Frasier

The snootiness! The misunderstandings! The one-man-upmanship! I'm increasing my rating, this is certainly the most consistent sitcom I've seen from the 90s and when it's at its best, just as good as Seinfeld or Friends and a lot warmer. David Hyde Pierce's Niles is one of the funniest sitcom character's of all-time and the variety of the jokes is fantastic from the smart or meta to the sleazy....it's held up great over time.

In my mind, Frasier is sitcom royalty. It took a tired format and scripted almost every episode like a finely tuned play, most of the time resulting in delightful farce and misunderstandings. Frasier himself is the perfect character to rest the framework of a sitcom on: he's so strongly attached to his code of ethics that it often clashes with his baser human tendencies.

Many years ago, I saw an interview with Grammer that made me feel he is a terrible person who wants everyone to know how successful he is and wants everyone to know that, as a consequence of this success, he possesses the ability to acquire a trophy wife. Perhaps he was being ironic, but really, it did not seem that way. But who knows? I understand he is also a staunch Republican. That’s neither here nor there when it comes to evaluating the program, but in fact it’s just another crappy sitcom.

A great sitcom. Fantastic characters, excellently written. Better than "Cheers".

David Hyde Pierce is the salt to this excellent serving of fine TV cuisine.

All this talk about tossing salads and scrambling eggs is just a bit too sexy for me.

The peak of the multi-camera sitcom. Smart theatrical writing, a superb cast, and characters who exhibit remarkable depth and self-awareness, all combine for a show that's not merely funny, but compelling. The Niles and Daphne relationship is one of the best executed subplots of its kind, and Frasier himself is a man who often brings hardship on himself, but means to do good. Richly satisfying.

The sitcom form can't be done better than this.

If a TV show is able to make you laugh like crazy when you're sitting alone on the couch, then it's definitely a great comedy. Frasier has that power over me. If you've got a problem, if you're feeling low, all you gotta do is watch an episode or two.

The format is perhaps even more one-note than in your standard comedy series (almost invariably misunderstadings lead to situational comedy), but it's a good show that I'll happily rewatch some random episodes of.