On Frasier, the never-seen Maris was a human caveat - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 12-21-2019, 02:51 AM

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertai...etflix/603295/

With Frasier leaving Netflix at the end of the month, Megan Garber has been binging on the long-running Cheers spinoff. And one thing she's noticing, watching in 2019, is how Frasier treated Maris, Niles' wife, who never appeared on the show. "You could read her as a running joke—as a low-stakes gag in a show that was full of them," says Garber of Maris. "You could read her, too, as evidence that Frasier’s defining kindness had a mean streak. But you could also read her as an argument: that Frasier, a show that delights in the antics of rich people, also understood that wealth had its dark side. She is a human caveat. The show takes for granted that Frasier and Niles, who collect pomposities as readily as they collect French wines, deserve to be teased for their affectations. But Frasier mocks Maris. It treats her, as the show’s seasons go on, as something of a monstrosity. Watch enough episodes, and her absence begins to look less like a gag and more like a trick: a way for the show to make jokes that could not be directed at an embodied woman."

Schmoopie · 12-30-2019, 02:03 AM

I'm glad they never showed her. It makes her seem more mysterious and if they were to finally show her it would have taken that mystery away.

Latka Gravas · 12-31-2019, 08:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Schmoopie

I'm glad they never showed her. It makes her seem more mysterious and if they were to finally show her it would have taken that mystery away.

Agree 100%. After several seasons of only mentioning but never showing Maris, any actress they picked to have played her would have been a let-down because we had built her up in our minds so much that there's no way any single person could live up to our "expectations" of what the character was supposed to look like.

In the earlier seasons, the character was supposedly unhealthily thin, and then in a later season she gained a lot of weight (due to stress). Though, by not showing this & instead just mentioning the change, we could envision the character however we wanted - LOL.

Also, the storyline in the last season(s) when Maris had supposedly "taken out" her abusive boyfriend & tried to flee the country were hilarious

In essence, Maris was one of the funniest characters on the show - despite the fact that she was never seen - ha ha.

12-21-2019, 02:51 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 126,304	On Frasier, the never-seen Maris was a human caveat https://www.theatlantic.com/entertai...etflix/603295/ With Frasier leaving Netflix at the end of the month, Megan Garber has been binging on the long-running Cheers spinoff. And one thing she's noticing, watching in 2019, is how Frasier treated Maris, Niles' wife, who never appeared on the show. "You could read her as a running joke—as a low-stakes gag in a show that was full of them," says Garber of Maris. "You could read her, too, as evidence that Frasier’s defining kindness had a mean streak. But you could also read her as an argument: that Frasier, a show that delights in the antics of rich people, also understood that wealth had its dark side. She is a human caveat. The show takes for granted that Frasier and Niles, who collect pomposities as readily as they collect French wines, deserve to be teased for their affectations. But Frasier mocks Maris. It treats her, as the show’s seasons go on, as something of a monstrosity. Watch enough episodes, and her absence begins to look less like a gag and more like a trick: a way for the show to make jokes that could not be directed at an embodied woman."

12-30-2019, 02:03 AM	#2
Schmoopie Keep Calm and Love Snoopy Forum Star Join Date: Jul 13, 2008 Location: Lynnwood, Washington Posts: 15,697	I'm glad they never showed her. It makes her seem more mysterious and if they were to finally show her it would have taken that mystery away.
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