Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 1 -> Episode 1.22

Author, Author

Niles meets Frasier in Cafe Nervosa with a problem - his book deal is about to fall through unless he comes up with a book idea within the next minute as he is about to meet his publisher. The publisher arrives and meets both brothers, then suggests that there is perhaps a book about sibling relationships to be written by two psychiatrist brothers. Niles says this was exactly the idea he was going to suggest, leaving Frasier astonished. Frasier at first flatly refuses to participate, but Niles wins him round by reminding him of their past successful collaborations. As they begin to write in Frasier's apartment, Frasier comes up with the idea of using his radio show to collect anecdotes about sibling relationships from his listeners. So Niles and Frasier go on the air together and collect a lot of remarkable stories, which the publisher also hears. He phones once the show is finished, and after they both lie about how much they've achieved, the publisher asks them to have it finished by Monday. The brothers resolve to lock themselves in a hotel room and not come out until they have finished. As the tension mounts and tempers flare, will the book ever be finished...?

- The opening scene where Frasier never gets coffee.

Niles: All my life I have dreamed of one thing - to walk into a library, look through the card catalogue and see my name under mental illness.

- Niles and Frasier making fun of their father when he has new headphones on and they think he can't hear them.

- Niles' appearance on Frasier's show.
Niles [as an American radio jock]: Hello Emerald City, what's doin', what's happ'nin'.
Frasier: What the hell do you think you're doin' ?
Niles: That was my radio persona - every great radio personality has one.
Frasier: I don't.
Niles: My point exactly.

- After learning of a head shaving incident as a sign of a sibling relationship:
Frasier: Niles, I would shave my head for you.
Niles: A gesture which becomes less significant with each passing year.

- Frasier biting into a muffin just as Martin says ".. and about 10 minutes ago Eddie was licking that muffin", and then Frasier offering it to Niles after their big fight.

Loved by many, this episode just doesn't hit enough of the right notes for me. Any Frasier and Niles collaboration episode throws up it's own fair share of great moments - Frasier and Niles collating KACL listeners sibling rivalry stories was just one of them - but I don't seem to enjoy as much as others moments like the song Frasier and Niles sing from their college musical, and the ensuing fight between them in the hotel room. This is far from being a dead loss of an episode, it's just not one I rate as highly as others.

Rating

79 %

Avg. Viewer Review: 80.4%
Total Number of Reviews: 9