Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 9 -> Episode 9.09

Junior Agent

There's a new radio psychiatrist on the air at another station - and he's beating Frasier in the ratings with his blend of a more explicit way of dealing with caller's problems. Frasier dismisses his competition, but Kenny rebuffs his request for more advertising saying it'd be pouring money down a drain. Frasier believes, however, that once his agent Bebe Glazer is on the case, his show'll be back on top in no time - and is spurred on by the fact that his rival is now advertising in the local paper. His visit begins well but Bebe says that she won't be handling Frasier herself personally anymore, she will be handing over the reins to her fully fledged junior agent - her assistant, Portia. Frasier is shocked and appalled, saying that he has never doubted Bebe's committment to his career but that this move means that Frasier decides to leave Bebe's agency!

Portia, on the other hand, does not give up so easily - she hounds Frasier incessantly trying to get him to listen to her ideas. Frasier, though, wants nothing to do with her and decides to become his own agent. He starts by schmoozing up to Kenny by inviting him down to his exclusive health spa in a bid to get him to advertise his show more. Kenny goes to the spa with Frasier, but when they are changing in the locker room, Portia comes in and finally gets Frasier (and Kenny) to listen to her ideas. Both Frasier and Kenny are amazed by her chutzpah, and Frasier finally relents and lets Portia be his new agent..... Meanwhile, Martin is trying to get Niles to write him a prescription for his cholesterol pills so he doesn't have to have a medical with his doctor.

- Daphne is relating the tale of her brother Michael at college:
Daphne: He supported himself by getting all sorts of experimental drugs pumped into him.
[She disappears in to the kitchen]
Martin: Think she's finished?
Niles: Wait for it.
[Daphne reappears]
Daphne: One year, he grew little boobies!

- Niles asks Frasier why she let Bebe be his agent:
Niles: What possessed you? .... Oh right, she did!

- Frasier is none too impressed by Portia:
Frasier: She is Bebe's minion - her winged monkey!

- Portia has sent Frasier gifts to win him over:
Martin: You're not gonna send back the flowers and muffins, are you?
Frasier: I don't see any muffins.
Martin: I mean - if she had sent any.

- Martin gets Niles off a parking ticket in return for him writing his prescription:
Martin: I set the whole thing up to get you ro write me my prescription.
Niles: I've got news for you too - I just drew you a picture of a dog!

- Portia's lockerroom speech

British viewers are probably not aware but the lady who plays Portia recently had her own, short lived, show on NBC called 'Kristin'. She certainly enlivened this rather average episode of 'Frasier' though her voice did get a bit grating at times. Still, I liked Frasier's attempts to fend of Portia's attempts to win him over, and trying to be his own agent, while Martin's attempts to get Niles to write him a prescription was amusing (if overlong) but ended well with Niles getting one over on his father. The one thing that was missing from the episode was anything that made it stand out - I found it hard to remember one truly funny part after watching it.

Rating

73 %

Avg. Viewer Review: 70.7%
Total Number of Reviews: 3