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Episode reviews for Episode 4.18 - Ham Radio

Avg. Viewer Review: 96.6%
Number of Reviews: 63

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Hysterical, Aug 06, 2009

Reviewer: Steve G from Huddersfield, UK


Not much to add to what others have written. Quite simply the funniest episode of any sitcom I've ever seen.

Just watched it again for the first time since it was initially broadcast. Missed some of the jokes because I was laughing so hard!

I keep chuckling to myself at the thought of Gil's ridiculous attempts to get his monologue out. Luckily, I'm stuck at home; if I were able to go out, I'd probably be committed!

Off now to watch it again. And again. And again


Rating: 100%

 

Best, Jun 04, 2009

Reviewer: Darija from Serbia


I literally start gasping for air with laughter watching this one, and I'm not usually that kind of a comedy fan. Literally. I don't have favorite moments, it's just one perfect episode. It's slapstick and seamless intelligent comedy writing at the same time. And it comes together brilliantly successfully.

In that sense it reminds me of the Inn Keepers episode, another one of my favorites.


Rating: 100%

 

comedy genius, Apr 06, 2009

Reviewer: the man with the golden nug from edinburgh,scotland


this has to be one of the greatest frasiers ever so so funny. Frasier never fails to disappoint me. My favourite moment in this episode has to be when Niles starts popping the balloons and says thank you! Then he shoots himself and goes to Frasier "ha". Pure brilliance


Rating: 99%

 

The Ultimate Comedy of (T)errors!, Jan 08, 2009

Reviewer: David Sim from Skelmersdale, Lancashire


After Joe Keenan and Christopher Lloyd, David Lloyd is by far the best writer on the Frasier staff. And Ham Radio is undoubtedly his masterpiece. I think at some point, every Frasier writer peaks with a script that goes far, above and beyond anything else they've ever written. And for David Lloyd, its Ham Radio.

Many fans believe its the best episode in the show's 11 year run. A sentiment shared by Kelsey Grammer and Dan Butler. Personally I feel that honour goes to Joe Keenan's The Two Mrs Cranes, which is his masterpiece. But Ham Radio is still an undisputed classic. What with David Lloyd's precision script, David Lee's fast-paced direction and a cast who have seldom been better, Ham Radio is a class act all the way!

Ham Radio reminds considerably of Lloyd's Season 2 classic, The Innkeepers, the episode that confirmed his position as one of the show's finest writers. Where that was a restaurant's disastrous opening night where nothing went right, this is a radio play instead. Indeed the play's title, Nightmare Inn sounds like an in-joke to The Innkeepers, one suspects.

But David Lloyd takes a different approach to both episodes. Where The Innkeepers relied on slapstick and physical comedy, Ham Radio gets its laughs through the sheer strength of its writing. Lloyd is always in his element when he concocts farce that spirals out of control with no end in sight. And Ham Radio is Lloyd's most perfect stab at it. He really pulls out all the stops and runs his audience through a rollercoaster ride so intense, you're physically exhausted at the end of it.

Ham Radio and The Innkeepers are similar in many ways. Not only do they have the same structure, even the supporting cast is the same. Gil and Bulldog return, and in this case Noel as well. Which is one of the reasons why I think this episode is so adored. Just about everyone involved gets in on the action. Its a team effort all the way.

Lloyd doesn't waste time either. He plunges us right into the story from the first frame. KACL is putting on Nightmare Inn, an old-fashioned murder mystery to celebrate the station's 50th anniversary. And Frasier is directing it! Where Martin predicted things would go bad in The Innkeepers, this time its Niles. He knows full well once Frasier starts something, he can't leave it alone until he's well and truly wrecked it. And it isn't long before Niles is proven right.

The rehearsal scene at Frasier's apartment is one joyous gem after another. Too many to mention though. I liked Daphne doing sound effects. Bulldog's politically incorrect Mr Wing. And best of all, Frasier's dismissal of the one professional actor they have. Frasier's opinion of his German accent is classic:

Mel: I've done that accent on Broadway and the London stage.
Frasier: Well maybe they have different standards than I have.

When Mel quits, they're man of a thousand voices has left the show with six characters less. So Frasier has to get Niles to do it. Ham Radio is more fun when watched on TV. Because the commercial break is perfectly intercut with Daphne's wonderful closing line:

Daphne: Sound of Ominous Organ Music indicating trouble ahead!

The episode is on rails and going full steam ahead in the second act, when everything goes horribly wrong during the show's broadcast. Roz can't deliver her lines because her mouth is full of novocaine after a dentist appointment. Her delivery of multiple murderer is cracking. So is Frasier's reply ("that's easy for you to say").

Bulldog gets stage fright and freezes up. Niles is none too happy at having to do six different parts with six different accents. The studio gets a phone call just after Frasier's said the phone line's are dead. The problems just keep piling up.

