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Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 11 -> Episode 11.22

Crock Tales
Episode Details

Written by: Jon Sherman & Bob Daily

Directed by: Sheldon Epps

Original US airdate: 4th May 2004

Original UK airdate: 16th June 2004


Cast Information
Main Cast
Frasier Crane .... Kelsey Grammer
Niles Crane .... David Hyde Pierce
Martin Crane .... John Mahoney
Daphne Crane .... Jane Leeves
Roz Doyle .... Peri Gilpin
Recurring Cast
Kenny Daly .... Tom McGowan
   
   
Guest Cast
Lisbeth .... Rosie Perez
Guest Callers

Episode Synopsis

Frasier is in the kitchen making dinner for Niles, Daphne, Martin and Roz when a piece of an earthenware crock pot, currently holding utensils and the like, breaks off in his hand. As Frasier heads for the rubbish bin with it, it triggers off some memories of the past 11 years in Seattle...

2003

Martin is mending the broken earthenware crock pot with superglue as Frasier prepares to meet a friend of Roz's - Lisbeth - who she thinks he'll hit it off with. Daphne and a sunburnt Niles also drop by after their honeymoon in Tahiti, but Martin's superglue leads to a sticky situation between Frasier and Lisbeth....

2002

Despite it being her birthday, a rather depressed Roz arrives at Frasier's so Daphne tries to cheer her up. Niles also drops by, with Martin soon learning that he and Daphne had just slept together. Roz is shocked as well when Daphne tells her all about her and Niles' adventures in bed, but Frasier has to hurridly find him a gift for Roz as he has forgotten to buy on - the earthenware crock pot.

1999

It's the 4th of July, and Frasier is dressed up as Uncle Sam for the KACL 4th of July parade float, while Daphne is clad in polyseter for some of her English friends 'Ugly Americans' party. Niles arrives to accompany his brother, but the 3 of them end up on the balcony when Frasier notices his bunting is adroop and end up being locked out when the door handle comes away in Daphne's hand. They try to attract Martin's attention but he is wearing the headphones Frasier gave him to watch TV - and are joined by Roz who rushes out to join them without realising they are locked out....

1998

It's Thanksgiving and with Niles going through his divorce and Frasier out of work, the pair are enjoying a bottle of wine, accompanied by some snacks which include the cheese in the earthen ware crock pot. Meanwhile, Roz is telling Frasier that she's found a job which, as he later discovers, is as a phone sex operator, while Daphne fears that Frasier is about to fire her...

1996

Frasier is excited about his relationship with a woman named Evelyn Greeble, while Niles has calmed Maris down after he inadvertently asked her: "Why the long face?". Roz drops by after a good date, and Martin offers her some cheese from the earthenware crock pot only to discover that no-one had opened it in the 3 years since he got it.

1993

Soon after Martin has moved in with Frasier, and Eddie is still staring at him, Niles drops by to give Daphne some Lemon biscuits form the UK. She inadvertently starts calling him Miles Crane, until Frasier corrects her. Martin, however doesn't want the meal Frasier's prepared and has ordered in pizza instead. Martin has also bought an earthenware crock pot filled with cheese to replace Frasier's gourmet cheese he inadvertently threw away.

Episode Title Cards
  • Crock Tales

Episode Highlights

2003

- Niles offers Lisbeth a glass of wine:
Lisbeth: Just half a glass with some club soda - you know how I love my spritzer!

- It seems Lisbeth had a 'safety word' with Roz if she didn't like Frasier too:
Lisbeth: Meeting you was just 'super'!

- Lisbeth and Frasier's hands seem to be stuck together:
Frasier: What kind of glue were you using on that pot?
Martin: Super (!)

 

2002

- Roz is complaining she used to have fun on her birthday, but now she has dinner:
Frasier: There's nothing wrong with dinner!
Roz: I know, but it used to come with sex

- Daphne is telling Roz about the amazing sex she had last night with Niles:
Daphne: I tell you, he's spolit me for any other man.
Roz: Frasier's brother Niles (?!)

 

1999

- Frasier notices the bunting on his balcony is drooping:
Daphne: You're not going to send me back to the Space Needle with binoculars and a walkie talkie, are you?

- Niles finds his cellphone to help call for help but puts it away again when Daphne starts stripping off becuase it's too hot.

 

1998

- Martin inadvertently answers one of Roz's phone sex calls, and is asked what he's wearing:
Martin: I don't know - brown pants and a plaid shirt.

 

1996

- Niles has calmed Maris down after Frasier upset her:
Frasier: All I said was "Maris, why the long face?"
Niles: Yes, and now she's on the phone to her chin grinder in Zurich!

 

1993

- Niles tells Frasier Maris has taken to her bed:
Niles: This large earring fad has compressed her spine!

Frasier Online Episode Review

The penultimate episode of the show, and a terrific one at that as it deliciously takes the concept of the flashback show, and instead of showing clips from previous episodes (see 'Analyzing The Laughter' for that) it creates 'new' flashbacks from moments in Frasier's life over the last 11 years in Seattle. This is a brilliant concept that works superbly, much helped by the production team taking us on a trip back through time with the changing hairstyles of Roz and Daphne, and subtle changes to Frasier's apartment too, as well as a script that made all the little vignettes amusing with some great touches such as working in some new Maris jokes and even an appearance by Kenny in the 1993 story as the pizza delivery guy. Although long term Frasier fans will get the most out of it, this is an episode that yet again marks the show out as head and shoulders above other sitcoms.

