Frasier - Season 5 [DVD]

This is, in my opinion, the finest season of 'Frasier', and I cannot understand why others do not think so. I feel I have to write a review of this box set because I think this season is so underrated. Some people had told me this season was not so good, so I was very pleasantly surprised. I am a huge fan of sitcoms of all types, and I think this is perhaps the finest season of the finest sitcom ever made. It is certainly the most sophisticated. The storylines are highly inventive and have great depth, the plotting is just as intricate as in season 4, but more subtly executed. The dialogue is truly outstanding, the writers letting their imaginations fly, coming up with some of the great comedy one-liners:Niles: 'Well, no wonder you're devastated. You've just lost the only woman you could possibly, perhaps, sometime down the line, fall in love with. I'm surprised the country music people haven't jumped all over this one.'Frasier: 'Imagine how a T.V this size will enhance the Metropolitan Opera, the thrilling artists of the Bolshoi!'Niles: 'You're quite the Bolshoi artist yourself!'Martin: 'Why don't you do what my friends and I used to do when we were young and hard up for dates?'Frasier: 'Invade Korea?'The writers were truly on fire this season, the scripts brimming with invention. More than any other season, season 5's episodes repay repeated viewings. Joe Keenan delivers both his most intricately structured and most hilarious farce (and perhaps the finest farce ever written for television) in 'The Ski Lodge', and the most hilarious ever 'Bebe' episode, 'The Zoo Story'. Christopher Lloyd produces Frasier's finest ever Christmas episode in the cleverly plotted 'Perspectives On Christmas'. Ken Levine and David Isaacs give us the show's finest ever Lilith episode, 'Room Service', which combines tightly written farce with each character applying psychoanalytic theory to the situation, and the brilliant Rob Hanning produces his masterpiece with the tender yet hilarious 'First Date', which is the finest ever 'Niles and Daphne' episode. Season 5 finds a show stretching itself and succeeding. We have episodes set on a cruise ship, on location on the streets of Seattle, even one with the characters playing various literary figures. But always the emotional and thematic depth is present. The storylines are adult, mature and thoughtful. For example, 'My Fair Frasier' examines male/female roles in a relationship. In 'Desperately Seeking Closure', Frasier examines the various strengths and weaknesses of his personality. The fact that these episodes do these things whilst also being hilariously funny just puts these 24 episodes at a level no other show has reached.But perhaps where this season scores most above all the others is in its characterisation. This season marks the point in the show's run where the characters and relationships had matured considerably, but had not changed so much that their comedic potential was compromised. The rapport between the cast is unbeatable in this season, full of warmth and perfect timing. This is ensemble comedy of the highest calibre. Individual performances, too, were never better, before or since. Watch Kelsey Grammer's supreme, hilarious performance in 'Frasier's Imaginary Friend', or Peri Gilpin's funny and moving turn in 'The Kid'(probably the best performance she ever gave). Niles and Daphne's characters reach a perfect balance in this season. Daphne retains her eccentric charm, but is a fully rounded character rather than the caricature of earlier seasons. Niles is still hilariously mannered and uptight, but we see far more of the depth of emotion beneath. David Hyde Pierce is truly oustanding in episodes such as 'The Maris Counsellor' and 'First Date', combining hyterical physical comedy and immaculate verbal delivery with truly heartbreaking emotion.Frasier's greatest strength was always its brilliant combination of wit, warmth and depth, and this season expresses that philosophy better than any other. It is best to watch this season after you have seen the first four seasons, and I urge you to watch the episodes several times. The episodes in this season really grow with repeated viewings, and you see more and more in them. Come to this box set with your head and your heart and you won't be disappointed. 'Frasier', and sitcoms, were never quite this good before, and would never be quite this good again.

Fans have been waiting for Season 5 for 16 months now, and it has finally arrived!This is a fantastic season, clearly underrated by many people. There is a lot of progression in the Niles/Maris storyline (i won't include a spoiler here), and this si one of the main aspects of the season. Naturally, such incidents lead to beautiful episodes like "First Date", where the Chemistry between Niles and Daphne (Hyde-Pearce and Leeves) is amazing. It can be seen here that something must happern to these two pivotal characters. ]There is also a shock for Roz, leading to a huge storyline for her (the first storyline of the type Gilpin has been given in the series) and some spectacular perfromances from Frasier's producer.The final crucial storyline appears in the last episode of the season, and will surely tip the balance of KACL for the remainder of the run.Whilst this may not be as funny a season as the fourth, it seems to focus on pursuing the storyline and developing the characters more, which is needed in Frasier. Fans now long to see Season 6 and how the second season-season cliffhanger is resolved. Thankfully, paramount have scheduled a May release, but be wary: they have changed before.In conclusion, this is a fantastic season full of laughs, but not yo be taken light heartedly. I can assure you that, after this, you will ling for Season 6! I know I have, to the point that I have already ordered it from America.

