Let’s remember when the final episode of “Frasier” aired, on this day in 2004 (May 13)
33.7 million people tuned in, fifteen years ago, today for the final episode of “Frasier.” It was called “Good night, Seattle.” A lot of people consider it among the best final episodes of a TV series.
One example was Tina Fey, who told Entertainment Weekly that she found some inspiration for ending “30 Rock” from the final “Frasier” episode:
We watched a lot of classic TV finales in the writers’ room leading up to it at lunch or a break. And as the weeks got closer and closer to ours, it got more emotional. I remember [writer] Tracey Wigfield was crying when they wheeled Frasier’s dad’s chair out of the apartment. One of the things we learned from them was that it’s okay to give your characters an opportunity to actually say goodbye to each other in the body of that episode. You don’t have to worry if that’s cheesy.
The “Today Show” summarized the episode this way:
Witty repartee and giddy slapstick propelled “Frasier” through 11 seasons, and both were blissfully evident as Frasier Crane bid Seattle goodnight one last time.
The multiple Emmy-winning NBC comedy ended Thursday night with a show featuring a dog swallowing a ring, a drunken 6-year-old ring bearer, and both a birth and wedding in a veterinarian’s office.
Frasier, played by series star Kelsey Grammer, saw his brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Niles’ wife Daphne (Jane Leeves) greet the birth of their first child. Family patriarch Martin Crane (John Mahoney) got married to Ronee (Wendie Malick).
Frasier decided to leave Seattle and accept a new job in San Francisco.
Yet the final scene showed Frasier in a plane touching down with the pilot announcing, “Welcome to Chicago.” That’s the city where his potential soul mate Charlotte (Laura Linney) had just moved.
The ending offered hope and mystery: was unlucky-in-love Frasier finally making the right move? The curtain closed, leaving it to the audience’s imagination.
