John Mahoney

What?! Frasier Crane, unemployed? Yep, that's the stunning predicament in Season Six when KACL switches its format to "salsa" and Frasier finds himself out of a job! Meanwhile, Niles (David Hyde Pierce) finds himself without a secret love to obsess when Daphne (Jane Leeves) is swept off her feet by a new suitor, Donny Douglas. And speaking of new suitors - Roz (Peri Gilpin) finds herself romantically entangled with the station's abrasive deejay Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe (Dan Butler) and Roz's mother Joanna lands a date with Frasier's irascible father, Martin (John Mahoney)!

Frasier's fifth season is marked by two central themes. First is Roz's (Peri Gilpin) unexpected pregnancy, which naturally opens the door for countless promiscuity jokes for the radio show's beleaguered producer. The second is the continuing drama of Niles (David Hyde Pierce) and his frosty wife, Maris, which seemed to finally come to a head. Not that even a good marriage has ever kept Niles from pining for Daphne (Jane Leeves), of course.

Frasier's fourth season was mostly about relationships. Niles (David Hyde Pierce), now separated from Maris, is back on the market like his bachelor brother, Frasier (Kelsey Grammer). That's great when the pair goes to a cabin with a pair of fetching women (Megan Mullaly, later of Will and Grace, and Lisa Darr), but Niles is never able to completely dispel his attachment to his suffocating wife... or to Daphne (Jane Leeves).

With this third season, Frasier scored an impressive hat trick, winning its third successive Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series. You don't need too much analysis to get to the bottom of this unprecedented success. The series was a primetime oasis of wit and sophistication, with welcome forays into farce that pricked Frasier's bubble of pomposity. His priceless reactions to the assaults on his dignity are worthy of Jack Benny.

Frasier picked up its second season with another round of comedy as intelligent as its pompous title character. Fortunately, the sniping between Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) and his father, Marty (John Mahoney), that took up a lot of the first season is mostly past, and the crack ensemble was ready to roll in a number of memorable episodes.

Thanks to sharp writing and a pitch-perfect ensemble cast, Frasier became one of the smartest and funniest television shows of the 1990s. Following the 1993 demise of Cheers, Diane's fussy psychiatrist boyfriend, Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), seemed an unlikely candidate for a spin-off series, yet the show earned smash ratings and dozens of Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Comedy Series and Outstanding Lead Actor (Grammer) in the very first season.