Frasier Online
home About The Show Episode Guide Merchandise Forum Reviews Gallery Contact

Frasier Online Episode Guide -> Season 10 -> Episode 10.19

Some Assembly Required
Episode Details

Written by: Patricia Breen

Directed by: Wil Shriner

Original US airdate: 1st April 2003

Original UK airdate: 28th April 2003


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
Gertrude Moon .... Millicent Martin
   
   
Guest Cast
Sandy .... Misha Henson
Mr Grant .... Timothy Carhart
Mrs Grant .... Dale Dickey
Principal .... Holmes Osborne
James .... James Oliver
Kid No.1 .... Haley Darwish
Kid No. 2 .... William Turner
Team Leader .... Jordan Lund
Guest Callers

Episode Synopsis

Frasier's colleagues at KACL roped him into helping them build a house for the 'Habitat for Humanity' charity, but at the handover to the new residesnts,- the Grants - it becomes apparent that Frasier believes he played a much more important role than he actually did. So proud is he of his handiwork that he goes back the next day to offer the Grants a housewarming gift of a mailbox that matches the colour of their front door. The Grants also ask for his advice about where to hang a picture they have purchased, and so impressed are they with his advice that they invite him where he proceeds to offer more of his own advice about how to decorate thier own home. Frasier is pertubed when he drives by the house later that week to find that his mailbox gift has been replaced by one decorated like a cow, and knocks on the Grants door to find out what has happened. They, by this time, are getting fed up with the visits by Dr Crane, but it is Frasier who is surprised when he discovers they don't really like any of the ideas he has given them for his house. He tells Roz he doesn't think the Grants are the right people for 'their' house - thankfully, Roz puts him straight and makes him go to see them one last time and tell them he won't be interfering any more. He manages to do this, despite the Grants having decorated the whole house in a cow theme.....

Also, Daphne and her mother have a huge fight that centres around Mrs Moon having to make a bigger contribution to the household, forcing Mrs Moon to go out and get a job - as a waitress at Cafe Nervosa, much to everyone's delight (!) - while Martin and Eddie are a big hit giving a safety lecture at a school assembly but after Martin picks up a fever from the children, Niles has to go on in his place and ends up giving a crowd-pleasing lecture on hygiene.

Episode Title Cards
  • Everybody's Gonna Fung Shui Tonight

  • Blood Is Thicker Than Latte

Episode Highlights

- Daphne is telling Martin about her huge fight with her mother:
Daphne: How did I put it Niles?
Niles: I couldn't hear you - I was in the the Panic Room!

- Niles reveals his own fears of 9th graders when he had to give them a lecture:
Niles: I haven't been so afraid of 9th graders since, well, 3rd grade!

- Eddie's tricks as part of Martin's act.

- At Cafe Nervosa, Mrs Moon comes over to Niles and Daphne to take their order:
Niles: What would you recommend?
Mrs Moon: Not having children!

- Frasier arrives at the Grant's house - again:
Mrs Grant: Honey, guess who's here again!

- Niles tells the principal Martin can't go on with a fever:
Principal: If we cancel this thing, we'll have a riot on our hands - the teachers are expecting a free period!

- Frasier tell his brother he hasn't really been very handy in his life:
Frasier: In elementary school, I made an ashtray for Dad. It caught fire!

- The Grant's cow themed house

Frasier Online Episode Review

After the delights of the previous episode, this one is sadly an intensely annoying one that features not one but two plot lines that drove me up the wall. Frasier's obsession with giving advice to the Grant's was not only dull but made me want to get a hold of him and say "get a grip" - not something I often say about Frasier, while Mrs Moon getting a job at Cafe Nervosa was just as bad with some awful scenes that meant she was more annoying that she has been in a long time. Thankfully, the episode was not a total washout thanks to Eddie's tricks for Martin's safety talk, something that we haven't seen for ages and was more than welcome in this episode, as was Niles' talk on hygiene, but they were not enough to lift a rather poor episode

Rating

65 %

Latest Viewer Episode Review

Avg. Viewer Review: 62.7%
Total Number of Reviews: 3


A mailbox is a house's handshake, May 26, 2013

Reviewer: Sammy J from Melbourne, Australia


"Some Assembly Required" is hardly bottom-of-the-barrel "Frasier", but it's an episode that never really finds a funny concept to grasp hold of. The idea of Frasier being "painter's helper" is quite amusing, even if it treads that thin ground between the more mature Frasier Crane (who would recognise when he is being patronised) and the out-of-touch guy he once was. Similarly, there is of course an amusing notion in the idea that he would impose upon these people's lives. The problem, I think, stems from the fact that his imposition is so mundane. While the Grants' quickly annoyed attitude is well-played, it feels as if the episode would be funnier if Frasier's existence really tortured their lives. Or led to some kind of climactic storyline. Or led to him having to defend his actions to a crowd of angry citizens. Something, anything! Instead, "Some Assembly Required" sticks to the small stuff. The script gets those right, particularly Martin's silly little gag about Officer Chirpy and Bob, and Roz's no-nonsense analysis of how the Grant family must feel. It's just a shame that nothing really happens.

I still enjoy Mrs. Moon, but this is the first episode where I've felt her presence to be truly unnecessary. The idea of having her work long term at Nervosa is an odd choice by the writers, and can only stem - I assume - from a desire to expand the show's world. This happened previously in the misguided end of season 8, and it also seems like a non-starter here. However, I find Gertrude's guilting of Daphne to be quite amusing, so I'll let it slide for this week. Still, aside from Niles' presentation, nothing here stands out. David Hyde Pierce and Enzo are the standout performers here, but this is definitely an episode that finds one plot idea and then fails to take flight.


Rating: 62%

 

Read more viewer reviews of this episode.

Write your own review of this episode and share your thoughts with other's.