Frasier

Season 8

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon: Part 1

1. The title is the last line of the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle."

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon: Part 2

1. Niles takes a mobile phone call. After a pause, he says, "No, there is no Wendell Vaughn here." Wendell Vaughn is the real name of the Marvel Comics superhero Quasar.
2. Jane Leeves is clearly pregnant, despite her wearing very wide clothes to hide it.
3. The title is the last line of the nursery rhyme "Hey Diddle Diddle, the Cat and the Fiddle."
4. Simon refers to Mel Gibson as Australia's favorite son when he says he is going to watch "Braveheart". Mel Gibson plays an English character in "Braveheart" and Anthony LaPaglia who plays Simon is also an Australian actor playing an English character.

The Bad Son

1. The episode title, "The Bad Son", is a reference to the pilot episode which was titled "The Good Son".

The Great Crane Robbery

1. The instrumental song that plays during the scene where Frasier is trying out different styles of furniture in his apartment is a pop song called "Classical Gas" by Mason Williams.

Taking Liberties

1. After playing the highly important role of Thomas Andrews in James Cameron's Titanic, the role of the butler in Frasier wouldn't seem a step down for famed character actor Victor Garber. However the chance to work on such an esteemed sitcom was hard to resist. As is seen by the many other cameo appearances on said show. See Michael Keaton and Patrick Stewart etc...

Legal Tender Love and Care

The New Friend

1. Gary Cole (Luke Parker), also played a radio talk show host on the show Midnight Caller (1988) that ran on NBC from 1988-1991.

Mary Christmas

Frasier's Edge

1. The storyline and jokes about Daphne's weight gain was a ploy to cover up Jane Leeves's real life pregnancy with her daughter Isabella.
2. Niles' response to Martin at the awards dinner "I'm not some green-eyed monster burning with envy for Frasier" is a reference to Shakespeare's Othello, Act III, Scene iii: O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock, The meat it feeds on.

Cranes Unplugged

Motor Skills

The Show Must Go Off

1. Frasier expresses his displeasure at looking for "X-Men" comics. Kelsey Grammer would go on to play Dr. Henry 'Hank' McCoy, aka Beast, in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).
2. Frasier and Niles say that Jackson Hedley (Derek Jacobi) defined Hamlet for them. Derek Jacobi has in fact played Hamlet several times.
3. It won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series - Derek Jacobi.
4. The title is from the universal show business adage that the show must go on no matter the injury or heartache.
5. In Frasier: The Show Must Go Off (2001) Frasier goes to a science fiction convention to get an X-Men comic for his son. He mocks both comic books, and the idea of his childhood hero playing a mutant. Kelsey Grammer (Frasier) would play the mutant Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014).

Sliding Frasiers

1. Kelsey Grammer sings a song in this episode that hit #3 on Billboard's Hot 100 in 1973. The song is called "Oh Babe, What Would You Say" by Hurricane Smith.
2. The title is taken from the movie Sliding Doors (1998), which also followed a person in 2 different directions based on a decision.

Hungry Heart

1. This is Jane Leeves's last episode filmed before giving birth to her baby. The episode formulates an excuse for her future absence; her enrollment at a health spa.
2. The title is from the Bruce Springsteen song of the same title that was originally written for The Ramones, but became one of his early hits.

Hooping Cranes

1. The music that accompanies Niles's half-court shot is "Sirius," by the Alan Parsons Project, which is also the instrumental intro to "Eye in the Sky."
2. David Hyde Pierce (Niles) did actually make the half-court basket shown in this episode, on the 27th take.

Docu.Drama

1. The word for the 'mind teaser' contest of the day, to which nobody won the prize - an antenna ball, is 'anhedonia'. This is the inability to feel pleasure.
2. Per the title, the docudrama is a genre of film and television that re-enacts actual events in a documentary-style sometimes taking liberties with the facts to provide an entertaining presentation.

It Takes Two to Tangle

1. When Niles is talking to Roz about Daphne's success at the 'spa'. He indicates that Daphne has already lost 9 pounds 12 ounces (the weight of Jane Leeves newborn daughter).
2. The title is from the expression: It takes two to tango.

Forgotten But Not Gone

1. When Frasier asks Gil if he is upset about Frasier's wine segment taking over the end of his show, Gil responds "(I'm) as ecstatic as you would be if someone hijacked the last 15 minutes of your show." That is exactly what happens to Frasier during season 10, when Julia Wilcox takes over the last 15 minutes of his show for a business report.
2. The title is a play on the old proverb: Gone, but not forgotten.

Daphne Returns

1. It won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series.
2. The flashback of Niles first meeting Daphne is an actual scene from the third episode of the series. They are all actual scenes from the past episodes

The Wizard and Roz

1. When Frasier is at Roz's apartment at the end & Roz says: "No, you're giving me the it's not you, it's me speech. If anyone should be giving that speech, it's me, not you." It is from Seinfeld episode "The Lip Reader" (season 5 episode 6). George & his date, Gwen, were at Monk's. Gwen tried to break it off with George & he said the same thing.
2. This isn't the first time a mentor of Frasier's slept with promiscuous friend of his. In Cheers, his friend and mentor Bennett Ludlow slept with Carla Tortelli. Carla got pregnant with Ludlow's child.
3. Look for a photo on a table by the door when Frasier visits Roz's apartment and sees Dr. Tewksbury in Roz's bathrobe and says 'I'm blind'. At first glance it looks like a 40's style female portrait. On second glance it looks like Martin Crane in a wig and makeup. Exactly like him.

Semi-Decent Proposal

1. Rickets is a defect in the creation by the skin of Vitamin D. And can also be the result of a diet low in Vit. D, living in far northern climates, and or an absorption problem in the gut. It can manifest itself in a failure to grow, an abnormally curved spine, skeletal deformities, dental defects, or seizures. It's not seen much anymore in Western Civilizations.
2. Jean Smart's character is called Lana in this episode but was named Lorna Lynley in previous episodes. It was changed so as not to confuse her with the real person.

A Passing Fancy

A Day in May

1. It is in this episode that the audience is introduced to the perpetrator of the robbery that left Martin disabled and in need of Daphne's rehabilitative care.

Cranes Go Caribbean