Doctor Frasier Crane is one of televisions most beloved and enduring creations. A pompous, self absorbed, yet intensely lovable radio Shrink. Very few people would think of him as a badass and truth be told he wasn’t, but I often wonder what the people of Seattle in the fictional universe he inhabited would have thought of him?
Throughout his long career, the good doctor was involved in a number of scandals and bust ups which I feel would have given the impression to those who listened to his radio show (and the general population of Seattle) that he was a badass.
I suppose the real name of this article should be “top 5 ways Frasier appeared to be a badass to the people of Seattle”, but that would be too long. To be fair some of the things on this list could be seen as genuinely badass things to do. Perhaps when we talk about Frasier, maybe the word badass should be included alongside the words pompous, vain, snobby etc.
5/ He sleeps around
Doctor Frasier Crane as we all know is involved with many women over the course of his own show. Some of his more awkward affairs however would have, to the general population of Seattle, given the impression that he was a sleazy badass. He had an affair with his boss Kate Costas, who was known for being an alpha bitch. Furthermore he had sex with her on air whilst screaming “You dirty girl” whilst she was calling him a “bad boy”.
On top of that he also slept with Julia another women that everyone was afraid of. Julia “loved suing people’s asses off” and after sleeping with Frasier not only threw her out of his apartment, but told her he was mad to sleep with her.
Then he also slept with Roz his producer and unknowingly made a joke about it on the air to the amusement of his fans.
He also had a sleazy affair with a model whom he tried to take a picture of whilst she was asleep.
Finally there is his ex wife Lilith. We all know how scary Lilith is and we already know he informed everyone of what Lilith was truly like. “I see we have a celebrity on the air”, “celebrity?” “oh they know you”.
Overall Frasier would have a reputation as a guy who screws and leaves the most scary and intimidating women, one of whom called him badboy.
4/ He throws wild parties
Many episodes of Frasier revolve around he and his brother Niles attempts to climb the social ladder in Seattle often by throwing lavish parties. All of these attempts naturally end in absolute disaster.
Now as Frasier is a celebrity, chances are the wild things that happened at these parties would make their way into the papers.
At one of them a bed crashed through the roof whilst two people were having sex on it, at another he and his brother were accused of murder, whilst a dead seal washed up outside that they then stabbed and dressed in funny clothes. At another they insulted all of the guests, many of whom were among Seattle’s elite by calling them “horny”, “lush’s”, and “letch’s”. Finally at another someone actually died!
Frasier’s parties would get a reputation as being the wildest and most dangerous to be at in no time. I suppose in many ways Frasier would be not only be seen as a badass because of his parities, but a working class hero too, as he is someone who comes from a working class background and pisses off the richest and most powerful people in Seattle.
3/ He offends everyone and doesn’t give a fuck
The amount of times Frasier offends the population of Seattle at public events would certainly give him a reputation as a controversial celebrity. He memorably offends Seattle and calls its population “whiney twits” and refuses to apologize. He later shows up at an awards ceremony and tells a joke that both mocks a recent tragic event and comes across as racist, which he then laughs off.
There is also the fact that he regularly offends his entire building and even gives them the finger on one occasion . He also takes drugs. Okay we all know that he doesn’t really, but it would appear that he does to his listeners. In one episode Frasier paranoid that his brother will replace him on his show takes powerful drugs that leave him dazed. He later shows up on his show and locks his producer and his brother out, before offending several people with mental health problems, including dismissing one persons problems as “boring”.
He then is carried out by security before Niles makes a joke that implies he was stoned off of his ass. “Bravo Frasier for so brilliantly demonstrating why they call it dope”.
2/ His family and associates are badasses too.
Take a look at how Frasiers family and friends would appear to anyone who doesn’t know them. His ex wife Lilith is a scary woman, his agent Bebe is also pure evil and is even at one point a suspect in a murder case.
His brother Niles would also earn quite a reputation too. A man whose ex wife is a murderer (and he supplied her the murder weapon), who flashed his buttocks to President Nixon and ran off with his father’s physical therapist.
Niles also offended Seattle’s elite just as much as Frasier did and also fought a man who he thought was having an affair with his wife, with a sword and very nearly joined the NRA!
Then there is his dad who got shot in the hip too and flashed his building in the hot tub.
Anyone doing a background into Frasier and found this info about his friends and associates would probably understand why he was such a badass.
1/ He is violent and ruins everyone who dares to cross him.
Yes who would have though a guy like Frasier would have been someone you would not want to cross, but to the population of Seattle that would certainly seem the case as anyone who ever did either had their careers ruined, or in some cases was threatened with violence.
Carlos and the Chicken who frequently humiliated Frasier were broken up on air by Frasier when he exploited their insecurities about who was funnier, and then attacked Carlos for correcting his French pronunciation.
Nobody heard from them after that.
Then there was how he got revenge on Bulldog after Bulldog humiliated him many times too. Frasier put a lizard in his box which not only caused Bulldog to jump up scared and humiliate himself in the process, but the lizard also bit off Kate’s finger.
Then there was Doctor Nora who had a long running feud with Frasier and whose career Frasier ruined when he dug up dirt on her, and brought her insane mother in to attack Nora on air. Of course Frasier had no idea that her mother was insane, but to the general public it would appear he did. Just like Carlos and the Chicken no one ever heard from Dr Nora again after she crossed Dr Crane.
Then there is also the man he grabs and throws out of Cafe Nervosa when he takes his seat. This isn’t the only time Frasier is shown to use violence in public. On another occasion he punches Santa himself in the face with a microphone. Though again it’s accidental, everyone thinks it is deliberate and Doctor Mary doesn’t back him up. He also on another occasion got into a fight with a critic in the city. To be fair the critic started it, but Frasier hit back at every opportunity and didn’t back down and later faced the critic down in the middle of the city. It’s even more impressive when you remember that this critic was a huge guy, Daphne even said you could show movies on his back and Frasier didn’t back down from fighting him.
Conclusion
To the people who listen to his radio show and pretty much the rest of the population of Seattle, Frasier would appear to be a womanizer who sleeps with the hardest women and then throws them out on their ass, as soon as he is done with them and even gets them to call them bad boy. He also throws the wildest parties where the police have been called, property is destroyed, and the most powerful people in society have never been so offended in their lives. He also offends the entire town regularly by shagging people on the air, telling the town they’re stupid and telling racist jokes. He is also to them a dope fiend who shows up stoned on the air and tells people with mental health problems that they’re boring. He also comes from a family of tough guys, sleaze bags and associates with murderers. He also if pushed can react with violence, throwing people out of cafe’s, punching Santa, chasing Carlos and the Chicken out of their booth and not backing down from a fight with a huge guy. And finally he is also someone who will exploit someone’s worst weakness, humiliate them on the air, dig up dirt on them and end their careers if they dare to fuck with him.
Of course the people who know him, know that nothing could be further from the truth, but it does make you wonder what true bumbling, farcical stories are behind the deeds of some real life badasses?