, when her mother passes away. During a...... more

A computer techie by trade, Dewey Pellicano must exchange code for calico as the proprietress of Quilter Paradiso, when her mother passes away. During a national quilt show, quilting celebrity Claire Armstrong offers to buy the shop. But before Dewey can accept, she finds the quilter lying dead on the floor - a bloody rotary cutter at her side.

... less

The audio CD edition of Lauren Child's best-selling first novel, introducing Clarice Bean to a whole new audience. Read by Claire Skinner, star of the...... more

The audio CD edition of Lauren Child's best-selling first novel, introducing Clarice Bean to a whole new audience. Read by Claire Skinner, star of the hugely popular TV series 'Outnumbered'. The story revisits Clarice's wacky family, and introduces Ruby Redfort, ace girl detective and star of Clarice's favourite books. Ruby is always going on exciting adventures, but all Clarice gets to do is go to the local shop on her own! But when Clarice and her best friend, Betty Moody, decide to do their school project on the Ruby Redfort books, they suddenly start finding mysteries everywhere. Why are all the coats on the wrong hooks at school, and where has Grandad disappeared to?

... less

A computer techie by trade, Dewey Pellicano must exchange code for calico as the proprietress of Quilter Paradiso, when her mother passes away. During a...... more

A computer techie by trade, Dewey Pellicano must exchange code for calico as the proprietress of Quilter Paradiso, when her mother passes away. During a national quilt show, quilting celebrity Claire Armstrong offers to buy the shop. But before Dewey can accept, she finds the quilter lying dead on the floor - a bloody rotary cutter at her side.

... less

The audio CD edition of Lauren Child's best-selling first novel, introducing Clarice Bean to a whole new audience. Read by Claire Skinner, star of the...... more

The audio CD edition of Lauren Child's best-selling first novel, introducing Clarice Bean to a whole new audience. Read by Claire Skinner, star of the hugely popular TV series 'Outnumbered'. The story revisits Clarice's wacky family, and introduces Ruby Redfort, ace girl detective and star of Clarice's favourite books. Ruby is always going on exciting adventures, but all Clarice gets to do is go to the local shop on her own! But when Clarice and her best friend, Betty Moody, decide to do their school project on the Ruby Redfort books, they suddenly start finding mysteries everywhere. Why are all the coats on the wrong hooks at school, and where has Grandad disappeared to?

... less

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a...... more

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a harum-scarum, bright-cheeked girl who blows into Michael's family's grocery store at the outset of World War II. She appears with a bloodied brow, supported by a gaggle of girlfriends. Michael patches her up, and neither of them are ever the same. Well, not the same as they were before, but pretty much the same as everyone else. After the war, they live over the shop with Michael's mother until they've saved enough to move to the suburbs. There they remain with their three children, until the onset of the 60s, when their eldest daughter runs away to San Francisco. Their marriage survives for a while, finally crumbling in the 70s. If this all sounds a tad generic, Tyler's case isn't helped by the characteristics she's given the two spouses. Him: repressed, censorious, quiet. Her: voluble, emotional, romantic. Mars, meet Venus. What marks this couple, though, and what makes them come alive, is their bitter, unproductive, tooth-and-nail fighting. Tyler is exploring the way that ordinary-seeming, prosperous people can survive in emotional poverty for years on end. She gets just right the tricks Michael and Pauline play on themselves in order to stay together: "How many times", Pauline asks herself, "when she was weary of dealing with Michael, had she forced herself to recall the way he'd looked that first day? The slant of his fine cheekbones, the firming of his lips as he pressed the adhesive tape in place on her forehead". Only in antogonism do Michael and Pauline find a way to express themselves. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

... less

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a...... more

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a harum-scarum, bright-cheeked girl who blows into Michael's family's grocery store at the outset of World War II. She appears with a bloodied brow, supported by a gaggle of girlfriends. Michael patches her up, and neither of them are ever the same. Well, not the same as they were before, but pretty much the same as everyone else. After the war, they live over the shop with Michael's mother until they've saved enough to move to the suburbs. There they remain with their three children, until the onset of the 60s, when their eldest daughter runs away to San Francisco. Their marriage survives for a while, finally crumbling in the 70s. If this all sounds a tad generic, Tyler's case isn't helped by the characteristics she's given the two spouses. Him: repressed, censorious, quiet. Her: voluble, emotional, romantic. Mars, meet Venus. What marks this couple, though, and what makes them come alive, is their bitter, unproductive, tooth-and-nail fighting. Tyler is exploring the way that ordinary-seeming, prosperous people can survive in emotional poverty for years on end. She gets just right the tricks Michael and Pauline play on themselves in order to stay together: "How many times", Pauline asks herself, "when she was weary of dealing with Michael, had she forced herself to recall the way he'd looked that first day? The slant of his fine cheekbones, the firming of his lips as he pressed the adhesive tape in place on her forehead". Only in antogonism do Michael and Pauline find a way to express themselves. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

... less

Armed with Nina's no-fail The Style Strategy, fashionistas will not only discover a myriad of shopping alternatives sure to help them attain high-end looks at...... more

Armed with Nina's no-fail The Style Strategy, fashionistas will not only discover a myriad of shopping alternatives sure to help them attain high-end looks at lower prices, but also learn how to maximize what they already have through maintenance, ingenuity, and creative style choices. Step by step, Nina helps readers honestly answer three key questions-What do I have? What do I need? What do I want?-before making purchases, so they can effectively eliminate any unnecessary spending. This book also celebrates some of the most extraordinary women of the past, who remained admiringly fashion-forward during their own era's economic hardships. Part of the growing classic collection from Nina Garcia, which already includes The Little Black Book of Style and The One Hundred, The Style Strategy is a must-have for this season and all seasons! About the Author Fashion Director at Marie Claire magazine, Nina Garcia is best known for her appearance as the unerring, formidable fashion judge on Bravo's hit show Project Runway. Responsible for covering the designer fashion markets of New York, Milan and Paris, she is an elite authority in the industry. Originally from Colombia, she now lives in New York City.

