Frasier was a good father!

[Svenfan1234]

Frasier was a good father to his son! Sure, not perfect, but he was a good father. Since he was divorced and Lillith had custody of the kid there were limited times Frasier could see his son a year. Happens with every Dad. Was he so wrong because of that? No. I know so many kids who have divorced parents but still love their natural father. Frasier was a good father, and tried very hard to make his son happy but was kinda hard when lived in Massachusetts and he lived in Washington. That does not make him a terrible father.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

Frasier was a good father to his son! Sure, not perfect, but he was a good father. Since he was divorced and Lillith had custody of the kid there were limited times Frasier could see his son a year. Happens with every Dad. Was he so wrong because of that? No. I know so many kids who have divorced parents but still love their natural father. Frasier was a good father, and tried very hard to make his son happy but was kinda hard when lived in Massachusetts and he lived in Washington. That does not make him a terrible father.

He wasn't terrible but I felt that the writers should have worked him in more but Mr. Grammer didn't want the show to be about the kid so we got limited doses of him.

I know he loved his son but I thought the ending should have been more about being a closer father to him then chasing after Laura Linney.

I loved the Freddie episodes though and Freddie's crush on Daphne.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

I don't want to just label good or bad, but with both parents psychiatrists, Frasier a radio host, it was certainly feasible for Freddie to fly to Seattle more than once or twice a year, or Frasier vice versa.

Truth is they did the Richie Petrie thing with him, with the effective innovation of pushing him completely out of house and across the continent instead of just keeping him in his room all the time.

I cosign this post.

[Anna Karenina]

Here's the thing.

On a Freddie centered episode Frasier WAS a devoted father.

But as a longtime watcher of Frasier it seemed weird to me that he was always preoccupied with his love life and his adult family members when his own son seemed like he didn't even exist unless he was actually in an episode.

A few throwaway lines acknowledging his very existence every few episodes would have gone a long way to establish the closeness with his son.

Something like this...

"I just got off the phone with Freddie and he got an A on his paper, Niles."

"Sorry, I am late today, Roz, I just got back from my visit with Freddie and I am a little jet lagged."

"Dad, did Freddie call? I don't want to miss hearing his voice today."

Frasier came off as child free for the most part. The writers were lazy in that respect.

[Svenfan1234]

Originally Posted by Anna Karenina

Here's the thing.

On a Freddie centered episode Frasier WAS a devoted father.

But as a longtime watcher of Frasier it seemed weird to me that he was always preoccupied with his love life and his adult family members when his own son seemed like he didn't even exist unless he was actually in an episode.

A few throwaway lines acknowledging his very existence every few episodes would have gone a long way to establish the closeness with his son.

Something like this...

"I just got off the phone with Freddie and he got an A on his paper, Niles."

"Sorry, I am late today, Roz, I just got back from my visit with Freddie and I am a little jet lagged."

"Dad, did Freddie call? I don't want to miss hearing his voice today."

Frasier came off as child free for the most part. The writers were lazy in that respect.

True, as a longtime Frasier watcher too, I think the writers could've found more ways to write Freddie in, like, you said, phone calls.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

True, as a longtime Frasier watcher too, I think the writers could've found more ways to write Freddie in, like, you said, phone calls.

Yes, based on his actual on screen time he may as well have been called "Maris".

They could even have had a series of telephone scenes between father and son with him like they did when Darlene was in art school on Roseanne.

[KatieAnn]

I don't think a "good father" would choose to live as far away from his young son as Frasier did. A good father would have chosen to stay close and be present in his son's life, not just through phone calls and a few visits a year.

[Svenfan1234]

Originally Posted by KatieAnn

I don't think a "good father" would choose to live as far away from his young son as Frasier did. A good father would have chosen to stay close and be present in his son's life, not just through phone calls and a few visits a year.

Not always. We're talking about a divorced father. He wanted to start a new life for himself. What was he supposed to do? Stay there and be bullied by his ex-wife just because his son also happens to live there? Frasier also wanted to be with his family in Seattle.

[KatieAnn]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

Not always. We're talking about a divorced father. He wanted to start a new life for himself. What was he supposed to do? Stay there and be bullied by his ex-wife just because his son also happens to live there? Frasier also wanted to be with his family in Seattle.

