Frasier/Fridge

Fridge Brilliance

• When Patrick Stewart shows up and falls for Fraiser, with Frasier becoming a bit of a gold digger. When Frasier tries to clear it up Patrick Stewart tries to seduce him with time in his Villa in Capri. Patrick Stewart played Sejanus in I, Claudius, who controlled access to the Emperor's decadent Villa in Capri.
• From Frasier, the names of two of the titular character's coworkers being Roz and Guil suddenly became funny.
  • Something I dismissed as Characterization Marches On was Martin's characterization as a grumpy, bitter, insecure old Has Been in season 1, whereas he was later characterized as terminally cheerful, flippant and deadpan, and unwilling to let anything rattle him. Later, it occurred to me that this later characterization was probably his "original" personality all along — his demeanor in season 1 could easily be explained away as temporary depression due to his career-ending injury.
    • It's shown via flashback that he's actually pretty depressed before he gets shot, because he feels abandoned by his children. So Frasier's return and getting to live with him and Daphne may have softened him because it was like having a family again.
    • The death of his wife also probably didn't help with matters; she's suggested to have died not too long before the series starts. So, a dead wife, distant sons, a career-ending injury leaving him dependent on a walking cane and live-in care; really, is it any wonder Martin was a bit pissed off back then?
  • In the season 10 finale, Roz hates Frasier's new girlfriend Julia and thinks she's all wrong for him, which causes Frasier and her to get into a big fight. After accusations about trust and loyalty have been hurled back and forth, Roz tells Frasier that if he doesn't trust her judgment and dump Julia, she'll walk out of his life. In response, Frasier loftily stalks over to Julia, puts his arm around her, and glares at Roz. This always bothered this troper. Although Roz was over the line, Frasier's response seemed rather out of character. But then it occurred to me that Frasier is the man who sustained a close bond with his brother despite having Maris freaking Crane as a sister-in-law for fifteen years -- he's the very last person in the world who you should ever try the "I don't like her, so dump her or we're through" line on.
  • Rather unfortunate accidental shout-out -- Hester Crane cheated on Martin. She happens to share a name with one of the most famous female adulterers in literature: Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter.
• John Mahoney played ad jingle creator Sy Flembeck on an episode of Cheers, managing to infuriate Frasier in their short interaction. Sy and Martin share more than a few similarities (besides physical resemblance), so it would make sense that Frasier was as much annoyed by the reminder of his father (who he was estranged from at the time) as anything else.