The Good Son

This pilot episode does all it needs to do in about 25 minutes. We are introduced to all the significant characters, not only by name, but we learn of their individual quirks. We know what Frasier does and his temperament. We know his brother is cowardly and controlled by his wife. We meet his father, who is dealing with a really difficult situation. And Daphne is going to be there as well.

Frasier moves to Seattle but he was slightly funnier in cheers

And so began 'Frasier', the spin-off from 'Cheers' that would not only end up running for as long as that show, but perhaps exceed it in terms of quality. Well, for the first seven years at least.

This is a smart, intelligent Pilot/first episode, that manages to tweak the Frasier Crane character we knew from 'Cheers' just enough to fit his new surroundings and the characters he comes into contact with, while also still being recognisable to the audience who have followed him to Seattle from Boston.

You almost wish the Creators of 'Joey', which would come later, had followed this format more closely, because it is executed soundly here.

Every time I watch this episode, and I can tell you that that is quite often, I believe for certain that as soon as it was aired, everybody would have known that they had something special on their hands. The acting is brilliant, with David Hyde Pierce perfectly capturing his very difficult character, and, of course, Kelsey Grammar bringing Frasier back to life. As well as the acting, I cannot praise enough the writing of the episode. The jokes are quick, genius, extremely humorous, sophisticated and brilliantly assembled. However, not only is the episode hilarious, but it also contains moments of emotion and passion, with the relationship between Frasier and his father sticking out. In fact, the writing deserves a special mention for the entirety of the 11 series, as to be able to be so consistently fantastic for so long is unmatched by any other programme, in my opinion. Having seen all 264 episodes, I can sincerely say that 'The Good Son' ranks as one of the best. If you only watch 3 of the 264, make sure they are this one, 'High Holidays' and 'Ham radio'.

Frasier's long running success can be attributed to two factors. First, the cast was exceptionally well chosen. And second the writing on the series is extremely tight and well considered. Pilots-exceptionally for sit-coms-can be a bore. They often play like a checklist as they exist to largely set-up the dynamics of a show. Pilots for spinoffs are even drier as they are trying to put a familiar character(s) into a new setting. The writers here are full aware of that aspect and lean into for a couple of gags-it still manages to be clever after all these years. More to the point this episode really does a good job of setting the fundamentals of the show effortlessly. Only Niles' unrequited love of Daphne was withheld until the next episode.