Crane vs. Crane
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| “Crane vs. Crane” | |||||||
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| Frasier episode | |||||||
 Frasier arguing his case for Mr.Safford against Niles |
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| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 19 |
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| Written by | David Lloyd | ||||||
| Directed by | Philip Charles MacKenzie | ||||||
| Guest stars | Donald O'Connor (Harlow Safford) | ||||||
| Production no. | 40571-068 | ||||||
| Original airdate | 9 April 1996 | ||||||
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| List of Frasier episodes (Season 3) | |||||||
"Crane vs. Crane" is the title of the nineteenth episode of the third season of the American television sitcom Frasier.
Contents |
[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 outline
Niles announces that he has been retained to testify in a high-profile legal action to be broadcast on Court TV; local millionaire Harlow Safford is, at age 78, apparently showing signs of senility, so his son is trying to get him committed. Although Martin feels that the son is just trying to get at the family fortune, Niles - who has met with Safford - has agreed to speak as an expert witness to Safford's insanity, and is adamant that Safford is mentally unstable. Frasier is initially happy to accept Niles' diagnosis, but the next day, a member of Safford's legal team visits Frasier at work, and asks him to meet Safford in an attempt to try to get his brother to change his mind. Arriving at Safford's mansion, Frasier discovers that the old man's house has a fireman's pole, a giant model railway and lollipops on demand. Safford himself, a charming man who appears quite coherent and mentally stable, explains that his eccentricities are merely his effort to embrace life and make the most of his health while he still can, and give something back to the world that has been kind to him. Charmed by Safford, Frasier feels his brother has made a misdiagnosis, and attempts to approach Niles in order to convince him to change his testimony; upon learning that Frasier has been asked to speak to Safford, Niles becomes outraged and intensely defensive, convinced that Frasier is merely trying to overshadow Niles' rare moment of glory. The two argue, and Frasier, convinced that Niles is letting his desire for fame and publicity cloud his judgment and blind him to the truth of the matter, decides to testify in favor of Safford.
On the day of the trial, Niles and Frasier are intensely competitive. Niles has prepared the speech of his life, and is shamelessly mugging for the cameras; but much to his displeasure, Frasier is asked to speak first. Unfortunately, as Frasier is giving his opening speech, defending Safford's eccentric behavior as examples of joie de vivre and a childlike innocence, Safford begins to demonstrate increasingly erratic behavior, eventually acting as if he were a train conductor; he is obviously insane, and Frasier - humiliated in front of the cameras - resigns himself to defeat. The two brothers meet after the trial to commiserate; Niles is not happy, as he was right but nobody heard him be so, and he confesses that his motive for the trial was his envy of Frasier's fame. Complimenting his brother's skills as a psychiatrist, Frasier is troubled by his own lack of perception and his inability to diagnose Safford, but is comforted in learning that Niles' diagnosis was based largely on Safford's attempt to put his trousers on his cat during their meeting, and that Safford's undeniable charm merely appealed to Frasier's optimistic view of aging as a second childhood. Reconciling, the brothers put aside their differences as Frasier asks to see Niles give the speech he never managed to give before the court.
[edit] Trivia
- The episode's title parodies the child custody drama Kramer vs. Kramer.
- Niles uses the line "Yada Yada" in this episode a year before the phrase became popular on the show Seinfeld.