Yes, he wanted to start a new life for himself, he did the selfish thing. When you're a parent to a young child, don't the child's needs come first? If you want to be a real presence in your child's life, you don't leave the state because you need a new start in life for yourself. There are circumstances where a person can only find work out of state and they need to go away to make a living, but this wasn't Frasier's circumstance. When you're a divorced father your child doesn't and shouldn't become a secondary factor in your life.

Later in the series this was even addressed by a mentor of Frasier's, why Fraiser needed to create distance from people in his life, and he went into therapy to try to resolve it for himself.

[Svenfan1234]

Originally Posted by KatieAnn

Yes, he wanted to start a new life for himself, he did the selfish thing. When you're a parent to a young child, don't the child's needs come first? If you want to be a real presence in your child's life, you don't leave the state because you need a new start in life for yourself. There are circumstances where a person can only find work out of state and they need to go away to make a living, but this wasn't Frasier's circumstance. When you're a divorced father your child doesn't and shouldn't become a secondary factor in your life.

Later in the series this was even addressed by a mentor of Frasier's, why Fraiser needed to create distance from people in his life, and he went into therapy to try to resolve it for himself.

Well, no, I agree with you. A child should be the first and foremost thing in the father's mind and priorities. But- keep in mind Lillith. She probably was very overprotective over Freddie and therefore didn't like the idea of Frasier visiting him. And back to the thing about Frasier starting a new life for himself, how is that selfish? He loves his child, but it's certainly forgivable that he didn't want to be around his ex-wife who had custody over Freddie. And plus, Frasier's family was in Seattle. Was he just supposed to drop his own family in favor of his child? I'm all for what you said, but I don't believe it was selfish of him. I believe it was an understandable thing to do.

[Torgo]

Originally Posted by Anna Karenina

Here's the thing.

On a Freddie centered episode Frasier WAS a devoted father.

But as a longtime watcher of Frasier it seemed weird to me that he was always preoccupied with his love life and his adult family members when his own son seemed like he didn't even exist unless he was actually in an episode.

A few throwaway lines acknowledging his very existence every few episodes would have gone a long way to establish the closeness with his son.

Something like this...

"I just got off the phone with Freddie and he got an A on his paper, Niles."

"Sorry, I am late today, Roz, I just got back from my visit with Freddie and I am a little jet lagged."

"Dad, did Freddie call? I don't want to miss hearing his voice today."

Frasier came off as child free for the most part. The writers were lazy in that respect.

The sentence in bold perfectly describes Kevin Can Wait.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by Torgo

The sentence in bold perfectly describes Kevin Can Wait.

Yep!

He spends all of his time with "Chale" who seems so out of place on that show.

The Children?

Who needs them? At least Ray Romano was honest enough in the opening of his show to say "It's not really about the kids." Although they did several really good kid related episodes here and there.

But for the most part they were props.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by Svenfan1234

Well, no, I agree with you. A child should be the first and foremost thing in the father's mind and priorities. But- keep in mind Lillith. She probably was very overprotective over Freddie and therefore didn't like the idea of Frasier visiting him. And back to the thing about Frasier starting a new life for himself, how is that selfish? He loves his child, but it's certainly forgivable that he didn't want to be around his ex-wife who had custody over Freddie. And plus, Frasier's family was in Seattle. Was he just supposed to drop his own family in favor of his child? I'm all for what you said, but I don't believe it was selfish of him. I believe it was an understandable thing to do.

I am going to be very candid here and say as much as I love Frasier and how he cared for his ailing father.

His son should have been his FIRST priority.

Niles was living near Martin and HE should have stepped up, not Frasier whose very young son at the beginning of the show needed him much more.

Lilith always was a generous co parent and I think she pretty much got a raw deal for the most part. (see last paragraph).

Frasier should have stayed in Boston for his young son's sake and visited his adult family members. Not the other way around.

Blame Mr. Grammer and the writers for that, they dropped the ball.

Frasier WAS a devoted father on CHEERS especially when Lilith who could be a basket case walked out on him and Baby Freddie to shack up temporarily in an underground eco pod with a lunatic named "Googie".

Poor Freddie!

[icecream]

Frasier wasn't the custodial parent. Frederick was primarily Lilith's responsibility.

[Anna Karenina]

Originally Posted by catsrule

Frasier wasn't the custodial parent. Frederick was primarily Lilith's responsibility.

Wasn't that more or less his choice though?

They could have shared custody but he didn't seem to want that option.