The Most Cringeworthy Moments In Frasier

Premiering in 1993, "Frasier" was one the most beloved sitcoms of the '90s and enjoyed 11 seasons before concluding in 2004. Beginning his fictional life as a romantic rival to Ted Danson's Sam on "Cheers," the snooty psychiatrist Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) begins his spinoff series by moving back to his hometown of Seattle where he doles out advice to callers on the radio. In his lavish apartment, he's joined by his father, Marty — a retired cop played by the late John Mahoney, whose gruff, blue-collar outlook clashes with those of his sons — and his dog, Eddie, along with the self-professed psychic housekeeper Daphne (Jane Leeves). Frasier's closest thing to a best friend and confidant is his brother — David Hyde Pierce's Niles, a tightly-wound germaphobe who's obsessed with Daphne. 

"Frasier" holds up pretty well upon rewatch, but if you binge the sitcom, you may notice every now and then something comes up that makes you cringe. On one hand, Frasier dates quite a lot of women in the series, and some of the things he does on dates and in the bedroom are pretty disturbing. On the other, there's a lot of humor that some might find problematic. "Frasier" sometimes deals with issues that remain relevant today — like racism, sexism, ableism, and homophobia — and it's questionable whether or not it always handles those issues in the best way.

To find out what we mean, keep reading for what we see as the most cringeworthy moments in "Frasier."

Early in the final season of "Frasier," Sir Patrick Stewart makes a guest appearance as Alistair Burke, a famous opera director and — though the psychiatrist loathe to admit it — Frasier's boyfriend. 

Suspecting Roz's partner is gay, Frasier follows him into a gay bar, where the talk show host is recognized by some of the patrons, and the next day, a caller to Frasier's show "outs" him. In the aftermath, Frasier is unable to convince anyone he isn't gay, and when Alistair Burke takes notice of him and starts pampering him with gifts — including offering to bring him along to Madrid for a concert — Frasier stops trying. 

In spite of blatant signs that Burke sees him as a romantic partner, Frasier claims they're just friends, and his denial is secured only by the fact Burke doesn't make any sexual advances. That changes when, on the night of his latest premiere, Burke mentions in front of Frasier that while rehearsing an opera, he abstains from sex in order to devote himself fully to the endeavor. Turning to Frasier, Burke caresses the doctor's chest and says, "My poor, dear, patient Frasier." Shortly afterward, Frasier disappoints Burke with the truth.

Along with the utter creepiness of Frasier's deception, there's a lot of problematic humor in the episode. For example, early in the story, Frasier and Niles — two highly educated psychiatrists — joke about suspecting Roz's boyfriend is gay based on nothing but homophobic stereotypes. 

The Season 7 premiere, "Momma Mia," introduces us to a new love interest, and at first, Frasier is blind to the reason for her allure. While waiting for a blind date at Cafe Nervosa, Frasier is smitten with the woman we soon learn is children's author Mia Preston, played by Rita Wilson. In spite of an awkward and funny mix-up at the coffeeshop, Frasier and Mia hit it off. There's no immediately apparent reason to feel at all strange about the pairing, until Mia meets Niles, who reveals to Daphne that Frasier's new girlfriend is the spitting image of their dead mother. 

When Mia joins the family for a weekend in a cottage, Marty agrees with Niles' observation, and it makes things even weirder when Mia acts motherly toward Frasier, like offering to cut up his food for him. Marty and Niles argue about whether or not to say something to Frasier, but when they watch a home movie that includes Frasier's actual mom and he sees the resemblance for himself, they don't need to. 

Unfortunately, once Frasier sees the similarities, it ends things between him and Mia. But it isn't the end of Rita Wilson's time on "Frasier." Wilson reprises the role of Frasier's actual mother as part of a dream sequence in Season 9's "Don Juan in Hell: Part 2."

Frasier isn't known for an affinity for physical labor, and in Season 10's "Some Assembly Required," we discover an interesting and disturbing reason why he should probably stay away from such endeavors.

Frasier's co-workers at the station sign him up for a program that builds houses for low-income families. When the house is complete, Frasier makes a speech as if he were singularly responsible for the house's construction while his anecdotes reveal he was only allowed to perform the most limited of tasks, such as stirring paint. Regardless, Frasier develops a strange attachment to the house and its new family. He visits them just after they move in and offers some free decorating tips. 

The family is grateful at first, but their gratitude grows sour as Frasier not only won't stop dropping in uninvited but continues to criticize their decorating choices. He gives them tons of unasked for accessories and acts betrayed when he discovers they've put up a cow-shaped mailbox rather than the one he bought them as a gift. The new homeowners are forced to eventually shove him out of their front door so that he'll get the message. He does eventually come to his senses and apologize, and they reward him with a tour of their fully decorated home. Frasier is barely able to contain shrieks of horror when he discovers the new black-and-white cow theme of the interior, along with a freshly painted bathroom that Frasier describes with, "Wow, that's purple!"

Different TV series have chosen different ways to deal with the pregnancies of their stars. In the case of "Frasier," the show's writers opted to explain Jane Leeves' weight gain by saying her character had developed a food addiction. The idea itself is cringey enough, but it gets really disturbing in season 8's "Hungry Heart," when everyone becomes concerned with Daphne's uncontrolled eating — except Niles, who seems utterly oblivious to any changes. 

