Brian Damage
08-21-2003, 01:44 PM
Frasier Crane will be leaving the building for good at the end of the next TV season.
But will he leave it alone?
The shrink's relationships with women have averaged not much more than a nanosecond during the 10 years of NBC's sitcom "Frasier."
Yet with the 11th and final year coming up, the show's writers are thinking of ending with wedding bells for Kelsey Grammer's character.
"We're kicking that around," Grammer told reporters yesterday.
Frasier ended last season in a romantic entanglement. He linked up with KACL stock analyst Julia Wilcox (played by Felicity Huffman), to the dismay of his lovelorn longtime producer Roz (Peri Gilpin). The season concluded with Roz going to another station.
Series co-creators Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan - who have returned for the final season - also plan to send Niles and Daphne (David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves) into choppy waters.
Niles' first wife, Maris, will be the source of his marital discord - but contrary to previous reports, the producers are not casting the role.
"Not unless we can find an actress who can defy the laws of physics," said Lloyd.
As fans know, Maris has never been seen or heard. But she has been described as being so thin she could walk through a snow storm and leave no footprints.
Niles and Daphne will also continue their efforts to add another Crane to the family.
While "Frasier" is a multiple Emmy Award winner and will go down in history as one of the best-written sitcoms, its conclusion isn't going to be the kind of pop-culture event "Seinfeld" was.
The show also has the misfortune of finishing in the same year as NBC's "Friends," which is likely to overshadow a "Frasier" finale.
"We know that's going to be true," said Grammer. "If it bothered me, it would be uncavalier of me to say so."
But will he leave it alone?
The shrink's relationships with women have averaged not much more than a nanosecond during the 10 years of NBC's sitcom "Frasier."
Yet with the 11th and final year coming up, the show's writers are thinking of ending with wedding bells for Kelsey Grammer's character.
"We're kicking that around," Grammer told reporters yesterday.
Frasier ended last season in a romantic entanglement. He linked up with KACL stock analyst Julia Wilcox (played by Felicity Huffman), to the dismay of his lovelorn longtime producer Roz (Peri Gilpin). The season concluded with Roz going to another station.
Series co-creators Christopher Lloyd and Joe Keenan - who have returned for the final season - also plan to send Niles and Daphne (David Hyde Pierce and Jane Leeves) into choppy waters.
Niles' first wife, Maris, will be the source of his marital discord - but contrary to previous reports, the producers are not casting the role.
"Not unless we can find an actress who can defy the laws of physics," said Lloyd.
As fans know, Maris has never been seen or heard. But she has been described as being so thin she could walk through a snow storm and leave no footprints.
Niles and Daphne will also continue their efforts to add another Crane to the family.
While "Frasier" is a multiple Emmy Award winner and will go down in history as one of the best-written sitcoms, its conclusion isn't going to be the kind of pop-culture event "Seinfeld" was.
The show also has the misfortune of finishing in the same year as NBC's "Friends," which is likely to overshadow a "Frasier" finale.
"We know that's going to be true," said Grammer. "If it bothered me, it would be uncavalier of me to say so."