One of the most charming and gently funny episodes of the whole Frasier run, as Niles finally gets to make a forward step from his infatuation with Daphne to something more.There is a slight dip into high farce, which the Frasier series as a whole often indulges to irritating excess. But in this case, it is just enough to get the plot to its delightful conclusion.

Having been disappointed with Season 4 -although it improved towards the end- I was cautious about buying Season 5 but this series was funny from beginning to end. It was the old Frasier. The humour was clever and funny. He was as self-obsessed as ever and Roz's life took an interesting turn. The tension between Niles and Daphne is heightened. Overall, if you liked the previous series, this one won't disappoint. When I watched the last episode last night I couldn't help feeling that I was going to miss Fraiser and all the gang.For those of you interested, this DVD also has subtitles which we need in our home. It would be great if people could always include this information in their reviews as a DVD can be useless to some of us unless it has subtitles.

Funny and easy watching. I love it

The writing is still strong after five seasons.

El paquete llegó en tiempo y forma muy bien. La calidad de imagen y sonido es genial 😃 hay que tener en cuenta que no está doblado ni subtitulado al español. Solo tiene audio y subtítulos en inglés. La serie es maravillosa y me encanta tenerla para verla cuantas veces cuantas veces quiera

He comprado casi toda la serie en este formato para Reino Unido, siempre sin ningún problema. Todo correcto. Sin embargo la quinta temporada de Frasier no se puede reproducir en DVDs europeos y únicamente en americanos.Una decepción.Aún así gran serie.

You Know Frasier, good sitcom. The 4 dvds are in a decent packaging, but. There is no leaflet, no bonus of any kind (commentaries, added material). Nothing more than the original episodes.

Man muss nicht wirklich viel zu Frasier sagen. Ein Spin-off des berühmten Cheers, glaub man hatte wohl selber Anfangs nicht damit gerechnet, dass dieser Ableger sogar noch beliebter als Cheers selber wurde!Es passt ja auch alles: die Figuren sind grandios ausgedacht mit ihren (vermeintlichen) Stärken und (tatsächlichen) Schwächen...alleine Kelsey Grammer wäre die Anschaffung der Serie wert. Ein Radiopsychiater, der sich besser selbst behandeln sollte und manchmal geradezu irrwitzige Empfehlungen über das Radio an seine Anrufer gibt.Ich habe noch keine Serie gesehen, wo dieses typisch arrogante der gehobenen Gesellschaft so fantastisch amüsant durch den Kakao gezogen wurde....wenn über tollen Wein, Essen oder Opern philosophiert wird, während die kleinsten Alltagsprobleme die größten Hürden darstellen - genial. Eine wunderbare Mischung der Seriencharakter, die alle zusammen ein tolles ganzes ergeben.Wer auch nur etwas für intelligenten Charme, Humor und Witz, gepaart mit viel Herz übrig hat, kommt eigentlich um dieses Juwel nicht herum. Für mich persönlich die mit Abstand beste Sitcom (falls dieser Begriff überhaupt passt) schlechthin, obwohl die Serie doch schon ein paar Jahre auf dem Buckel hat. Man merkt überdeutlich, dass die Schauspieler sich untereinander absolut gut verstanden haben.Das man überhaupt noch mal die Staffel 5 auf DVD bekommt, hatte ich schon längst abgeschrieben. 1-4 kamen ja recht zügig, dann die große Paramount-Leere. Rechteprobleme, Kosten, dann Release 2012, Anfang 2013 usw....als Fan der Serie ist man bisher nicht zu beneiden gewesen.Umso schöner, dass man sich doch endlich entschlossen hat, sowohl Cheers als auch Frasier weiter zu veröffentlichen....wobei meine Freude über Frasier deutlich höher ist ;-)Was soll ich sagen, ich gebe gerne 5 Sterne - für eine grandiose Serie und dafür, dass man diese endlich weiter veröffentlicht, auch wenn Frasier allgemein nicht so bekannt ist wie andere Sitcoms....verdient hat sie es locker!