... less

The Dirty Girls Social Club closely resembles Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale: a handful of young women seek real love and job satisfaction. Unlike McMillan,...... more

The Dirty Girls Social Club closely resembles Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale: a handful of young women seek real love and job satisfaction. Unlike McMillan, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez has completely thrown out any literary pretensions whatsoever, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Dirty Girls is a fun, easy, ultimately charming read, not least because the girls themselves are so appealing. Six Latina women become fast friends at Boston University and thereafter meet as a group every few months. Now in their late 20s, they're each on the cusp of the life they want. The novel is narrated in turn by each woman. Feisty Lauren has a column at the Boston Globe, but can't help falling for losers; ghetto-elegant Usnavys is trying to find a man to match her own earning power and expensive tastes; uptight Rebecca is a successful magazine publisher and an unsuccessful wife; beautiful TV anchor Elizabeth has a secret; Sara leads a Martha-Stewart-perfect life as a homemaker; and Amber is a hopeful rock musician in LA. The novel works because Valdes-Rodriguez has compassion for her characters; each is faulted, but none is culpable. She also has an eye for the telling detail, as when Rebecca tries to befriend her white husband's stuffy family: "His sister took step classes with me and we shopped for clothes together on Newbury Street and went to the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum one afternoon with Au Bon Pain sandwiches in our handbags." Something about those sandwiches makes the whole enterprise seem more poignant. On the down side, Valdes-Rodriguez is so eager to make things work out for her ladies that her writing sometimes beggars belief. Men actually say things like "Swear to me you're happily married and I'll stop pursuing you". Yes, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez is, in fact, the Latina Terry McMillan. That is, if McMillan were a slighty guiltier pleasure. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

... less

Armed with Nina's no-fail The Style Strategy, fashionistas will not only discover a myriad of shopping alternatives sure to help them attain high-end looks at...... more

Armed with Nina's no-fail The Style Strategy, fashionistas will not only discover a myriad of shopping alternatives sure to help them attain high-end looks at lower prices, but also learn how to maximize what they already have through maintenance, ingenuity, and creative style choices. Step by step, Nina helps readers honestly answer three key questions-What do I have? What do I need? What do I want?-before making purchases, so they can effectively eliminate any unnecessary spending. This book also celebrates some of the most extraordinary women of the past, who remained admiringly fashion-forward during their own era's economic hardships. Part of the growing classic collection from Nina Garcia, which already includes The Little Black Book of Style and The One Hundred, The Style Strategy is a must-have for this season and all seasons! About the Author Fashion Director at Marie Claire magazine, Nina Garcia is best known for her appearance as the unerring, formidable fashion judge on Bravo's hit show Project Runway. Responsible for covering the designer fashion markets of New York, Milan and Paris, she is an elite authority in the industry. Originally from Colombia, she now lives in New York City.

... less

100% uncut , english and german audio : Mike Leigh's multi award-winning drama, Secrets And Lies, is both hysterically funny and profoundly sad in its portrayal...... more

100% uncut , english and german audio : Mike Leigh's multi award-winning drama, Secrets And Lies, is both hysterically funny and profoundly sad in its portrayal of a wounded British family. Hortense (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) is a young black optometrist who has just buried her beloved adoptive mother. In her sorrow she embarks on a search for her birth mother, who turns out to be Cynthia (Brenda Blethyn), a white factory worker living a lonely life with her surly daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook). No one in the family--except Cynthia's brother Maurice (Timothy Spall) and his wife Monica (Phyllis Logan)--knows that Cynthia gave up a child for adoption as a teenager, without ever seeing the baby. Hortense contacts Cynthia and after a heart-wrenching reconciliation they become best friends. Maurice and Monica--childless but financially secure--are very fond of Roxanne and host a family barbeque to celebrate her twenty-first birthday. Cynthia convinces Hortense to attend the party and meet the family--as a mate from the factory--but during the celebrations the family's secrets and lies emerge in a very cathartic, emotional moment. Leigh's trademark for developing his characters and storylines from an intense series of improvisations with the actors reaches its summit with Hortense and Cynthia's reunion in a coffee shop, resulting in another deeply moving portrait of a family at a personal crossroads.

... less

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a...... more

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a harum-scarum, bright-cheeked girl who blows into Michael's family's grocery store at the outset of World War II. She appears with a bloodied brow, supported by a gaggle of girlfriends. Michael patches her up, and neither of them are ever the same. Well, not the same as they were before, but pretty much the same as everyone else. After the war, they live over the shop with Michael's mother until they've saved enough to move to the suburbs. There they remain with their three children, until the onset of the 60s, when their eldest daughter runs away to San Francisco. Their marriage survives for a while, finally crumbling in the 70s. If this all sounds a tad generic, Tyler's case isn't helped by the characteristics she's given the two spouses. Him: repressed, censorious, quiet. Her: voluble, emotional, romantic. Mars, meet Venus. What marks this couple, though, and what makes them come alive, is their bitter, unproductive, tooth-and-nail fighting. Tyler is exploring the way that ordinary-seeming, prosperous people can survive in emotional poverty for years on end. She gets just right the tricks Michael and Pauline play on themselves in order to stay together: "How many times", Pauline asks herself, "when she was weary of dealing with Michael, had she forced herself to recall the way he'd looked that first day? The slant of his fine cheekbones, the firming of his lips as he pressed the adhesive tape in place on her forehead". Only in antogonism do Michael and Pauline find a way to express themselves. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