Noel messes up the sound effects by accidentally playing the sound of an ice cream van! Bulldog's girlfriend Maxine only has one line, but because she's dyslexic she says it backwards! And best of all is Gil. David Lloyd always writes him better then anyone. And this has got to be Gil's finest hour.

Frasier has just cut Gil's favourite line from the play because they haven't got time for it. Gil goes to hell and back trying to get it out on the air. Even after his character, Nigel Fairservice dies, Gil has a few tricks up his sleeve. First playing Nigel's brother Cedric. And then the ice cream man! Frasier has to kill them all to get Gil to shut up! Daphne's "this is turning into a bloodbath" is wonderful!

When Frasier's nitpicking becomes unbearable, Niles kills off the entire cast of characters to spite him, ending the show nine minutes early. Peri Gilpin looks genuinely amused by all this if you watch her in the background. And that's the end of Nightmare Inn!

Wow! What an episode! One of the funniest, most frantic episodes ever made. Each viewing of it reveals something new. Yes it really is that good! If you weren't a fan of Frasier before, you will be once you've seen Ham Radio.


Rating: 100%

 

Best Ever Frasier Episode - THE Classic, Sep 12, 2008

Reviewer: Kevin Phillips from UK


I absolutely cry with laughter every time I watch this episode.


Rating: 100%

 

ham radio review, Aug 14, 2008

Reviewer: irish08 from ireland


Without question, the best episode of Frasier in its eleven year run. From Frasier telling Mel White that his German accent is more Austrian or his dwarf is to tall,

To Bulldogs hilarious Mr.Wang/Wing impersonation, to Roz's "mulpipa mubera" and Niles's reaction to being directed by Frasier in which he kills all six of his chaaracters and a few others. Funniest of all though is Gil Chesterton's multiple attempts to get his precious "Boyhood in Surrey" speech into the radio drama.

Without a doubt the funniest episode in a sitcom ever, and i didn't even mention "look out he's got a nug."


Rating: 100%

 

Take Five!, Aug 08, 2008

Reviewer: Bo Soderberg from Gothenburg, Sweden


Happy as ever i have to spread the word:
"Ham Radio is magic, one of the best in the history of TV"
Rompin & stompin. Gil is my hero.
On a dark and misty november day, when the rain is pouring down from a grayshattered sky,
you can always lean back into your sofa and watch this legendary Frasier-episode.
Ham Radio, true cure for the autumblues.
Greetings from Bo saying:
"I kvit!"


Rating: 100%

 

Ham radio, Jul 09, 2008

Reviewer: Iain U.K. from United Kingdom


Yer Briana. N.York

I concur, the Gil Chesterton piece is brilliant " romping with his school chums in the fens and spinneys, when the twilight bathed the hedgerows like a lambert flame". and Gils a-libs later.. "Hi - ho. I'm Nigel'sbrother Cedric.
i haven't seen him since we were boys romping in Surrey -" & " Hello, I'm the ice-cream man. Years ago I went to school with Nigel Fairservice. We used to romp in the fens and spinneys....".


Regards Iain
ps. I saw David Hyde Pierce & Edward Hibbert after the 'Curtains' musical in New York. The show was great as were Niles & Gel.


Rating: 100%

 

loooove this, Apr 11, 2008

Reviewer: Briana from New York


This episode is absolutely hilarious. One of my favorite lines is said by Bulldog's girlfriend...."He's got a nug!" Classic. I also love when Gill goes on and on about that scene, after Frasier told him he would have to cut that scene out.


Rating: 97%

 

Ham Radio - Best Ep Ever., Apr 03, 2008

Reviewer: Geologist from Liverpool, England


Ham Radio. What can I say that has not already been said?

The jokes in this CLASSIC episode of Frasier come thick and fast, as regular as clockwork. Throughout the entire show, whenever I stopped laughing, something would happen to make me go back into hysterics, be it Daphne's sound effects ('Sound of people changing Wangs to Wings' in particular), Gil's steadfast refusal to die and miss out on his 'Boyhood in Surrey' speech ('Hello, I'm the Ice-Cream Man') or the line which will remain forever in my mind - 'Look out, he's got a NUG!' David Hyde Pierce also demonstrated excellent use of voices and accents - as Hans the German Butler, O'Toole, Prudence McAllister and of course, Peppo the Dwarf. ('I was at da movies'), especially his rage with Frasier ('DON'T DIRECT ME!) and then his balloon-popping madness ('Could the McAllister sisters stand back to back please, I'm short on bullets.') where he killed everyone in the play besides the Inspector. Roz's Novocaine induced accent was a bonus also, along with a befuddled Martin and Daphne's comments at home ('Mr. Wing wasn't mute last night')


Rating: 100%

 

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