Rating

87 %

Latest Viewer Episode Review

Avg. Viewer Review: 79.0%
Total Number of Reviews: 7


The Penultimate Frasier, Sep 22, 2009

Reviewer: David Sim from Skelmersdale, Lancashire


As the show draws to a close, it falls to Jon Sherman and Bob Daily to pen Frasier's penultimate episode. And its a vast task. Where most sitcoms would content themselves with a clip show, Frasier takes the same premise and cleverly reinvents it.

We get a trip down memory lane alright. Except they're all new ones. Sherman and Daily revisit familiar moments from the last 11 years, and work in all new gags, puns and farcical situations. Its a refreshing and rewarding experiment.

Wisely, Jon Sherman and Bob Daily put the focus where it belongs. On the core cast. The people who've been with the show from the very beginning. It was a good idea to let Ronee and Charlotte rest (Charlotte particularly) until the series finale, because the penultimate ep really should be about Frasier, Niles, Martin, Daphne and Roz. They're the heart of the show.

Beginning in 2004, Frasier is preparing dinner for the family. A broken crock pot opens a floodgate of memories for Frasier from the past eleven years. We jump to 2003 (S10), where Daphne and a sunburned Niles return from they're honeymoon. Roz has set Frasier up on another one of her blind dates. An obnoxious woman called Lizbeth.

To digress a moment, the actress playing Lizbeth, Rosie Perez was initially considered to play Daphne. One cringes at that notion. She would have been detestable in the part. But she fits the bill quite nicely as Lizbeth. In a very funny sequence that recalls Frasier handcuffed to Officer Nasty in Season 7's To Thine Old Self Be True, Frasier glues himself to Lizbeth through a handshake, because he handled the crock pot Martin was trying to glue back together.

Even funnier is Frasier's codeword to Roz, "enchante". Which he'll say out loud if Lizbeth isn't his type. He says it within seconds of meeting her! And in a nicely subtle pun, Lizbeth keeps saying "Super". Her codeword for Frasier! You get a bit of an idea here what the show might have been like during S8-10 if Christopher Lloyd & Joe Keenan had stuck around for it.

Onto 2002, and its Roz's birthday. Its also just after Niles and Daphne slept together for the first time. The chronology's a bit off in this segment. They first slept together in Season 8, but the year puts this closer to Season 9 or 10. That's only a minor quibble. Niles and Daphne's individual stories about they're sexual adventures is amusing especially when they go off to the bedroom, and a fireworks display starts over the Seattle skyline.

Next up is 1999 (S6 or 7). And Frasier's dressed as Uncle Sam for the 4th of July KACL Parade Float. Seeing Frasier in costume will bring back pleasant memories of Season 5's Halloween. And the fact that Martin's chair has duct tape on it means this is his original chair. Before it went off the balcony in Jon Sherman's S9 classic Bla-Z-Boy. Speaking of the balcony, Frasier, Niles, Daphne and Roz are locked out on it, and Martin can't hear them because he's wearing headphones. Only amusing. Much funnier is watching Niles lust after Daphne in silence. It was great to see that again.

Into 1998, and Season 6 with Frasier and Roz out of work, and Niles living at the Shangri-La, going through a very messy divorce from Maris. Which is spot on. Sherman and Daily really did they're homework. There are a couple of faults here and there though. Niles plans to tell Daphne how he feels about her, and Roz acts like she knows all about it. But she didn't learn that until later. Again a minor quibble. Only a steadfast Frasier fan would know that. It still throws up a funny moment when Daphne thinks Frasier's going to fire her. Much funnier is the godawful wig Peri Gilpin has to wear to make her look like a younger Roz.

Then we get to 1996, and Season 3. Probably my favourite one. Niles is still married to Maris so we get to hear some new Maris jokes. Frasier asked her "Why the long face?" Now she's on the phone to her chin retractor in Zurich! We get Niles & Roz sniping at one another. I really miss that from the old days. And we witness the tail-end of another of Frasier's doomed relationships.

And finally 1993, so Season 1. Eddie stares all day at Frasier. A crotchety Martin doesn't like living with an uptight Frasier. Niles fumbles over a dippy Daphne. And Roz is caught in the middle. (Kenny camoes as a pizza man!). I saw this scene in an advert on Paramount years back and thought it was a S1 episode!

The episode comes full circle with the five of them sitting down to dinner. Showing how close they've grown over 11 years. A hugely enjoyable episode. I like all the little details. The changes to Frasier's apartment from season to season. Martin's old cane. The different hairstyles (which provide a lot of the laughs!). The references. The performances. Crock Tales takes us on a wonderful journey through some of Frasier's best chapters before it leaves our screens forever. A warm, touching tribute to one of TV's finest sitcoms. One that will never be replaced.


Rating: 90%

 

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