Throughout the 11 seasons of “Frasier,” the inestimable Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) dates a lot of women. In fact, the talk-show psychiatrist spends most of the series looking for a long-term relationship, following his divorce from Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth). However, despite Frasier’s best efforts, he actually has very few serious relationships throughout the show.
Some of the most notable examples include Faye Moskowitz (Amy Brenneman), a friendly pastry chef, who Frasier blows his chances with when he keeps calling her “Cassandra” due to the fact that he starts dating Faye and Cassandra Stone (Virginia Madsen) at the same time. Frasier also dates a woman named Claire French (Patricia Clarkson), who he has a ton in common with, having met her through a former flame, Lana Gardner (Jean Smart). However, while dating Claire, Frasier finds himself inexplicably drawn to the more down-to-earth, excitable Lana and breaks it off with Claire — only for it not to work out with Lana either when she reunites with her estranged husband.
In the final season, Frasier meets Charlotte (Laura Linney), a matchmaker who Frasier meets after signing up for her services — only to fall for Charlotte instead. After finding a way to tell Charlotte how he feels, despite her boyfriend, the two spend the night together. However, Charlotte has already decided to move back to Chicago, while Frasier is intent on taking a new job in San Francisco. At the very end of the series, it is revealed that Frasier has pivoted his plans and is flying to Chicago instead, more than likely to try to make things work with Charlotte.
All in all, “Frasier” presented plenty of potential matches for its titular character — and fans have a lot of opinions about who Frasier should have ended up with.
Fans think Frasier should have ended up with Claire
One “Frasier” fan, u/kiwi_love777, took to Reddit to poll their fellow “Frasier” aficionados about the many brief romances of Frasier Crane. Although we assume that Frasier winds up with Charlotte in the end, it is also left open to some level of interpretation. To answer the question of the perfect match for Frasier, u/kiwi_love777 offered Reddit users a select crew of his past love interests.
The options included Claire, Faye, Cassandra, Lana, and Emily (Marg Helgenberger). Dedicated fans of “Frasier” should also remember Helgenberger’s character from Season 7, Episode 15 (“Out with Dad”). In this episode, Frasier and Martin meet Emily at the opera, and shortly thereafter, Emily tries to set up Martin with her uncle after a mishap leads her to believe that Martin is gay. Although Frasier and Emily seem to get along well, she is never seen on the series after the episode.
Additionally, the poll also included one joke answer: Alistair Burke (Patrick Stewart), a gay opera director who falls in love with Frasier in Season 11, Episode 3 (“The Doctor is Out”). Although Frasier is heterosexual, he briefly pretends to be gay in order to enjoy the perks of being in a “power couple.” Sadly, Frasier’s conscience forces him to break the news to Alistair, who takes it well, but never returns to the series again.
The poll received a total of 517 votes, with Claire earning 222 of those votes, making her the clear winner. Behind Claire was Faye with 134 votes. Making a case for why Claire won the poll, u/cherryberry0611 wrote, “She was his best match and as a bonus, everyone loved her.” Interestingly, there were more than a few other opinions on the matter.
Fans make cases for other love interests
Despite Claire winning the poll, the comments are full of fans making cases for other paramours of Frasier’s. The original poster, for one, was all for Cassandra, writing, “I thought she was fabulous and utterly charming!” On this note, u/Efficient_Strangers commented how surprised they were that more fans aren’t also on board for Cassandra.
Another fan, u/kdfan2020, simply declared that they personally loved Charlotte. Adding on to that, u/indianajoes remarked that they were surprised to see that the poll left out Charlotte, Lilith, and Nanette (Laurie Metcalf). Although Frasier’s first wife Nanette is mentioned periodically throughout the series, Metcalf only appears as the character in Season 11, Episode 15 (“Caught in the Act”), in which Frasier learns that his ex-wife is now a children’s entertainer. Rather predictably, the duo’s reunion doesn’t end well.
Meanwhile, u/lovebot5000 declared that Frasier and Lana were best suited for one another. Also on board with Lana, u/StrawberryResevoir wrote, “She challenged him and was passionate and vibrant. I always wonder: for those who like Claire, can you admit that their relationship was boring as hell?” Further, plenty of fans were happy to play along with the ruse that Frasier is gay, in order for Alistair to be an actual contender for the best love interest. One fan, u/CrazyGermanShepOwner, wrote, “[Alistair] and Frasier as a couple could be a whole sitcom in itself. Brilliant together.”
One actor who loved being a Frasier girlfriend was Jean Smart
Overall, Lana-portrayer Jean Smart was in 7 episodes of “Frasier” between Seasons 7 and 9, during which Lana and Frasier had a short fling, Lana set Frasier up with Claire while tutoring Lana’s son in return, and, finally, Frasier pursued Lana romantically once more. In a 2021 New Yorker article, Smart discussed her time playing a love interest on “Frasier” and had nothing but very positive things to say.
Smart told the New Yorker that, at first, she was hesitant to take on the role since it was just a guest arc — until she read the script. She said, “But my agent said, ‘you have to read this.’ And, of course, I read it and said, ‘I have to do this.’ The first read-through, I remember, we couldn’t get through it — we were all laughing so hard. And it was such a glorious set to work on.” When interviewer Rachel Syme brought up Smart’s chemistry with Grammer, she discussed how in-sync she was with the “Frasier” star. Smart simply said, “We were on the same wavelength.”
We can only assume that when the Paramount+ “Frasier” reboot finally gets underway, fans of the series will have even more opinions about the psychiatrist’s love life.
