Dinner at Eight (Frasier)
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| “Dinner at Eight” | |
|---|---|
| Frasier episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 03 |
| Guest stars | Eve Brent ("Hostess"} Laura Walton ("Waitress") Patti LuPone ("Caller" - Pam) |
| Written by | Chuck Ranberg Anne Flett |
| Directed by | James Burrows |
| Production no. | 40571-003 |
| Original airdate | September 1993 US April 1994 UK |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Space Quest" | "I Hate Frasier Crane" |
| List of Frasier episodes (Season 1) | |
"Dinner at Eight" is the third episode of the first series of the American television sitcom, Frasier. It is significant in that it is the first episode in which the characters of Niles Crane and Daphne Moon met, starting a long-running subplot of infatuation on Niles' part that would run to some degree throughout the remainder of the series.
[edit] Main cast and characters
Kelsey Grammer - Frasier Crane
David Hyde Pierce - Niles Crane
John Mahoney - Martin Crane
Jane Leeves - Daphne Moon
Peri Gilpin - Roz Doyle
[edit] Plot synopsis
In this episode Frasier and Niles decide to treat Martin to a fancy restaurant called Le Cigare Volant.
Unfortunately, at the last minute, the restaurant loses their reservation. So, Martin decides to takes the boys to the Timber Mill, a saw mill-turned-steakhouse. The restaurant is far from run-down, but is still not fancy enough for Frasier's or Niles's standards. The first misadventure they encounter is when the waitresses cut off their ties to keep the place informal. The service is very fast, but too fast for the brothers. Throughout the whole dining experience, the two brothers do nothing but make sarcastic comments about the restaurant and the waitress. Niles even brings up the idea of recommending Maris and her socialite friends this restaurant for a socialite event. Martin gets very angry, and tells the boys that even their mother, Hester, would not have shunned this steakhouse. He leaves the restaurant and goes to Duke's. Frasier and Niles feel guilty about what they have done, so they decide to finish their meals out of respect to their father. [They end up being the last ones at the restaurant, as they are struggling to finish the food.]
Niles meets Daphne Moon for the first time in this episode, kicking off a period of longing that would last nearly eight seasons.
[edit] Trivia
- The episode's title is a double allusion: to the twice-filmed play Dinner at Eight by George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber, and to the Cheers episode that parodied the same title, 'Dinner at Eightish'.
- 'Le Cigare Volant', the name of Frasier and Niles' favourite restaurant, literally means 'the flying cigar' and is an idiomatic French term for a UFO (equivalent to the English 'flying saucer').