... less

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a...... more

Anne Tyler's The Amateur Marriage is not so much a novel as a really long argument. Michael is a good boy from a Polish neighbourhood in Baltmore; Pauline is a harum-scarum, bright-cheeked girl who blows into Michael's family's grocery store at the outset of World War II. She appears with a bloodied brow, supported by a gaggle of girlfriends. Michael patches her up, and neither of them are ever the same. Well, not the same as they were before, but pretty much the same as everyone else. After the war, they live over the shop with Michael's mother until they've saved enough to move to the suburbs. There they remain with their three children, until the onset of the 60s, when their eldest daughter runs away to San Francisco. Their marriage survives for a while, finally crumbling in the 70s. If this all sounds a tad generic, Tyler's case isn't helped by the characteristics she's given the two spouses. Him: repressed, censorious, quiet. Her: voluble, emotional, romantic. Mars, meet Venus. What marks this couple, though, and what makes them come alive, is their bitter, unproductive, tooth-and-nail fighting. Tyler is exploring the way that ordinary-seeming, prosperous people can survive in emotional poverty for years on end. She gets just right the tricks Michael and Pauline play on themselves in order to stay together: "How many times", Pauline asks herself, "when she was weary of dealing with Michael, had she forced herself to recall the way he'd looked that first day? The slant of his fine cheekbones, the firming of his lips as he pressed the adhesive tape in place on her forehead". Only in antogonism do Michael and Pauline find a way to express themselves. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

... less

Pete and Sue are a hard working ; cash strapped couple who are hopelessly outgunned by their three children. The kids have it all covered; philosophy ; politics...... more

Pete and Sue are a hard working ; cash strapped couple who are hopelessly outgunned by their three children. The kids have it all covered; philosophy ; politics ; finance ; religion ; science ; TV talent shows ; homework... everything. Jake ; Ben and Karen are the centre of Pete and Sue's lives. And also the source of their worry ; frustration ; joy and bewilderment.Part brilliant gag-packed comedy ; part excruciatingly-recognisable insights into family life ; Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin's multi-award winning series is quite unlike any other family sitcom... Please be aware that Series 3 does not include the Comic Relief Sketch.Actors Hugh Dennis, Claire Skinner, Tyger Drew-Honey, Daniel Roche & Ramona Marquez Director Andy Hamilton & Guy Jenkin Certificate 12 years and over Screen Widescreen 1.78:1 Anamorphic Languages English - Dolby Digital Stereo (2.0) Subtitles Dutch Region Region 2 - Will only play on European Region 2 or multi-region DVD players. Be the first to review this product! | Write a review » Help our customers make the best choices by telling everyone what you think about this product. Delivery We offer free delivery on everything to the UK and Europe. UK delivery usually takes between 3 to 5 days European delivery usually takes between 7 to 10 days To find out more, please read our delivery policy. Returns We want you to be happy every time you shop with us, but if you ever need to return anything, we're here to make things as easy and convenient as possible. If you're not completely satisfied with your purchase, you can return the item to us in its original condition within 30 days of receipt and we'll issue a full refund, or replace the item, if preferred. If you'd like to return an item, please go to your order history page, select the order you would like to return, and follow the simple steps at our online returns centre. To find out more, please read our returns policy.

... less

The Dirty Girls Social Club closely resembles Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale: a handful of young women seek real love and job satisfaction. Unlike McMillan,...... more

The Dirty Girls Social Club closely resembles Terry McMillan's Waiting to Exhale: a handful of young women seek real love and job satisfaction. Unlike McMillan, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez has completely thrown out any literary pretensions whatsoever, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Dirty Girls is a fun, easy, ultimately charming read, not least because the girls themselves are so appealing. Six Latina women become fast friends at Boston University and thereafter meet as a group every few months. Now in their late 20s, they're each on the cusp of the life they want. The novel is narrated in turn by each woman. Feisty Lauren has a column at the Boston Globe, but can't help falling for losers; ghetto-elegant Usnavys is trying to find a man to match her own earning power and expensive tastes; uptight Rebecca is a successful magazine publisher and an unsuccessful wife; beautiful TV anchor Elizabeth has a secret; Sara leads a Martha-Stewart-perfect life as a homemaker; and Amber is a hopeful rock musician in LA. The novel works because Valdes-Rodriguez has compassion for her characters; each is faulted, but none is culpable. She also has an eye for the telling detail, as when Rebecca tries to befriend her white husband's stuffy family: "His sister took step classes with me and we shopped for clothes together on Newbury Street and went to the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum one afternoon with Au Bon Pain sandwiches in our handbags." Something about those sandwiches makes the whole enterprise seem more poignant. On the down side, Valdes-Rodriguez is so eager to make things work out for her ladies that her writing sometimes beggars belief. Men actually say things like "Swear to me you're happily married and I'll stop pursuing you". Yes, Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez is, in fact, the Latina Terry McMillan. That is, if McMillan were a slighty guiltier pleasure. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

... less

The set up for Suzanne Berne's second novel sounds positively Gothic: Mirella and Howard--she a lawyer, he an architect--desperately need a nanny to care for...... more

The set up for Suzanne Berne's second novel sounds positively Gothic: Mirella and Howard--she a lawyer, he an architect--desperately need a nanny to care for their two small children. Without carefully checking her references, they welcome the cozy-seeming Randi into their creaky Colonial saltbox. At first the arrangement does seem perfect: Randi cooks, cleans and works wonders with the heretofore recalcitrant children. But it becomes slowly clear that her sunny, reliable temperament might be cloaking a darker past. In elegant, sometimes quite funny prose, Berne cleverly readies the reader for domestic atrocities in the gruesome tradition of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Then she subverts our expectations by showing that Mirella and Howard have their secrets, too--quiet compromises they've made to achieve their ideal home. The reader keeps waiting for the Nanny Horror Show to begin, and meanwhile Berne shows a family falling apart under the pressure of trying to appear perfect. "Disaster could be small and dull and corrosive," she writes. "It might already have come." To up the ante, Berne has installed her domestic melange in a charming New England town, where Main Street is populated by quaint shops and unsightly necessities (such as, say, the grocery store) are relegated to the hinterlands. Inhabiting the equivalent of a Norman Rockwell painting, each character is further pressed to idealise the notion of family; each has a distinctive mental of what a home should look like. Anger and frustration and failure are suppressed until they surface in horrible, comic eruptions. Thus do Berne's characters ultimately learn to appreciate the "terrible, desirable, exhausting plenitude" of life. Admirers of Joanna Trollope's domestic dramas--by turns witty and harrowing--should find much to love in A Perfect Arrangement. --Claire Dederer, Amazon.com

... less

Season OneThanks to sharp writing and a pitch-perfect ensemble cast, Frasier became one of the smartest and funniest television shows of the 1990s. Following...... more