The episode is merciless with her eating and weight gain. At one point, Daphne trips and falls on the floor and isn't able to get back up on her own because of her new weight. When Marty finds out, his first reaction is to panic and search for Eddie, worrying Daphne has crushed him. And in a wild comedy of errors involving Frasier's date — who he doesn't know is his co-worker's wife — we discover Daphne's hidden pastries and candy all over the apartment, including inside books and decorations.

The cringe doesn't end with "Hungry Heart." Daphne goes to a recovery spa where she loses her excess weight, and in "Daphne's Return," one of the "gifts" the Cranes give her to celebrate her weight loss is a plastic pig that snorts loudly every time Daphne opens the fridge. 

In the final season of "Frasier," Julia Sweeney guest stars as Ann, an insurance claims adjustor that Roz sets up with Frasier. In "The Placeholder," Roz knows things won't work out between Ann and Frasier, but she acts as matchmaker anyway to keep Frasier's dating skills from wasting away. Frasier wants no part of it at first, but after an awkward night of being the fifth wheel at a couples' dinner and another night of cat-sitting that makes him feel like an old maid, he's willing to take the plunge. 

Along with just the cringey notion of dating someone as a placeholder, Frasier's treatment of Ann doesn't make him appear to be much of a gentleman. He's clearly annoyed by Ann right away and isn't looking forward to the rest of the evening. When Ann heads to the restroom, Frasier's co-worker, Kenny (Tom McGowan), shows up with his lovely cousin, Liz Wright (Krista Allen) — making her, literally, "Miss Right." Frasier lies to them, saying his dinner with Ann is just business, and he spends the rest of the date trying to ditch Ann so he can take his shot with Liz. 

Of course, both Ann and Liz eventually figure out what Frasier's up to, and he gets the public shaming he deserves, though absurdly, Ann still wants to meet him for coffee the next morning.

As a show reaches its final season, it's only natural for ideas to run dry. Such is the case with "Frasier" Season 11. In Episode 17, "Coots and Ladders," Frasier recounts his bad day in a series of flashbacks while Niles anticipates a crime Frasier has admitted to committing. Although it's not exactly the most entertaining plotline of the series, one moment in particular will make you cringe. 

After a kleptomaniac calls into his radio show and a beautiful woman turns down his advances, Frasier finds himself helping his elderly neighbor change her lightbulb. When he learns the 83-year-old woman is still successfully dating, Frasier's bitterness comes to a boiling point, and he pockets one of the woman's trinkets. Frasier's over-the-top reaction is played for laughs as he and Niles try to return the item. But it's not as funny when you remember he's a grown, educated man taking advantage of a trusting elder. The cringiest part of all arrives when Frasier and Niles stumble into the woman's surprise birthday party and have to talk their way out of Frasier's theft. They go through many hoops trying to return the item without anyone noticing. Thankfully, they succeed — but we're left cringing at the two foolish Crane brothers.

Frasier has a chaotic dating life. The snooty, middle-aged psychiatrist can't seem to hold down a woman for the life of him. Although he doesn't have much luck with the ladies, he still hasn't given up hope. But sometimes, that doesn't feel like a virtue: Many of Frasier's most cringe-worthy moments are the result of him trying to impress women. We'll give him an A for his mostly respectful effort, but we will not forgive the cringey dirty talk between him and his new girlfriend, Madeline (JoBeth Williams). 

In Season 2's "Adventures in Paradise: Part 1," Frasier and Madeline take a romantic trip to Bora Bora. He soon finds out they've booked a room next to his ex-wife and her new lover, which is awful enough on its own. But surprisingly, it doesn't come close to the moment the couple hops in bed together and indulges in the worst kind of foreplay. Frasier exclaims, "I'm sweating like the pig that knows he's dinner." When Madeline leaves to freshen up, Frasier makes everything worse with a seductive "oink." Madeline might be into the strange pig reference, but for everyone else, it's become a suppressed nightmare.

We love the Crane brothers for their intellectual interests and expensive tastes (when they're not putting others down because of them, anyway). But when the two get tickets to see the hottest play in town, their excitement quickly fades after they realize the tickets don't work, forcing them to scrounge at the last minute. They'll do whatever it takes to maintain their high-class social standing — except wait in the cancellation line like a couple of peasants. 

Their superiority complexes are often charming, but in this case, they lean towards cringe. It's uncomfortable to watch Frasier and Niles desperately try to conceal their lack of prestige. Everyone wants to impress their friends every once in a while, but it's in the Crane brothers' nature to take things too far. In reality, it's likely their friends and the rest of high society couldn't care less about Frasier and Niles' ticket status.

Frasier's AM radio show is one of his greatest successes. He feels good about himself when he helps the people of Seattle with their problems, and is constantly recognized for his stardom. He's put up on such a high pedestal, in fact, that when a stranger from the radio station's focus group gives his show negative feedback in Season 3's "The Focus Group," Frasier goes out of his way to harass the innocent man. 

Manu is a newsstand owner who does nothing more than express his opinion when asked for it. He simply states, "I don't like it." It's a fair assessment, but Frasier gets fixated on it. He goes out of his way to track down Manu to better understand why he said what he said. Manu is a good guy, and he feels betrayed by the radio station for lying to him about the hosts listening in. The last thing he wants to do is talk poorly about someone else. In his search for answers, Frasier ends up burning down Manu's newsstand and livelihood. This lack of empathy and narcissistic behavior makes for a seriously cringe-worthy scene.