Product Description

24 EPISODES AND SPECIAL FEATURES

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3796 in DVD
• Brand: PARAMOUNT HOME VIDEO
• Released on: 2004-05-25
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 4
• Dimensions: .70 pounds
• Running time: 543 minutes

Amazon.com
With this third season, Frasier scored an impressive hat trick, winning its third successive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. You don't need too much analysis to get to the bottom of this unprecedented success. The series was a primetime oasis of wit and sophistication, with welcome forays into farce that pricked Frasier's bubble of pomposity. His priceless reactions to the assaults on his dignity are worthy of Jack Benny. Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) can be infuriating, as in "The Focus Group," in which he is obsessed with knowing why a lone focus group participant (guest star Tony Shalhoub) doesn't like him. But he is also endearing in his delusional view of himself as, in the words of one mocking bystander, a "man of the people." Frasier meets his match in new station owner Kate Costas (Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl). Their combative relationship turns to lust over the course of the first 10 episodes.

But the season's most pivotal story arc is the separation of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and Maris. "Moon Dance," which marked Grammer's directorial debut, is a series benchmark, as a crestfallen Niles tangos with his unrequited love, Daphne (Jane Leeves), at a high society ball. Not that the Crane family still doesn't have issues to work out. Frasier cannot abide being beaten at chess by Martin (John Mahoney) in "Chess Pains." Frasier and Niles ill-advisedly go into joint practice in "Shrink Rap," and find themselves on the opposite sides of a sanity hearing in "Crane vs. Crane." Lilith is sorely missed, but in this season's blast-from-the-past episode, Shelley Long returns in "The Show Where Diane Comes Back." It is a joy to see Cheers resurrected, if only in Diane's self-absorbed new play, which Frasier agrees to back. And any episode with Frasier's amoral agent Bebe (Harriet Sansom Harris) is must-see television. Frasier's humor was character-based, rather than topical, giving it a longer shelf life. For those who lament the end of one of television's gold standard series, this boxed set will be excellent therapy. --Donald Liebenson

From the Back Cover
"Frasier - The Complete Third Season" is a half-hour comedy series set in Seattle, which chronicles the lives of an eloquently pompous radio show host, Dr. Frasier Crane, (Kelsey Grammer), his competitive, high-brow brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce), their crotchety father Martin (John Mahoney) and Martin's semi-psychic, live-in home-care provider, Daphne (Jane Leeves). A show that made history by becoming the first series, comedy or drama, to achieve a record five consecutive Emmy wins for Outstanding Comedy Series, Frasier has earned a total of 30 Emmy Awards.

Customer Reviews

GIVE US BETTER EXTRAS NEXT SEASON!
This is a wonderful collection for those who care only about seeing their favorite Frasier episodes or the ones they missed. Hands down, Frasier is the wittiest, most imaginative sitcom since the Dick Van Dyke show. Only the brilliant, much-missed MST3K made me laugh out loud as consistently. I own Frasier Seasons One through Three, and even though I love watching my favorite episodes a second or third time, the extras are disappointing. The Bulldog featurette and the Maris extras on this Season Three set are snooze-worthy. Why rehash the same material that's on the disc? We fans want behind-the-scenes footage, rehearsal footage, bloopers, deleted scenes, etc. We want to see John Mahoney flub his lines and crack everyone up! And we all know that Moose is hardly a one-take dawg. I'm sure the producers have plenty of outtake reels hanging around. More commentary, outtakes, bloopers, deleted scenes, please, for Season Four!!! Please listen to your fans, Kelsey!

The quick wit lives on!
Frasier marked the end of the shows that thrived on quick wit and the constant juggle versus the occasional belly laugh. This collection is some of the best of the series and another reminder of an era that is started out with the likes of the Cosby Show, Night Court, Cheers and now is sadly coming to an end.

Frasier is still in the building
Season three of "Frasier" didn't hit as many comic highs the series achieved in season two - the brothers don't let their egos destroy restaurants, for example. Instead, in these 24 episodes, we get the kind of acerbically funny, occasionally hilarious character comedy that we came to expect from the show. Niles, who in this season leaves Maris, finds his attraction to caretaker Daphne (Jane Leeves) intensifying, especially in the episode "Moon Dance," in which two two dance at a society bash. Meanwhile, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) has a prolonged fling with his boss (Mercedes Ruehl). In one memorable episode - "The Adventures of Bad Boy and Dirty Girl," the two accidentally broadcast their tryst. Frasier also has a close encounter with Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), who left him at the altar in "Cheers." (The episode, "The Show Where Diane Comes Back," features a classic "Cheers" spoof.) The shows frequently shun cheap laughs to build to a riotous conclusion. The extras are going downhill from the earlier collections.