There was one where Frasier was hosting a dinner party in his swank apartment. The episode began with the party already well underway, but spinning totally out of control due to some misunderstanding and Frasier trying to keep up appearances - if I remember right, Frasier’s dad Martin was about to enter the room, wearing a cape and pretending to be a foreign aristocrat or something, complete with fake accent.
I loved that show.
That actually describes a couple of episodes of Frasier. It got to the point in one episode where Niles and Frasier didn’t want to host a dinner party together because something horrible always happens when they do. My favorite is when Niles is hosting a dinner party in his swank apartment and his pet bird latches itself to his head so he has to wear a towel to cover it.
My favorite dinner party episode was one where a few of Daphne’s relatives come to visit, and for some reason (I forgot why) Martin wasn’t supposed to reveal that he was Frasier’s father. So when one of the Moon brothers asks what he does for a living, Martin pauses for a second, and says,
“I was an astronaut.”
Then he spends the rest of the episode making up stories about his space adventures.
I hate to nitpick, but it was Daphne’s ex-fiance, not relative.
The ex-fiance had become very wealthy since Daphne last saw him, and she was looking to get back with him, but Roz, (who was also at the party) had her sights set on him as well.
Everyone in this episode was spinning elaborate lies to this guy, and of course it all came apart in the end…
I think that might be ‘Daphne Does Dinner.’ I certainly remember Martin being a foreign artist in that, and constantly being shunted out of the room.
That was a completely different episode. Niles and Daphne are hosting their first dinner party–one where Frasier is explicitly excluded from hosting. The dinner party is in honor of a new painting Niles is unveiling from a local artist. Said local artist is supposed to be old and a bit eccentric. Frasier and Martin show up anyway to help Daphne serve dinner, Niles doesn’t know at first, but while they’re trying to stop Niles from learning about that, Martin is seen by one of the guests and mistaken for the artist. Meanwhile, Niles and Daphne don’t know that the artist has actually shown up, but was distracted by Daphne’s mother, and they snuck away to her room to watch the boxing match. So Niles ends up going along with the farce…
Well, in that case it could simply be ‘the Dinner Party’ or perhaps a memory mash-up of the two.
I don’t think I’ve seen the bird on head episode. Must correct that.
I don’t remember the season, but it was Niles’ first dinner party in his nice apartment after his divorce, and he was trying to impress everybody in his building. He had the bird because he was lonely.
I do remember that episode, but cannot place it exactly. You probably don’t want to go through all 11 seasons, but here is a handy episode guide with some detail:
http://www.tv.com/frasier/show/70/episode.html
Frasier is still in syndication and airs at least 4 episodes a night (on three different channels in my area) and I still watch it most nights. I thought I was the only one who remembered anything about it. 
That one always kills me.
Martin: I gave Buzz Aldrin his nickname. Everyone thought it was because he flew fast. Nah. It’s 'cause he was afraid of bees.
The delivery cracks me up every time.
Not to hijack, but it was one of the few sitcoms I ever really cared about since I became an adult.
I have to admit that part of this is probably because I find Frasier’s two leading female cast members (Jane Leeves and Peri Gilpin) among the most attractive women on television.
I was always kind of shocked that Jane Leeves never became known for her trancendent beauty, as I find her absolutely stunning…
You can see her sort of-semi-clothed in some episodes of Benny Hill.
As for Peri Gilpin, she had a great recurring voice-role as “Volcana”, across several episodes of Superman: The Animated Series and Justice League.
My favorite dinner party one was the one with the dead seal that washes up on the beach outside of Niles’s place, and the guests end up thinking he murdered Maris.
I had no idea she was old enough to have been on Benny Hill.
She certainly is lovely though, and I wonder if she will continue to act?
To continue the hijack a bit…I am surprised she didn’t become better known than she is (I guess that should go in that other thread though ;)) but I remember her from a sitcom when I was a child. It was probably short-lived because I don’t remember ever seeing it as reruns or anyone else ever even knowing about it.
It was a sitcom about a record (music production) company maybe? And Jane Leeves played a character named Blue.
A quick IMDB search reveals that the sitcom must have been called Throb. I don’t remember much about it, other than thinking Blue was the prettiest and coolest person I had ever seen. Am I the only one who remembers that?
Its thoughtful of you to dig that up for me—Thank you!!!
More hijack: I always loved Jane Leeves on Murphy Brown as Miles (hey, sounds like Niles!) Silverberg’s adorable yet obsessive girlfriend Audrey (hey, sounds like Daphne!).
Thanks. I looked at all of those but didn’t see it listed, alas (some of the descriptions are very short). I’m certain that the very first scene was of the party already underway and spinning out of control.
I remember Throb very well. Here’s it’s theme tune (plays automatically). I watched it because it starred Jonathan Prince who played my favourite character in Mr Merlin, but when Frasier began I instantly recognised Daphne as being from Throb.
These things are important when you’re 15.