Season OneThanks to sharp writing and a pitch-perfect ensemble cast, Frasier became one of the smartest and funniest television shows of the 1990s. Following the 1993 demise of Cheers, Diane's fussy psychiatrist boyfriend, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), seemed an unlikely candidate for a spin-off series, yet the show earned smash ratings and dozens of Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor (Grammer) in the very first season. In an inspired bit of casting, Grammer was matched with David Hyde Pierce as his brother and fellow psychiatrist Niles, and the rest of the players included his radio-program manager, Roz (Peri Gilpin), his father, Marty (John Mahoney), his father's physical therapist, Daphne (Jane Leeves), and the dog Eddie (Moose). In the first season, Frasier and Marty try to learn how to coexist in the same apartment; Niles and Daphne spend a stormy evening in Niles's house; Frasier acquires pushy agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) and searches for love with Amanda Donohoe among others; his ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) makes a guest appearance; the family takes a cross-country trip in a Winnebago; and the two brothers collaborate on a book. --David HoriuchiSeason TwoFrasier picked up its second season with another round of comedy as intelligent as its pompous title character. Fortunately, the sniping between Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and his father, Marty (John Mahoney), that took up a lot of the first season is mostly past, and the crack ensemble was ready to roll in a number of memorable episodes. Frasier tries to set up Daphne (Jane Leeves) with the new station manager in 'The Matchmaker,' Frasier, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), and Marty go fishing in 'Breaking the Ice,' Frasier and Niles jump into politics in 'The Candidate,' the team of Frasier and Roz (Peri Gilpin) breaks up ('Roz in the Doghouse'), and Frasier and Niles open a restaurant in "The Innkeepers." It was Pierce's Niles who emerged as a star in the second season, lusting after Daphne, learning about parenthood in 'Flour Child,' and challenging a Bavarian fencer for the hand of his ever-absent wife, Maris, in the comic tour de force 'An Affair to Forget.' Pierce picked up a well-deserved first Emmy, and the show repeated its first-season Emmys for comedy series and lead actor. Frasier's dates included Jobeth Williams (whom he takes on a disastrous getaway to Bora Bora), Shannon Tweed, and Tea Leoni, and other guest stars were Nathan Lane and, from his original show, Cheers, Bebe Neuwirth and Ted Danson. --David HoriuchiSeason ThreeWith this third season, Frasier scored an impressive hat trick, winning its third successive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. You don't need too much analysis to get to the bottom of this unprecedented success. The series was a primetime oasis of wit and sophistication, with welcome forays into farce that pricked Frasier's bubble of pomposity. His priceless reactions to the assaults on his dignity are worthy of Jack Benny. Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) can be infuriating, as in 'The Focus Group,' in which he is obsessed with knowing why a lone focus group participant (guest star Tony Shalhoub) doesn't like him. But he is also endearing in his delusional view of himself as, in the words of one mocking bystander, a 'man of the people.' Frasier meets his match in new station owner Kate Costas (Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl). Their combative relationship turns to lust over the course of the first 10 episodes. But the season's most pivotal story arc is the separation of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Maris. 'Moon Dance,' which marked Grammer's directorial debut, is a series benchmark, as a crestfallen Niles tangos with his unrequited love, Daphne (Jane Leeves), at a high society ball. Not that the Crane family still doesn't have issues to work out. Frasier cannot abide being beaten at chess by Martin (John Mahoney) in 'Chess Pains.' Frasier and Niles ill-advisedly go into joint practice in 'Shrink Rap,' and find themselves on the opposite sides of a sanity hearing in 'Crane vs. Crane.' Lilith is sorely missed, but in this season's blast-from-the-past episode, Shelley Long returns in 'The Show Where Diane Comes Back.' It is a joy to see Cheers resurrected, if only in Diane's self-absorbed new play, which Frasier agrees to back. And any episode with Frasier's amoral agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) is must-see television. Frasier's humor was character-based, rather than topical, giving it a longer shelf life. For those who lament the end of one of television's gold standard series, this boxed set will be excellent therapy. --Donald LiebensonSeason FourFrasier's fourth season was mostly about relationships. Niles (David Hyde Pierce), now separated from Maris, is back on the market like his bachelor brother, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer). That's great when the pair goes to a cabin with a pair of fetching women (Megan Mullaly, later of Will and Grace, and Lisa Darr), but Niles is never able to completely dispel his attachment to his suffocating wife... or to Daphne (Jane Leeves). His obsession with the latter gets an immediate burst in the season's first episode, in which he has to masquerade as Daphne's husband, then later comes to a head when she appears at his apartment door asking to stay the night. The boys have the usual disputes with their father (John Mahoney), including their disdain for the former cop's new girlfriend, Sherry (Marsha Mason), the boisterous, banjo-twangin', "gotcha"-playing bartender who would remain a regular cast member through the end of the series. Ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) makes her annual appearance, this time when she and Frasier try to get Frederick into an exclusive prep school. And the title character? As much as Frasier teases his producer Roz (Peri Gilpin) about her dating habits, he himself is lonely, leading him to a memorable airport encounter with guest star Linda Hamilton and a season finale that proves a kind of a harbinger to the series' final episode. This season made Frasier a perfect four-for-four at the Emmys, winning its fourth consecutive award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Unlike previous seasons, this DVD set has no bonus features. --David Horiuchi Season FiveFrasier's fifth season is marked by two central themes. First is Roz's (Peri Gilpin) unexpected pregnancy, which naturally opens the door for countless promiscuity jokes for the radio show's beleaguered producer. The second is the continuing drama of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and his frosty wife, Maris, which seemed to finally come to a head. Not that even a good marriage has ever kept Niles from pining for Daphne (Jane Leeves), of course. Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) show is sailing along, and for the occasion of his 1000th show, is honoured by the mayor for "Frasier Crane Day," which allows the cast to do some rare location shooting in Seattle. But he has some problems with KACL management, and the prospect of tough contract negotiations tempts him to return to the Dark Side, in the form of agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris). His personal life continues to sputter, even when he meets a perfect woman (Sela Ward as a fashion model studying zoology, Lindsay Frost as a high-powered defense attorney). The annual guest appearance by ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) comes with a bizarre twist, and his father (John Mahoney) comes to a critical point with his girlfriend (Marsha Mason). Frasier won its fifth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, Grammer and Pierce won their third and second statuettes, respectively, and Patti Lupone was nominated for her guest appearance as Frasier's vengeful Greek aunt. --David HoriuchiSeason SevenThis is the pivotal season that finally, finally brings together Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Daphne (Jane Leeves), Frasier's answer to Ross and Rachel. Daphne, engaged to Donny (Saul Rubinek), learns of Niles' unrequited feelings for her from an extremely medicated Frasier in "Back Talk." If Daphne's impending marriage was not obstacle enough to keep them apart, there is fussy, phobic, and formidable Dr. Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams), Maris's former plastic surgeon, who is introduced in "The Late Dr. Crane" as a romantic interest for Niles. The season culminates in the Emmy-nominated episode "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue," arguably the show's very best, and most satisfying cliffhanger, in which Niles and Daphne make like Ben and Elaine in The Graduate, only in a Winnebago. Bebe Neuwirth makes another memorable return as the dread Lilith Crane in "The Apparent Trap," in which son Frederick employs psychological warfare to try and get a mini-bike from his parents. Episodes featuring Frasier's amoral agent Bebe Glaser (Harriet Samson Harris) are always a season highlight, and "Morning Becomes Entertainment" is no exception, as Bebe and Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) team up to host a TV morning chat show (who knew that Frasier had "a way with voices," as witness his Sean Connery and James Mason impressions!). Dan Butler also returns as Bulldog in the poignant episode "The Dog That Rocks the Cradle," A welcome addition to Frasier's gallery of colorful characters in Simon (Anthony LaPaglia in an Emmy-nominated performance), Daphne's besotted brother. Frasier Crane is a witty and urbane New Yorker cartoon in a lewd, crude shock jock world. In the hilarious episode "Radio Wars," he literally becomes the butt of his radio station's new morning team's stunts. Frasier is also at odds with his substitute producer, Mary (Kim Coles), a you-go-girl black woman, in "Something About Dr. Mary." The series excelled at farce, and "RDWRER" is vintage Frasier, as the Crane men embark on a New Year's Eve road trip to Sun Valley, and Niles mistakenly thinks he's been kidnapped when he falls asleep in the wrong Winnebago. Another season benchmark is "Out with Dad," in which Frasier is compelled to pass off his father (John Mahoney) as gay. The lack of extras on this four-disc set is disappointing, but as wine snob Frasier might say, the seventh season was a very good year for the show that bears his name, and it's a pleasure to uncork its many delights. --Donald LiebensonSeason EightSeemingly not content to win all those Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series, Frasier made a convincing bid in its eighth season for Best Drama. Make no mistake, Frasier still serves up its unique blend of sophisticated wit and farce with the usual panache. But season 8 finds Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) in a contemplative mood and mid-life crisis mode. The episode "Frasier's Edge" resonates throughout the season, as a lifetime achievement award and a suspect (only to Frasier) congratulatory note from a mentor sends him into a characteristic tailspin. "Thank you for honouring my life," a subdued Frasier remarks at the awards ceremony. "I just wish I knew what to do with the rest of it." It is just one of several powerful moments on which many of the season's best episodes fade out. In the season finale, Frasier finds himself torn between a new, "perfect" woman in his life, Claire (Patricia Clarkson), and the tempestuous Lana (Jean Smart reprising her Emmy-winning role, and winning her second consecutive statuette). In an affectionate phone call with Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), he asks, "Do you think I know how to be happy?" In the cleverly constructed "Sliding Frasiers," which takes its cue from the film Sliding Doors, parallel Valentine's Day storylines illustrate how "the tiniest decision can change your whole destiny." In "Cranes Unplugged," Frasier feels like he and his son Freddy are growing apart, but on a predictably disastrous camping trip they manage to share "a golden moment." John Mahoney, too, gives an Emmy-worthy performance in "A Day in May," as Martin attends a parole board hearing for the man who shot him. But it's not all sturm and drang. "The Show Must Go Off" features an Emmy-winning performance by Derek Jacobi as a former Shakespearean actor Frasier rediscovers at a sci-fi convention and mounts a one-man show, only to discover that he is a talentless ham. In "Motor Skills," Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Frasier enroll in an automobile repair class and take on unaccustomed roles as the class bad boys. This season also resolves all the obstacles keeping Niles and Daphne (Jane Leeves) apart, including a lawsuit by jilted groom Donny (Saul Rubinek), the vindictive schemes of Niles's jilted fiancée, Mel (Jane Adams), and Niles and Daphne's own illusions about each other. For longtime viewers with an emotional investment in Frasier and company, this is a richly satisfying season worthy of this gold-standard series. --Donald LiebensonSeason Ten"Irritating, but endearing." That's Frasier Crane in a nutshell, as diagnosed by Julia Wilcox (an Emmy-worthy Felicity Huffman), KCAL's abrasive and condescending new financial analyst. That's a delicate balance, but Kelsey Grammer still manages it with the usual aplomb in Frasier's penultimate season. Grammer is at his best when his character is at his stubborn, high dudgeon worst, as in "Enemy at the Gate" when he causes a parking garage backup while protesting a $2 parking fee, trying to find a suitable new coffee shop after Café Nervosa hires a folk singer (Elvis Costello) in "Farewell, Nervosa," or, after scamming his way into becoming a silver level member at an exclusive health spa, "chasing the eternal carrot" of the gold level ("'Please remain in the relaxation grotto.' Have crueler words ever been spoken?") in "Door Jam." But he wins us over anew as he does the hard-hearted Julia with his insistence on doing the right thing and faith in the good in people. Frasier's tenth season takes a dramatic turn early on with a three-episode arc in which Niles (David Hyde Pierce) undergoes heart surgery, but, much like Niles, the show rebounds quickly with more characteristic episodes such as the Emmy-nominated farce "Daphne Does Dinner," in which another Crane party hurtles toward disaster. In addition to Huffman, other memorable star turns this season include Millicent Martin as Daphne's impossible mother, Jeanne Tripplehorn as a coach whose berating of her students causes Frasier to conjure up hallucinations of his own former gym teacher, portrayed by Bob Hoskins. Bebe Neuwirth returns as Lilith, as does the magnificent Harriet Sansom Harris as Bebe Glazer, who shows up as Dr. Phil's agent (or is it just another Bebe scheme?) in "The Devil and Dr. Phil." There are throughout this season some wonderful play-it-again moments, such as the unwitting Frasier speaking Klingon at his son's bar mitzvah and invoking Sam Malone's classic, "Are you as turned on as I am" to bring a shouting match with Julia to an hilarious anti-climax ("No!" she screams disgustedly). A showdown between Roz (Peri Gilpin) and Julia doesn't make for the most compelling season finale, but because season 11 was previously released on DVD to coincide with the broadcast of the series finale, at least we don't have to wait to see how that turns out. --Donald LiebensonSeason ElevenMidway through Frasier's redemptive final season (which earned Emmys for Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce), Martin Crane (John Mahoney) reassures his son, "Just when you think that you're in a rut and nothing exciting will ever happen again, pow, that's when it does." The same could have been said of Frasier's redemptive final season. Not that the multi-Emmy-honored series had ever really jumped the couch, but by its 11th season, it had lost some of its sparkle. And then, POW! Veteran Frasier writers Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan return to the fold. POW! Wendie Malick joins the seamless ensemble as brash lounge singer Ronee Lawrence, who becomes a love interest for Martin. POW! Daphne (Jane Leeves), underutilised since her marriage to Niles, becomes pregnant. POW! Frasier opens his own private practice. POW! Laura Linney guest stars as Charlotte, who becomes the hapless Frasier's own Miss Right. The series also benefited greatly from a stellar roster of character actors, who rose to the occasion of this gold standard series' final year. Penny Johnson (24), Sarah Silverman (School of Rock), and Dan "Homer Simpson" Castellaneta christen Frasier's couch in the episode, "The Return of Maris." Jennifer Tilly is at her ditzy, delectable best as a pick-up in "Miss Right Now." Laurie Metcalf replaces Emma Thompson as Frasier's first wife, children's entertainer Nanny G, in "Caught in the Act." Always welcome are Bebe Neuwirth as Lilith ("Guns 'N Neuroses") and Harriet Sansom Harris as Frasier's unscrupulous agent Bebe (the series finale, "Goodnight, Seattle"). But Frasier was never about stunt casting. It's the writing, stupid, which, actually, was anything but. Episodes such as "Boo," "The Doctor Is Out," "Coots and Ladders," and "Caught in the Act" recapture Frasier's unique blend of wit and farce. The series finale, in which relationships take a significant turn and Frasier finally breaks out of that rut to follow his heart, is as satisfying as fans could wish. --Donald Liebenson

