Frasier: Each Main Character’s First & Last Line In The Series

As one of the most iconic sitcoms of all time, Frasier is one of the rare series that almost never misses a step. From its strong core cast of characters to its love of sarcastic and intellectual humor alike, Frasier is beloved decades later for almost every decision it made.

In its 11-season run, the series still somehow managed to keep a very slim main cast. While some characters received much more development than others, by virtue of being more closely aligned with the central Crane family, Frasier is a well-written show that allows its characters to stay true to their nature for the entire run, from their first moments to their last.

8 Bulldog Briscoe

“Hiya, doc. How’re they hangin’?” / “You’re hallucinating. Just pull it together.”

Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe is a character that exists in the world of Frasier to provide comic relief and to offer a low culture contrast to the high culture world of the Crane brothers. In his opening line, Bulldog makes the kind of crass joke that will come to define so much of his character.

Bulldog inexplicably disappears without a trace about midway through the final season, but in his last appearance, he’s just as much the same, aggressive Bulldog that he ever was as he badgers an unsuspecting nerdy Noel. It’s clear that Bulldog doesn’t develop much, if at all, over the series.

7 Gil Chesterton

“Hey, Frasier! I heard you coughing on the air earlier today.  Sounds like you might be coming down with something.  So I had this sent over from Rosenthal’s Deli. Chicken soup, so lovingly prepared even the chicken gets well.” / “Well. Was that worth waiting for?”

Frasier Crane might be a snob, but Gil Chesterton is a particular brand of snob that drives Frasier wild. Gil first appears in the season 1 episode “Frasier Crane’s Day Off,” which finds Frasier coming down with something, and is the perfect opportunity for food critic Gil to offer his services.

Just like Bulldog before him, Gil is another character whose final moments are hilariously depicted in relation to Noel. After witnessing Roz kiss Noel following her promotion, Gil is quick to quip one of his usual pithy observations. He’s another character who doesn’t develop much, but his comedic timing never wavers.

6 Kenny Daly

“Oh, no, no, it’s my pleasure. I’m just… wow! Huge fan.” / “Kenny.”

Kenny Daly is a character who means well even if he’s not necessarily the best at his job. He’s a bumbling goofball from his first introduction, in which it becomes clear right away that this man is not Frasier’s intellectual equal.

Kenny gets a few more nuanced episodes in the series, especially regarding his dating life. But he doesn’t make any big changes as a character until the series finale, when, after a guest stint hosting Frasier’s show, he makes the decision to return to his radio DJ roots, even if that’s not conveyed by his final line of introducing himself (again) to Daphne.

5 Roz Doyle

“Yes, Dr Crane. On line four, we have Russell from Kirkland.” / “You’ve always been just like a brother to me. Which is weird, I know, because we slept together, but…”

Without question, Roz is one of the most iconic and beloved characters to come out of Frasier. It would have been easy for her character to be written as nothing more than Frasier’s on-air assistant, which is what her opening portrays her as when she introduces Frasier’s next caller.

But over the course of the series, Roz becomes so much more, including a dear friend, a single mother, and eventually, KACL’s station manager. Her final lines might be all about Frasier himself, but the awkward warmth and humor within them also perfectly capture their complicated history throughout the series.

4 Martin Crane

“Don’t BS me, I do not look great. I spent Monday on the bathroom floor. You can still see the tile marks on my face.” / “I think we’re about to.”

In many ways, Martin Crane is the character who drives the majority of the series’ action, simply by existing. It’s Martin’s injury that eventually brings Frasier back home to Seattle, and brings the cantankerous father and distant son to live under one roof. Martin is a no-nonsense man, not at all a fan of the high society world his sons belong to, and his opening lines make that clear.

But over time, Martin and his two sons become closer than ever before, and Martin becomes a better, more patient father in his older years. In his final moments on the show, Martin shows a warm sense of amusement and fondness for his sons’ nostalgic recollection of a key memory from their childhood.

3 Daphne Moon

“Oh! Hello. Caught me with my hand in the biscuit tin! I’m Daphne, Daphne Moon.” / “Ooh, move over, Roz. Do you know how many operas I’m gonna get dragged to now you’re not around?”

In a series full of quirky characters, Daphne Moon might just be Frasier‘s quirkiest. From her introduction, which finds her in a relatively unflattering position, it’s clear that Daphne is just a little bit off, from her lower culture tastes to her psychic tendencies to her eccentric family background.

By the end of the series, Daphne is still as quirky and irreverent as ever, but she’s also a wife and a mother, and she’s looking into the future of a new, potentially opera-heavy life with her husband, Niles now that his brother Frasier is moving away.

2 Niles Crane

“So I said to the gardener, ‘Yoshi, I do not want a Zen garden in my backyard. If I want to rake gravel every ten minutes to maintain my inner harmony, I’ll move to Yokohama.'” / “I’ll miss the coffees.”

Dr. Niles Crane is a man of culture, and a man of science, but he is also a man of neurotic behaviors and snobbish preferences. The first scene he shares with his brother at Cafe Nervosa quickly establishes all of this, perfectly encapsulating his character and their brotherly bond in one moment.

With Frasier’s impending move at the end of the series finale, it’s clear that these brothers — once estranged but now closer than ever before — are approaching an entirely new era of their lives, one that will no longer be defined by the coffees at Cafe Nervosa that brought them so close together.

1 Frasier Crane

“Listen to yourself, Bob! You follow her to work,you eavesdrop on her calls, you open her mail. The minute you started doing these things, the relationship was over! Thank you for your call. Roz, I think we have time for one more?” / “Wish me luck.”

In the opening moments of the series, as with so many other sequences within it, Dr. Frasier Crane is spending his time trying to solve the problems of yet another unlucky-in-love caller on his radio show. Much like his brother, Frasier is a character driven by his own neuroses, yet he spends so much of his own time trying to cure others’.

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