The final season of "Frasier" was often a chance for the show to have a "victory lap", and return to subjects or characters for one last time. So an episode about Frasier's inability to lose gracefully, about the beloved SeaBee awards, about the brothers' rivalry AND Roz's feelings of inferiority in her family? What a brilliant idea. Alas, "Sea Bee Jeebies" is an almost complete failure of an episode, providing - to the best of my knowledge - four laughs. Worse though, the episode isn't just bad because it's unfunny; it's bad because so many of the situations seem to suggest deep wells of humour... where instead is found nothing. Why isn't it a complete failure? Well, as always: ladies and gentlemen, the cast.
Jane Leeves is clearly in her third trimester so sits out most of the episode, and John Mahoney similarly gets almost nothing to do, but the remaining trio really sells their individual roles. Niles is swept up in a burst of fame due to Maris' murder trial and while this offers little humour on its own, the way that David Hyde Pierce plays it is perfect. Niles' gloating (and pretending to be humble) is just gorgeous, and it brings out the best of Kelsey Grammer's ability to play Frasier's outrage. Unfortunately, the subplot yields very little fruit. Meanwhile, the idea of Denise (a welcome if unexpected return from Suzanne Cryer) having a perfect marriage somewhat undercuts "The Guilt Trippers" of season 9, which was about how she wasn't as perfect as Roz claimed. Although I suppose this is legitimate, since long-standing family issues are rarely resolved from one positive experience. The script smartly ties Denise into the main plot by becoming Frasier' date but, again, opportunities are missed by making Roz so meek in her presence, especially when Peri Gilpin does such a good line in catty one-liners (cf Julia). Still, Gilpin gets two of the episode's biggest laughs with her radiant acceptance speech and her dry, "make sure one of them is poisoned, I don't even care which one". By and large, the cast are wasted. Broadway veteran Stephen Spinella appears as a reporter riling up Frasier against his brother, but doesn't even get a single funny line. (The incredibly weak "can I get a big cup of coffee" gag gets a laugh from the audience - who have possibly been drugged - but is a desperate stab at humour. The audience also laughs when Frasier loses an award even though nothing funny happens in the show. Whether this is because we missed the funny thing on set, or because they were simply laughing out of habit - "main character is set up for something and fails to achieve it!" - we'll never know.)
This is Kelsey Grammer's episode, though, with some pitch-perfect line deliveries that again prove why Frasier Crane became the unlikely lead of an 11-year series. His bitterness at Niles, desperation with Denise, infuriated ranting at the awards, and finally his masterful performance of "Moon River"... it's a phenomenal performance from the man. Sadly, the script throws away opportunities for jokes at every turn. Perhaps this was supposed to be one of the show's trademark poignant episodes and I missed the memo? I mean, the vague signs of a farce are there, with the awards being hilariously inept on a Saturday morning, but instead it's as if the character of Kenny Daly wrote the script. Spinella's reporter character simply asks inane questions that are "funny" simply because he's asking them to Niles and not to Frasier. Cryer gets stuck with a terribly cliched Denise plot where the script hopes you'll accept the proposition that Denise's happiness makes Roz squirm, and don't expect anything more. The SeaBees have long been a way for the series to mock both Frasier's self-importance and general aspects of award shows. Instead, even the "In Memoriam" segment features three generic faces that could have been real-life figures. As with the other nominees up against Frasier, why wasn't this a chance for some completely ludicrous figures to appear on screen? A series of missed opportunities. I don't know what happened here: was a weak script let through because of time constraints? Perhaps. The cast amble gamely through the material, but they're trying to create gold from dross. While the final moments with Frasier singing amidst a field of chaos are amusing, they seem to build from a series of contrivances that aren't justified by the text. Many appear at the last minute or are - again - only funny because we're told they are. It's a perfect sitcom ending in search of a 20-minute beginning. |
A final visit to the Sea Bee awards which sees Frasier's record amount of nominations entitling him the honour of introducing the ceremony, which thanks to Kenny's slack organisation takes place at 9am in the morning. Predictably, nothing goes right for Frasier as firstly his date cancels, leaving him to attend the ceremony with Roz's sister Denise (previously seen in Season 9's 'The Guilt Trippers') and secondly the press reporter who was supposed to be covering his success becomes more interested in Niles' new found notoriety following Maris' murder case. The main reason for watching this episode is Kelsey Grammer's marvellous performance (his delivery of the line 'Only it can't be a nightmare because it's mid-morning!' is hilarious) as he and the rest of the cast work hard to inject some spark into an indifferent script, populated by too many routine one-liners which don't hit the mark. I also found the actual award ceremony began to drag after a while, with the constant repetition of the same band music becoming rather irritating. The only really memorable scene is the closing sequence where Frasier reluctantly finds himself having to sing a rendition of 'Moon River' with specially rewritten words from a teleprompter while all sorts of chaos surrounds him. It's always a pleasure to hear Kelsey Grammer break out into song and this highly amusing setpiece remains a choice highlight of this season. It's just a pity the rest of the episode isn't as good. |
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