Frasier Crane is, arguably, one of the most iconic characters to have ever appeared in a sitcom. His iconic status is due in part to the fact that he appeared in two highly-successful series, first on Cheers and then on the show that bears his name.
However, while some elements of his biography and personality remained true across both iterations of the character, it is also true that Frasier contradicted many of the things that viewers had come to believe about this person, his personality, and his relationship with his family.
His Mother Changed
In some ways, Frasier’s mother is one of the most important influences in his life. This is hardly surprising since she seemed to understand her son better than his father did. However, she shows two very different personalities in her iterations in the two series.
While in Cheers she is shown to be quite manipulative and calculating–and even at times threatening–she is a much more soft-spoken and compassionate character when she appears in Frasier (in which she is portrayed by Rita Wilson in one of her best roles).
Martin Was A Significantly Different Character
One of the most notable family changes between Cheers and Frasier is the character of Martin. While Frasier claims in Cheers that he is a dead scientist, in the later show, he is a retired policeman.
Part of this, no doubt, has to do with the fact that Frasier has always had a difficult relationship with his father (despite the fact that the latter clearly cares deeply for his son and shows, on a number of occasions, that he’s a pretty great dad). Even so, it’s still a glaring contradiction.
The Contradictory Marriage
During the course of his character’s appearances, Frasier has many different relationships with many women. Unsurprisingly, this creates a contradiction between the two series, for while he had a short-lived marriage to a children’s entertainer (which opposes his claim that Diane was his first love).
Given just how many of Frasier’s romances appeared, particularly in the latter series, it was inevitable that this would create some biographical tension between his two iterations.
His Lifestyle
Part of what makes Frasier such an amusing character is his very snobby approach to life. He is, after all, prone to delivering devastating insults (many of which rely on his intellect and his education).
However, even though he acts very sophisticated on Frasier and tends to look down on those who are more humble extraction (including his father), this is contrary to Cheers, in which he shows himself very comfortable around blue-collar workers and the sort of people with which his father would associate in Seattle.
His Investment With Sports
Frasier’s changed approach to those of a different social class is not the only contradiction between Frasier and Cheers. In the former, Frasier is the type of person that looks at most sports the way one would expect, i.e. with thinly-veiled contempt (hence his antagonism with Bulldog, one of the series’ best secondary characters).
In the latter, however, he clearly has the same appreciation for sports as many of the other denizens of the bar. This, coupled with the fact that he drinks beer, means that he emerges as a very different character than he would be later.
His Like/Dislike Of Animals
One of the other running gags on Frasier is his profound dislike for his father’s dog, Eddie (there are many great episodes focusing on this particular canine star). While this is the source of a great deal of humor, it’s also true that it contradicts much of what the audience learns about Frasier and his relationship to animals during the course of Cheers.
In fact, in that series he was shown as being very fond of dogs, even going so far as to own one himself (though he had to give it up due to Diane’s allergy).
His Ever-Changing Birthday
A fictional character’s birthday is always one of the trickiest aspects of their personality, especially when that character appears in two different series. In Frasier’s case, there are many contradictory dates for when he was born (both between his appearance on Cheers and in his appearance on Frasier).
Not only that, but the dates–including and especially the months–are so wide-ranging that it is impossible to pin down with any precision just when he was born.
Just How Many Languages He Knows
Frasier is, arguably, one of the smartest characters to have appeared in a sitcom. His intelligence extends to languages, though one of the ambiguities that emerges between Frasier and Cheers is just how many he knows and how well.
Indeed, between the two series it’s very unclear whether, in fact, he knows French extremely well (as he seems to in Cheers) or hardly at all (as seems to be the case with Frasier). Frasier the character, like language itself, is a study in contradictions.
Ambiguity About His Profession
Like all sitcom characters, much of Frasier’s personality, and much of the humor surrounding him, stems from his profession. Indeed, once he returns to Seattle it’s his job at the radio station that gives rise to so many funny scenarios (with many celebrity callers constituting funny episodes).
However, there is also a contradiction between Cheers and Frasier as to just what he is, for while the former asserts that he’s a psychologist the latter makes it very clear that he is, in fact, a psychiatrist.
His Political Affiliations
Arguably one of the most notable contradictions between the two series is Frasier’s political leanings. In the earlier show, he is, if anything, very apathetic when it comes to politics and various issues (which is in keeping with the kind of persona that he exhibits in the bar).
By the time that he moves back to Seattle, however, he becomes far more politically active, and it becomes clear that he is, indeed, quite liberal (which is in keeping with his status as an intellectual and with the fact that he is living in a very progressive city).
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