Written by: Sam Johnson & Chris Marcil

Directed by: David Lee

Original US airdate: 6th March 2001

Original UK airdate: 20th April 2001

• Space Isn't Big Enough For The Two Of Us
  
  
• Seattle, We Have A Problem
  

Fly Me To The Moon, Jun 01, 2011

Reviewer: David Sim from Skelmersdale, Lancashire

Its rare to see a sitcom with a flawless ensemble. Where the cast have a perfect synergy, they're like a finely tuned unit. In that category, you could point to Fawlty Towers, and definitely Frasier. So its always seemed strange to me that for a sitcom blessed with an outstanding comedy team, the producers choose to underuse one of its key players.

Ever since the show's inception, Roz has always been more of a secondary player. Compared to the other castmembers who get whole episodes apiece, Roz is lucky if she appears in more then two scenes. To get a whole episode to herself is akin to finding the Holy Grail.

What with Daphne away from the show, I suppose the producers decided to give Roz a shot in Docu.Drama just to plug the gap. Its even rarer for Roz to get a meaty, engrossing plotline to sink her teeth into. And I'm afraid Docu.Drama doesn't provide one.

Roz is directing a documentary about the space program, and Frasier is eager to narrate it. Obviously Roz has forgotten the events of Ham Radio, and doesn't see anything wrong with Frasier lending his voice to the project.

As expected, Frasier likes to be leader. He just can't follow, and when Roz shuts down his overeager suggestions, it drives a wedge between them. When Roz replaces him with former astronaut and US senator John Glenn, Frasier tries to wrest back control of the show.

It does seem a bit out of character that Roz would want to do a documentary about the space program. Has Roz ever shown an interest in that sort of thing? And why didn't she get Noel, the biggest space cadet at KACL to help out, instead of the two anonymous nerds during the production meeting?

There's a scene in Docu.Drama where Frasier uses the term also-ran. That's an apt description of the episode. Where it just seems to fail at everything. While it is certainly nice to see Roz headlining an episode, why then do Sam Johnson and Chris Marcil have to resort to turning Roz into an unlikable harridan?

Part of the problem may be that the writers never seem to know how to handle Peri Gilpin's brassy, brash personality. They either water her down so as not to upset the apple-cart. Or in the case of Docu.Drama (or A New Position For Roz) they turn her sass in much uglier directions.

Every now and again we get episodes where the writers pit Frasier and Roz against each other, but all that usually does is make them seem petty and impossible to like. Much less sympathise with. Docu.Drama doesn't hit the excruciating lows of A New Position For Roz but neither does it do anything to endear the characters to the audience.

Frasier and Roz at each others throats is never much fun to watch. When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object, its got to be backed up by an involving story. Otherwise, we're just left with two very dislikable people driving their audience up the wall. And that is exactly the end result.

Another thing that bothers me about the episode is John Glenn. This may have been the point where Frasier began to slip in the ratings. And I can't help but feel that Glenn's presence was a desperate attempt on NBC's part to boost them. A tactic often used by TV shows when numbers are down is to resort to famous names for guest appearances. This can be made to work if it fits the context of the story, like Derek Jacobi in The Show Must Go Off. But alas, John Glenn is not much of an actor, and while his appearance isn't as shameless as Bill Gates' in the 200th episode, he doesn't bring anything to the table.

Niles and Martin's subplot doesn't add up to much either. Personally, I never like stories that pair them together. They work fine when part of the group ensemble, but on they're own they tend to lose some of their spark. They're engaged in a project that also seems out of character, flying a kite.

It does give us one funny scene, when Niles tries to fly solo on the balcony, but a gust of wind blows the kite on the roof and nearly pulls Niles over the railing, with Eddie as a silent audience. Its an amusing sequence but not as funny as it should have been. All you have to do is hold it up to the first seven minutes of Three Valentines and you'll realise how colourless it is by comparison.

I don't think there's really much more to say about Docu.Drama. We know that Frasier and Roz will patch things up, and then the episode is quietly put to sleep. The producers are only waiting for Daphne to come back anyway so they can shuffle Roz back to the sidelines, so Docu.Drama has the unmistakable feel of a filler. That says all there is to say about the episode.

Rating: 48%