I just watched the last 20 minutes of the Frasier finale (which I missed last night, and discovered on while flipping around tonight). I've not really watched the show since the start of the Daphne-Niles relationship (and even then hadn't been a regular viewer), but it seemed like a solid ending. I have to admit slight resonance with the idea of moving and starting a new chapter of one's life, albeit mine is less dramatic given the shorter distance and lack of a romantic angle.

Even for the last 20 minutes, I got to see some of what I both liked and disliked of the show - good writing that ventured into the indulgent, and misunderstandings of borderline plausibility later rectified (in this case, thankfully quickly). While I didn't feel like I'd missed anything by not watching last night, I'm happy I caught what I did.

I've read in a couple of places that Kelsey Grammer may bring the character of Frasier back at a later date if the situation is right (not sure if that's a creative or financial decision; perhaps both). It makes me think a little bit about James O'Neill, father of playwright Eugene, who made a career out of performing The Count of Monte Cristo, to the detriment of not being able to perform any other role with the same public acclaimation. You have to feel at some level like that's where Grammer is (and if so, perhaps bringing Frasier back for a nice pay day wouldn't be the worst thing). On the other hand, if Down Periscope is any indication, another decade of workplace humor and troublesome coupling may just be what the doctor ordered.

(Props to Neil Steinberg's fantastic Complete & Utter Failure for the O'Neill reference.)