Written by: Jon Sherman

Directed by: Kelsey Grammer

Original US airdate: 27th February 2001

Original UK airdate: 13th April 2001

• Hooping Cranes
  
  
• French Kiss-Off

So Niles can dribble after all!, Jun 23, 2010

Reviewer: David Sim from Skelmersdale, Lancashire

With Jane Leeves away to have her baby, the next four episodes soldier on without her. But with Daphne away from the show, it gives Frasier and Niles a chance to get the old double-act back in the swing of things. Something we haven't seen nearly enough of this season.

Hooping Cranes is the first solo script this season from Jon Sherman. While not quite in the class of a Joe Keenan or a Christopher Lloyd, one thing many say about Jon Sherman is that he knows how to write a good episode of Frasier. In fact some of his best work for the show was done in Lloyd and Keenan's absence. Still, I doubt many would rank Hooping Cranes alongside the likes of Bla-Z-Boy, Roe to Perdition, and especially Fathers and Sons, Sherman's best writing from this period.

Hooping Cranes has a plot like the Season 4 episode Head Game. Where Niles became a hero after helping a basketball star come out of his dry spell. Head Game was one of the weaker episodes from the magnificent Season 4. Mainly because the plot wasn't strong enough to sustain the episode by itself. In the case of Hooping Cranes, Niles becomes a hero after shooting a basket on live TV. It was only a fluke of course. But the success goes to Niles' head. Making Frasier insanely jealous.

Hooping Cranes is not a bad episode by any measure. Its quite watchable. And there's nothing embarrassing about it. Because Jon Sherman has a superior grasp of the characters compared to the other writers of this period. But Frasier shouldn't be just watchable. It should be excellent. And Jon Sherman's usually are. But he's let himself down by not putting enough thought into the plot.

There's some fun to be had from watching Niles milking his success. And it was David Hyde Pierce who made the shot. He got it on the 26th attempt, at Kelsey Grammer's insistence. And I like the way Frasier pokes holes in Niles' inflated sense of his own achievement:

"The way Niles tells it, it all started with a small rubber factory in Sumatra. Where an unsuspecting basketball began a journey that would lead to greatness."

Fun as it is to watch the sniping between the Crane boys, Hooping Cranes never tells more than a passable story. Funnily enough, the best scene has nothing to do with the main plot at all. In a great scene at Cafe Nervosa, Roz needs Frasier's help to break up with her French boyfriend, Jean-Pierre.

Jean-Pierre doesn't speak a word of English, and like most American women, Roz seems to think bawling in his earlobe will clear up they're communication problems. Its just for that reason why Jean-Pierre wants to break up with her. Frasier and Jean-Pierre carry on a conversation in French for Roz's benefit. It seems she needs Frasier to let him down gently. But he's already been looking for a way out for days, and he just needs Frasier's advice on finding the best restaurant in Seattle.

The main plot winds down as much as you'd expect. While at McGinty's, Frasier challenges Niles to repeat his success by throwing a ball into a miniature hoop. And naturally, he can't even sink a single shot. It finally hits home with Niles that he may not be ready to lead the Seattle Mariners just yet!

I don't think Hooping Cranes is quite the rehash of Head Game most are dismissing it as. (Although in a peculiar coincidence, a key cast member had to be absent for both!) A few fun moments here and there, but still one of the lesser episodes from the usually reliable Jon Sherman.

Rating: 75%