Why was Bulldog virtually written out after Season 6?

[704Hauser]

Did the writers think he (the character) had past his course? Or did Dan Butler only want to play him occasionally, rather than this then semi-regular status?

[Schmoopie]

I don't think he was ever written out, but I do wish they had featured him more. He was basically recurring, so maybe that's why they didn't use him as much. I really wish they would have paired him with Roz for longer than a few episodes. Bulldog is my favorite character after Niles!

[Pat]

I kind of found that interresting also. In the 1000th show episode with Bill Gates, Frasier announces Bull Dog's suprise visit as "Our formar employee Bull Dog Bob Brisko."

[704Hauser]

Originally Posted by Pat

I kind of found that interresting also. In the 1000th show episode with Bill Gates, Frasier announces Bull Dog's suprise visit as "Our formar employee Bull Dog Bob Brisko."

Not meaning to be picky, but the 2000th show (or 200th episode of Frasier) was the episode with Bill Gates, the 1000th show (or 100th episode) was the Frasier Crane Day episode, filmed on location in Seattle.

[Schmoopie]

Originally Posted by 704Hauser

Not meaning to be picky, but the 2000th show (or 200th episode of Frasier) was the episode with Bill Gates, the 1000th show (or 100th episode) was the Frasier Crane Day episode, filmed on location in Seattle.

Ha ha, that's true!

But Pat is right. There is that one episode where Bulldog gets a job in the mail room of the station or something like that. It's really too bad they didn't show him more in the series finale. I didn't even think he was in it, but according to IMBD and some other sources he's in the very last scene.

[704Hauser]

Originally Posted by Schmoopie

Ha ha, that's true!

But Pat is right. There is that one episode where Bulldog gets a job in the mail room of the station or something like that. It's really too bad they didn't show him more in the series finale. I didn't even think he was in it, but according to IMBD and some other sources he's in the very last scene.

I'll guess I'll have to wait and see, only two and a bit seasons to go! :P

[cleverfun3000]

This exact question was asked on another television forum and it was unilaterally agreed that he was downsized because he came out as a gay man, thus affecting the credibility of the horndog skirt chaser he was portraying.

[704Hauser]

Originally Posted by cleverfun3000

This exact question was asked on another television forum and it was unilaterally agreed that he was downsized because he came out as a gay man, thus affecting the credibility of the horndog skirt chaser he was portraying.

Butler came out in public in 1994, yet left Frasier as a semi-regular in 1999. I don't think Butler being openly gay would have affected the character he was portraying, considering that in 1994, Dan Butler was not yet a series regular, I don't think he was until 1996 (Season 4, if I'm wrong, please correct me).

[Schmoopie]

Originally Posted by cleverfun3000

This exact question was asked on another television forum and it was unilaterally agreed that he was downsized because he came out as a gay man, thus affecting the credibility of the horndog skirt chaser he was portraying.

With all respect I don't think that's true at all because even some of the writers on Frasier were gay so I can't imagine that they would have a problem with his coming out. Someone posted a video on Youtube of Butler getting an award from an organization and Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin were there. They were there in support of him coming out. I'll try to post the video if I can find it.

[bingbangbaby]

Sorry to shoot you down cleverfun, but I agree with both posters above. The thing that strikes me as most puzzling about your theory is that Frasier is pretty much known as a "gay-friendly" show. There were plenty of gay characters, gay storylines, and gay actors and crew in it. I don't think anyone associated with the show would have stood for him being downsized for the reason you stated. I'm not even sure anyone associated with the show would have even considered downsizing him for that reason. Plus, as 704Hauser stated, the timeline doesn't add up either, being that they promoted him to a series regular a couple of years after he had already come out.

We probably won't ever know, but maybe they just wanted to tone the character back a bit? He was sort of an "in-your-face" character, and while he provided some contrast that the show needed, he also didn't exactly grow with the show. He was always the same-- same jokes, same behavior, same barking buffoon. As much as I like Bulldog, wouldn't you agree that right around the time that they toned his character down was when we were thinking that "where's my fries?! This is total BS!" joke was getting kind of old? Maybe they just didn't know what to do with him or even decided the character wasn't the kind of guy that would "grow." Maybe even Dan Butler decided the character was stale and decided to pull away. Actors are known for walking away when they think their character isn't going anywhere. Who knows? And would we have even wanted them to change the character? And if they didn't, I for one, would definitely have been tired of him after 11 years of the same old thing, and it definitely would have hurt the freshness of the show, too. But I think if they weren't going to fire him, then the answer would be a little less Bulldog, which is pretty much what we got. Just my opinion.

[bingbangbaby]

Originally Posted by cleverfun3000

This exact question was asked on another television forum and it was unilaterally agreed that he was downsized because he came out as a gay man, thus affecting the credibility of the horndog skirt chaser he was portraying.

I had posted in another topic about the inside joke in "Fortysomething", when Carrie, the girl at the store who flirted with Frasier, drops his suit off at the radio station and meets Bulldog. Bulldog comes on to her in usual fashion and after he leaves the room she says, "is he gay? It just seems like he's overcompensating..." This episode was 1994, the same year Dan Butler came out. I felt the need to post that little discovery here too, because don't you think that line pretty much shoots down the idea that the show's powers-that-be decided to scale him back because he came out as gay? In fact, with a line stuck in there as a joke like that, it almost seems they are poking fun at that very idea, don't you think? What a cool, smart show. I can hardly wait to see what else turns up.

[Ant-Lox]

The actress in that episode is Sara Melson, she's a pretty quirky singer/songwriter. Her voice is really powerful, in a smothering way. She has a few EP's and albums on iTunes and Amazon.

As for Bulldog, he provided just the right amount of color that Fraiser needed. They did put effort into making the character a bit more real, which I really liked seeing. But with the show focusing less and less on the radio station as the seasons went on, it just made sense for some of those characters to fall by the wayside.

And I do believe Bulldog was in the finale, he makes an appearance during Fraiser's final broadcast in Seattle as do a number of recurring KACL characters.