Experimental Frasier Episode Inspired by Underrated ’90s Rom-Com

When one thinks of “experimental, innovative television,” they probably don’t immediately jump to the sitcom Frasier, itself a spin-off of the Boston bar sitcom Cheers. However, they would be wrong, as “Frasier” was far more subversive than modern viewers believe it to be. writers who seek to create the “anti-Seinfeld.” The show turned sitcom tropes on their heads whenever possible, eschewing musical cues and creating shots that became part of the sitcom’s audio-visual language, even toying with the idea of ​​multiple timelines in one particularly adventurous episode.

Although it wouldn’t go as far as introducing the concept of a multiverse à la the Community Episode “Chaos Correction Theory” Frasier season 8 episode “Sliding Frasiers” showed viewers how the smallest of changes can completely change the course of an evening. Mental health professional and radio host Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) tries to decide whether to wear a suit or a sweater for a quick date, noting that the decision can have a big impact, and we see how his various decisions can play out. There’s a sweater timeline and a suit timeline, each with their own implications for his love life, and it’s honestly a lot of fun. It’s also inspired by an underrated 1990s rom-com starring Gwyneth Paltrow called Sliding Doors.

In the episode, Fraser’s night out goes very differently depending on whether he wears a sweater or a suit, and we see the results of both, much like the conceit at the heart of Peter Howitt’s 1998 indie romantic comedy The Rolling Doors. In “Sliding Doors,” the deciding factor is whether or not the newly-fired Helen (Paltrow) catches the train home, rather than a fashion decision that changes everything, but it also follows the dual storyline format. Sliding Doors is one of the best romantic comedies of the 1990s and turns rom-com tropes on their heads in the same way that “Frasier” subverts those of the sitcom format. Essentially, it’s a match made in subversive comedy heaven, and in both cases the unusual narrative structure is held together by impeccable lead performances.

What’s interesting about both Sliding Doors and Sliding Fraser is that there aren’t really any “happy” endings, and both put their characters in pretty dire situations no matter which timeline they follow. The idea that such wildly different lives could end up in a similar place through small decisions is more than a little nihilistic, but was The 90s. Since then, several other shows have done their own riffs on “Sliding Doors,” from “Doctor Who” to “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” each using the story’s divisive formula in their own way.

In the hilarious fourth season of Comedy Central’s Broad City, New York besties Abby (Abby Jacobson) and Ilana (Ilana Glazer) have their own version of The Sliding Door with an episode called The Sliding Door. ” The episode shows when they met while waiting for the subway and how their lives changed depending on how the day went. Like the movie and the episode “Frasier”, it plays with the stereotypes of the sitcom and is a real explosion of the story that helps to show important truths about life, but it’s less unfortunate because we know that Abby and Ilana continue to be close – inseparable.

Other shows that can riff on “Sliding Doors” include, again, “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” in which we see a version of Kimmy’s life where she wasn’t kidnapped because she didn’t want to miss a showing of “Sliding Doors.” episode of Doctor Who where companion Donna (Catherine Tate) must decide whether or not to continue working with the Doctor, and even an episode of the incredible “Malcolm in the Middle” where the strengths and weaknesses of each of Malcolm’s parents are shown in detail when their boys go bowling and only one of them can take them. It seems that no matter how the writers choose to adapt the idea, there are always different and compelling ways to delve deeper into the characters and the narrative, just by showing the audience what could have been. The Sliding Doors rules, as do all of these wildly varied tributes.