This is my favorite last line from any show we wrote -- mostly because of Kelsey's delivery. It's from CHEERS, the episode where Lilith's pet rat dies and she keeps it in her purse.
Killer. One of our favorite pastimes is to watch old episodes of Frasier, and we just saw the one where John Glenn guest stars (what he reveals in the studio while Roz and Frasier argue is priceless!) -- and I'd never seen it before.
Apparently I've missed a fair number of these during the original run, so it's like a little gift every time I catch one I haven't seen before. Thank goodness for syndication!
Soon as I saw it was about the white lab rat, I smiled. A brilliant conclusion. The impressive quality of his line delivery was the way it fit the mood. He didn't raise his voice, give a big grin, say it with a snappy sexual energy. He stayed in the mood of what came before, which makes the line all the more notable.
A side question. All those people in the bar talking at their tables, were they talking at a regular volume? If they weren't, that's a small skill, since they look normal. If they were talking at a normal volume, I'd find that distracting as one of the actors. The background people make it seem quite real.
I've always wondered about that too. Are people in the background really talking or doesn't real talking look real enough on TV? As on Cheers you can often see Norm & Cliff in the background chatting casually, are they doing it in character or just like friends (supposing they were) killing time?
I see that Kelsey Grammer is already doing another comedy pilot, this time a single camera show for ABC, called "Roman's Empire." Ashton Kutcher is one of the exec producers.
The way Kelsey delivers the line makes it all the better, he could've gone the cliche' forced enthusiasm, yelling it out but his subtle delievery and smirk made it all the more funnier, like he knows he is making a joke. Just goes to show you don't have to have characters exaggerated and cartoonish or out of character to make a joke work.
It's more something of a very light whisper. that way you can time the talking between the people and not talk over one another.
The facial expressions on the other hand are another matter all together, when you don't have an established character you usually talk in gibberish or about the news or whatever, but act as though it's somewhat interesting... never as interesting as the main characters though,
Jerad (for some reason my blogger logon isn't working.)
I was told that in Dr, Quinn Medicine Woman the background characters were repeating "Cantaloupe and Watermelon" as it moved the facial features and gave the appearance of several different words.
Even at his most crass and most base, Frasier was gentlemanly and a class act. He must have been sent to Marilyn Hogkiss's Ballroom Dancing & Charm School with Niles when he was a young lad. Hee.
13 comments :
Killer. One of our favorite pastimes is to watch old episodes of Frasier, and we just saw the one where John Glenn guest stars (what he reveals in the studio while Roz and Frasier argue is priceless!) -- and I'd never seen it before.
Apparently I've missed a fair number of these during the original run, so it's like a little gift every time I catch one I haven't seen before. Thank goodness for syndication!
Soon as I saw it was about the white lab rat, I smiled. A brilliant conclusion. The impressive quality of his line delivery was the way it fit the mood. He didn't raise his voice, give a big grin, say it with a snappy sexual energy. He stayed in the mood of what came before, which makes the line all the more notable.
A side question. All those people in the bar talking at their tables, were they talking at a regular volume? If they weren't, that's a small skill, since they look normal. If they were talking at a normal volume, I'd find that distracting as one of the actors. The background people make it seem quite real.
I've always wondered about that too. Are people in the background really talking or doesn't real talking look real enough on TV? As on Cheers you can often see Norm & Cliff in the background chatting casually, are they doing it in character or just like friends (supposing they were) killing time?
Nice.
I see that Kelsey Grammer is already doing another comedy pilot, this time a single camera show for ABC, called "Roman's Empire." Ashton Kutcher is one of the exec producers.
The way Kelsey delivers the line makes it all the better, he could've gone the cliche' forced enthusiasm, yelling it out but his subtle delievery and smirk made it all the more funnier, like he knows he is making a joke. Just goes to show you don't have to have characters exaggerated and cartoonish or out of character to make a joke work.
It's more something of a very light whisper. that way you can time the talking between the people and not talk over one another.
The facial expressions on the other hand are another matter all together, when you don't have an established character you usually talk in gibberish or about the news or whatever, but act as though it's somewhat interesting... never as interesting as the main characters though,
Jerad (for some reason my blogger logon isn't working.)
I was told that in Dr, Quinn Medicine Woman the background characters were repeating "Cantaloupe and Watermelon" as it moved the facial features and gave the appearance of several different words.
Even at his most crass and most base, Frasier was gentlemanly and a class act. He must have been sent to Marilyn Hogkiss's Ballroom Dancing & Charm School with Niles when he was a young lad. Hee.
Comedy becomes art when it finds that universal note, as by, in this case, speaking to the horny angels of our nature.
Love it, I do.
I've known Ken Levine since high school........he's was always the best and the brightest!!
And still is on Dodger talk!!!!!!
--Jeff Prescott
Hey Jeff, have you done any more info-mercials for 2-day-old Italian food yet? (remember to ask for Wilma when you call Lido's)
Post a Comment