Here’s Jane Leeves’ favorite episode of Frasier, which is also a fan favorite choice. When the character of Dr. Frasier Crane joined the cast of Cheers, few would have suspected he would one day land his own spinoff series. Frasier arrived in 1993 and followed the good doctor as he moved to Seattle to host his own radio show and reconnect with his father Marty and brother Niles. While the character was slightly altered from Cheers’ – including Marty suddenly not being dead – Frasier soon became a major success on its own terms.
Frasier developed a unique tone from Cheers and often combined verbal and physical comedy to great effect. While the comic formula often saw Frasier or his family blundering into awkward situations and progressively making them worse through lying or trying to weasel out of them, the show contained a lot of heart too. Frasier ended with season 11 in 2004, which also marked the end of Grammer’s 20-year run playing the part.
Grammer is currently working on a planned Frasier revival, though progress on the show has been slow thus far. Some viewers have taken Grammer’s Frasier reboot comments as a bad sign also, with the series appearing to lack a solid concept. A key element of Frasier was the long-simmering romance between Niles and Jane Leeves’ Daphne, who was Marty’s live-in carer, which played out over many seasons. In 1999 special My Favorite Frasier, it was revealed that Jane Leeves’ favorite episode of Frasier is season 3’s “Moon Dance.”
Frasier’s “Moon Dance” was the first (of many) episodes directed by Grammer for the sitcom, and was key to the evolution of the Daphne/Niles romance. In the episode, Niles is still mourning the end of his marriage and is jealous of reports of Maris’ – who was famously never seen – romantic exploits. He plans to attend a ball to show their high society friends he’s doing just fine, and he gets Daphne to give him dance lessons. When his date cancels, he and Daphne end up going together and eventually perform an impassioned tango.
This dance is so intense that Niles finally confesses his romantic feelings to Daphne, which she reciprocates and they kiss. Niles is soon crushed, however, to learn that Daphne thought he was just acting to impress the many onlookers to their show-stopping performance. It’s easy to see why Jane Leeves’ favorite episode of Frasier is “Moon Dance,” as it’s a great showcase for her as both a comic performer and a dancer. She also felt it was special for exploring the Niles/Daphne love story and for being Grammer’s directing debut on the show. Niles performer David Hyde Pierce – who may not return for the reboot – is also a big fan of Frasier’s “Moon Dance,” and was impressed by Grammer’s use of the camera during the big dance number.