... less

Season OneThanks to sharp writing and a pitch-perfect ensemble cast, Frasier became one of the smartest and funniest television shows of the 1990s. Following...... more

Season OneThanks to sharp writing and a pitch-perfect ensemble cast, Frasier became one of the smartest and funniest television shows of the 1990s. Following the 1993 demise of Cheers, Diane's fussy psychiatrist boyfriend, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), seemed an unlikely candidate for a spin-off series, yet the show earned smash ratings and dozens of Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor (Grammer) in the very first season. In an inspired bit of casting, Grammer was matched with David Hyde Pierce as his brother and fellow psychiatrist Niles, and the rest of the players included his radio-program manager, Roz (Peri Gilpin), his father, Marty (John Mahoney), his father's physical therapist, Daphne (Jane Leeves), and the dog Eddie (Moose). In the first season, Frasier and Marty try to learn how to coexist in the same apartment; Niles and Daphne spend a stormy evening in Niles's house; Frasier acquires pushy agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) and searches for love with Amanda Donohoe among others; his ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) makes a guest appearance; the family takes a cross-country trip in a Winnebago; and the two brothers collaborate on a book. --David HoriuchiSeason TwoFrasier picked up its second season with another round of comedy as intelligent as its pompous title character. Fortunately, the sniping between Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and his father, Marty (John Mahoney), that took up a lot of the first season is mostly past, and the crack ensemble was ready to roll in a number of memorable episodes. Frasier tries to set up Daphne (Jane Leeves) with the new station manager in 'The Matchmaker,' Frasier, Niles (David Hyde Pierce), and Marty go fishing in 'Breaking the Ice,' Frasier and Niles jump into politics in 'The Candidate,' the team of Frasier and Roz (Peri Gilpin) breaks up ('Roz in the Doghouse'), and Frasier and Niles open a restaurant in "The Innkeepers." It was Pierce's Niles who emerged as a star in the second season, lusting after Daphne, learning about parenthood in 'Flour Child,' and challenging a Bavarian fencer for the hand of his ever-absent wife, Maris, in the comic tour de force 'An Affair to Forget.' Pierce picked up a well-deserved first Emmy, and the show repeated its first-season Emmys for comedy series and lead actor. Frasier's dates included Jobeth Williams (whom he takes on a disastrous getaway to Bora Bora), Shannon Tweed, and Tea Leoni, and other guest stars were Nathan Lane and, from his original show, Cheers, Bebe Neuwirth and Ted Danson. --David HoriuchiSeason ThreeWith this third season, Frasier scored an impressive hat trick, winning its third successive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. You don't need too much analysis to get to the bottom of this unprecedented success. The series was a primetime oasis of wit and sophistication, with welcome forays into farce that pricked Frasier's bubble of pomposity. His priceless reactions to the assaults on his dignity are worthy of Jack Benny. Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) can be infuriating, as in 'The Focus Group,' in which he is obsessed with knowing why a lone focus group participant (guest star Tony Shalhoub) doesn't like him. But he is also endearing in his delusional view of himself as, in the words of one mocking bystander, a 'man of the people.' Frasier meets his match in new station owner Kate Costas (Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl). Their combative relationship turns to lust over the course of the first 10 episodes. But the season's most pivotal story arc is the separation of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Maris. 'Moon Dance,' which marked Grammer's directorial debut, is a series benchmark, as a crestfallen Niles tangos with his unrequited love, Daphne (Jane Leeves), at a high society ball. Not that the Crane family still doesn't have issues to work out. Frasier cannot abide being beaten at chess by Martin (John Mahoney) in 'Chess Pains.' Frasier and Niles ill-advisedly go into joint practice in 'Shrink Rap,' and find themselves on the opposite sides of a sanity hearing in 'Crane vs. Crane.' Lilith is sorely missed, but in this season's blast-from-the-past episode, Shelley Long returns in 'The Show Where Diane Comes Back.' It is a joy to see Cheers resurrected, if only in Diane's self-absorbed new play, which Frasier agrees to back. And any episode with Frasier's amoral agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) is must-see television. Frasier's humor was character-based, rather than topical, giving it a longer shelf life. For those who lament the end of one of television's gold standard series, this boxed set will be excellent therapy. --Donald LiebensonSeason FourFrasier's fourth season was mostly about relationships. Niles (David Hyde Pierce), now separated from Maris, is back on the market like his bachelor brother, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer). That's great when the pair goes to a cabin with a pair of fetching women (Megan Mullaly, later of Will and Grace, and Lisa Darr), but Niles is never able to completely dispel his attachment to his suffocating wife... or to Daphne (Jane Leeves). His obsession with the latter gets an immediate burst in the season's first episode, in which he has to masquerade as Daphne's husband, then later comes to a head when she appears at his apartment door asking to stay the night. The boys have the usual disputes with their father (John Mahoney), including their disdain for the former cop's new girlfriend, Sherry (Marsha Mason), the boisterous, banjo-twangin', "gotcha"-playing bartender who would remain a regular cast member through the end of the series. Ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) makes her annual appearance, this time when she and Frasier try to get Frederick into an exclusive prep school. And the title character? As much as Frasier teases his producer Roz (Peri Gilpin) about her dating habits, he himself is lonely, leading him to a memorable airport encounter with guest star Linda Hamilton and a season finale that proves a kind of a harbinger to the series' final episode. This season made Frasier a perfect four-for-four at the Emmys, winning its fourth consecutive award for Outstanding Comedy Series. Unlike previous seasons, this DVD set has no bonus features. --David Horiuchi Season FiveFrasier's fifth season is marked by two central themes. First is Roz's (Peri Gilpin) unexpected pregnancy, which naturally opens the door for countless promiscuity jokes for the radio show's beleaguered producer. The second is the continuing drama of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and his frosty wife, Maris, which seemed to finally come to a head. Not that even a good marriage has ever kept Niles from pining for Daphne (Jane Leeves), of course. Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) show is sailing along, and for the occasion of his 1000th show, is honoured by the mayor for "Frasier Crane Day," which allows the cast to do some rare location shooting in Seattle. But he has some problems with KACL management, and the prospect of tough contract negotiations tempts him to return to the Dark Side, in the form of agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris). His personal life continues to sputter, even when he meets a perfect woman (Sela Ward as a fashion model studying zoology, Lindsay Frost as a high-powered defense attorney). The annual guest appearance by ex-wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) comes with a bizarre twist, and his father (John Mahoney) comes to a critical point with his girlfriend (Marsha Mason). Frasier won its fifth consecutive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, Grammer and Pierce won their third and second statuettes, respectively, and Patti Lupone was nominated for her guest appearance as Frasier's vengeful Greek aunt. --David HoriuchiSeason SevenThis is the pivotal season that finally, finally brings together Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Daphne (Jane Leeves), Frasier's answer to Ross and Rachel. Daphne, engaged to Donny (Saul Rubinek), learns of Niles' unrequited feelings for her from an extremely medicated Frasier in "Back Talk." If Daphne's impending marriage was not obstacle enough to keep them apart, there is fussy, phobic, and formidable Dr. Mel Karnofsky (Jane Adams), Maris's former plastic surgeon, who is introduced in "The Late Dr. Crane" as a romantic interest for Niles. The season culminates in the Emmy-nominated episode "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue," arguably the show's very best, and most satisfying cliffhanger, in which Niles and Daphne make like Ben and Elaine in The Graduate, only in a Winnebago. Bebe Neuwirth makes another memorable return as the dread Lilith Crane in "The Apparent Trap," in which son Frederick employs psychological warfare to try and get a mini-bike from his parents. Episodes featuring Frasier's amoral agent Bebe Glaser (Harriet Samson Harris) are always a season highlight, and "Morning Becomes Entertainment" is no exception, as Bebe and Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) team up to host a TV morning chat show (who knew that Frasier had "a way with voices," as witness his Sean Connery and James Mason impressions!). Dan Butler also returns as Bulldog in the poignant episode "The Dog That Rocks the Cradle," A welcome addition to Frasier's gallery of colorful characters in Simon (Anthony LaPaglia in an Emmy-nominated performance), Daphne's besotted brother. Frasier Crane is a witty and urbane New Yorker cartoon in a lewd, crude shock jock world. In the hilarious episode "Radio Wars," he literally becomes the butt of his radio station's new morning team's stunts. Frasier is also at odds with his substitute producer, Mary (Kim Coles), a you-go-girl black woman, in "Something About Dr. Mary." The series excelled at farce, and "RDWRER" is vintage Frasier, as the Crane men embark on a New Year's Eve road trip to Sun Valley, and Niles mistakenly thinks he's been kidnapped when he falls asleep in the wrong Winnebago. Another season benchmark is "Out with Dad," in which Frasier is compelled to pass off his father (John Mahoney) as gay. The lack of extras on this four-disc set is disappointing, but as wine snob Frasier might say, the seventh season was a very good year for the show that bears his name, and it's a pleasure to uncork its many delights. --Donald LiebensonSeason EightSeemingly not content to win all those Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series, Frasier made a convincing bid in its eighth season for Best Drama. Make no mistake, Frasier still serves up its unique blend of sophisticated wit and farce with the usual panache. But season 8 finds Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) in a contemplative mood and mid-life crisis mode. The episode "Frasier's Edge" resonates throughout the season, as a lifetime achievement award and a suspect (only to Frasier) congratulatory note from a mentor sends him into a characteristic tailspin. "Thank you for honouring my life," a subdued Frasier remarks at the awards ceremony. "I just wish I knew what to do with the rest of it." It is just one of several powerful moments on which many of the season's best episodes fade out. In the season finale, Frasier finds himself torn between a new, "perfect" woman in his life, Claire (Patricia Clarkson), and the tempestuous Lana (Jean Smart reprising her Emmy-winning role, and winning her second consecutive statuette). In