Frasier: The Complete Final Season

Millions of fans were disappointed to learn that the 11th season of Frasier would be the last, even though some had grumbled that the show had become stale. To the surprise of many, the final 23 episodes included some of the best material the series offered, as new characters were introduced and old ones returned to take their final bows. By the time the series-ending two-parter, “Goodnight, Seattle,” aired last year, the show's producers had tied up all the loose ends and interpolated a number of in-jokes that diehard fans would appreciate. The 2003-04 season got off to a hilarious start with “No Sex, Please, We're Skittish,” in which Roz (Peri Gilpin) decides that she hates her new job and returns to radio station KACL as though nothing had happened, somehow giving Frasier the impression that she is romantically interested in him. Frasier's girlfriend, Julia Wilcox (Felicity Huffman), gets the boot just a couple of episodes later, and subsequently Laura Linney is introduced as Charlotte, his new love interest. Patrick Stewart guest stars in “The Doctor Is Out,” playing the gay director of Seattle's opera guild, while Bebe Neuwirth makes her final appearance as Frasier's ex-wife Lilith in “Guns ‘n' Neuroses.” The memorable series finale finds Frasier's dad Martin (John Mahoney) marrying newcomer Ronee Lawrence (Wendie Malick), Daphne (Jane Leeves) giving birth to a son, and Frasier leaving Seattle to take an exciting new job in San Francisco. The challenge of winding down and providing a satisfying conclusion to Frasier's 11-year run clearly inspired the show's writers, who turned out some of the sharpest scripts of the entire series. DVD extras include a pair of featurettes. Highly recommended. (E. Hulse)