I just got through all eleven seasons of Frasier for the fourth or fifth time. I absolutely love this show. it's become the 'in thing' to **** on older sitcoms for their formulaic structure and laugh tracks. I've seen videos examining the detrimental effect of laugh tracks on pacing, and I don't deny they make good points. But it doesn't change the fact that the jokes are still hilarious. Frasier might have fewer jokes per episode than Arrested Development or 30 Rock (both exceptionally good shows, go watch them), but the jokes it does have are brilliant.
But Frasier has something a lot of its contemporaries lacked. It has a real commitment to its characters. None of them get Flanderised, a remarkable feat in itself, and there are so many details to the performances and actions that show this is more than just a simple sitcom. Storylines actually carry from episode to episode, the writers were never scared to make big changes to the status quo. Frasier never gets bogged down by the conventions of its time and never gets stale.
I can point to season five of Friends and say that's when it stops being great. I can point to season nine of the The Simpsons and say that's when it started to go downhill. I can't do anything like that with Frasier. It's last season is as good as its first, and each one inbetween. I'll marathon the whole thing again at some point, it's inevitable, and I'll laugh just as much.
10/10