an affectionate phone call with Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth), he asks, "Do you think I know how to be happy?" In the cleverly constructed "Sliding Frasiers," which takes its cue from the film Sliding Doors, parallel Valentine's Day storylines illustrate how "the tiniest decision can change your whole destiny." In "Cranes Unplugged," Frasier feels like he and his son Freddy are growing apart, but on a predictably disastrous camping trip they manage to share "a golden moment." John Mahoney, too, gives an Emmy-worthy performance in "A Day in May," as Martin attends a parole board hearing for the man who shot him. But it's not all sturm and drang. "The Show Must Go Off" features an Emmy-winning performance by Derek Jacobi as a former Shakespearean actor Frasier rediscovers at a sci-fi convention and mounts a one-man show, only to discover that he is a talentless ham. In "Motor Skills," Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Frasier enroll in an automobile repair class and take on unaccustomed roles as the class bad boys. This season also resolves all the obstacles keeping Niles and Daphne (Jane Leeves) apart, including a lawsuit by jilted groom Donny (Saul Rubinek), the vindictive schemes of Niles's jilted fiancée, Mel (Jane Adams), and Niles and Daphne's own illusions about each other. For longtime viewers with an emotional investment in Frasier and company, this is a richly satisfying season worthy of this gold-standard series. --Donald LiebensonSeason Ten"Irritating, but endearing." That's Frasier Crane in a nutshell, as diagnosed by Julia Wilcox (an Emmy-worthy Felicity Huffman), KCAL's abrasive and condescending new financial analyst. That's a delicate balance, but Kelsey Grammer still manages it with the usual aplomb in Frasier's penultimate season. Grammer is at his best when his character is at his stubborn, high dudgeon worst, as in "Enemy at the Gate" when he causes a parking garage backup while protesting a $2 parking fee, trying to find a suitable new coffee shop after Café Nervosa hires a folk singer (Elvis Costello) in "Farewell, Nervosa," or, after scamming his way into becoming a silver level member at an exclusive health spa, "chasing the eternal carrot" of the gold level ("'Please remain in the relaxation grotto.' Have crueler words ever been spoken?") in "Door Jam." But he wins us over anew as he does the hard-hearted Julia with his insistence on doing the right thing and faith in the good in people. Frasier's tenth season takes a dramatic turn early on with a three-episode arc in which Niles (David Hyde Pierce) undergoes heart surgery, but, much like Niles, the show rebounds quickly with more characteristic episodes such as the Emmy-nominated farce "Daphne Does Dinner," in which another Crane party hurtles toward disaster. In addition to Huffman, other memorable star turns this season include Millicent Martin as Daphne's impossible mother, Jeanne Tripplehorn as a coach whose berating of her students causes Frasier to conjure up hallucinations of his own former gym teacher, portrayed by Bob Hoskins. Bebe Neuwirth returns as Lilith, as does the magnificent Harriet Sansom Harris as Bebe Glazer, who shows up as Dr. Phil's agent (or is it just another Bebe scheme?) in "The Devil and Dr. Phil." There are throughout this season some wonderful play-it-again moments, such as the unwitting Frasier speaking Klingon at his son's bar mitzvah and invoking Sam Malone's classic, "Are you as turned on as I am" to bring a shouting match with Julia to an hilarious anti-climax ("No!" she screams disgustedly). A showdown between Roz (Peri Gilpin) and Julia doesn't make for the most compelling season finale, but because season 11 was previously released on DVD to coincide with the broadcast of the series finale, at least we don't have to wait to see how that turns out. --Donald LiebensonSeason ElevenMidway through Frasier's redemptive final season (which earned Emmys for Kelsey Grammer and David Hyde Pierce), Martin Crane (John Mahoney) reassures his son, "Just when you think that you're in a rut and nothing exciting will ever happen again, pow, that's when it does." The same could have been said of Frasier's redemptive final season. Not that the multi-Emmy-honored series had ever really jumped the couch, but by its 11th season, it had lost some of its sparkle. And then, POW! Veteran Frasier writers Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan return to the fold. POW! Wendie Malick joins the seamless ensemble as brash lounge singer Ronee Lawrence, who becomes a love interest for Martin. POW! Daphne (Jane Leeves), underutilised since her marriage to Niles, becomes pregnant. POW! Frasier opens his own private practice. POW! Laura Linney guest stars as Charlotte, who becomes the hapless Frasier's own Miss Right. The series also benefited greatly from a stellar roster of character actors, who rose to the occasion of this gold standard series' final year. Penny Johnson (24), Sarah Silverman (School of Rock), and Dan "Homer Simpson" Castellaneta christen Frasier's couch in the episode, "The Return of Maris." Jennifer Tilly is at her ditzy, delectable best as a pick-up in "Miss Right Now." Laurie Metcalf replaces Emma Thompson as Frasier's first wife, children's entertainer Nanny G, in "Caught in the Act." Always welcome are Bebe Neuwirth as Lilith ("Guns 'N Neuroses") and Harriet Sansom Harris as Frasier's unscrupulous agent Bebe (the series finale, "Goodnight, Seattle"). But Frasier was never about stunt casting. It's the writing, stupid, which, actually, was anything but. Episodes such as "Boo," "The Doctor Is Out," "Coots and Ladders," and "Caught in the Act" recapture Frasier's unique blend of wit and farce. The series finale, in which relationships take a significant turn and Frasier finally breaks out of that rut to follow his heart, is as satisfying as fans could wish. --Donald Liebenson

... less