Besides Seinfeld and Friends, it's hard to think of a more beloved and successful sitcom from the 1990s than Frasier. What initially began as a spin-off of Cheers about Dr. Frasier Crane moving back to Seattle to live with his father ended up running for 11 seasons and received an endless stream of awards.
One of the core facets of the show that made it work so well was the constant love-hate relationship between Frasier and his younger brother Niles. Though both men were geniuses, some of the show's best bits came when one brother was clearly acting more immature than the other. Here are the 5 times each Crane brother was smarter than the other.
"The Matchmaker" (Niles)
Quite possibly the funniest episode of the show to have aired up to that point, "The Matchmaker" takes the show's classic comedy-of-misunderstandings template and elevates it to new comedic heights. When Frasier decides to set his new boss up with a lovesick Daphne, the manager misunderstands and believes he is on a date with Frasier.
Much of the comedy in the second act comes when Martin and Niles are both aware of the misunderstanding, but allow it to continue for a while. Niles being privy to the knowledge that will embarrass his brother is some of actor David Hyde Pierce's best work on the show.
"Something Borrowed, Someone Blue" (Frasier)
No doubt one of the show's most anticipated episodes, this two-part season seven finale finally brought resolution the will-they-won't-they dynamic between Niles and Daphne, a staple of the show since its beginning. While Frasier's romantic meddling usually ends in disaster, his mediating and advising throughout this episode are genuinely the key to getting the couple together.
Frasier's conversation with Martin before he goes to speak with Niles is one of the show's most poignant and nuanced moments. Of course, the final scene is likewise a masterclass in satisfying a long-running storyline while still leaving enough tension to be mined in the following season.
"Adventures in Paradise" (Niles)
While Niles and Frasier don't compete directly for the biggest fool in this episode, it is one of Frasier's lowest moments in the entire series. Niles doesn't feature prominently in the episode, but his contributions are golden classic Niles Crane moments.
When Frasier runs into his ex-wife Lillith on vacation with both of their new partners, he begins to revert back to a childish mentality and tries to make Lillith jealous. It is cringy and hilarious, but it is certainly a time when Niles was smarter simply by virtue of not doing what Frasier did.
"An Affair to Forget" (Frasier)
This episode is a perfect example of when Frasier went against the advice of his father to try and do what he thought was right for Niles. After a woman calls into his show concerned that her husband is having an affair, Frasier deduces that the mistress must be Maris, Niles' wife.
Though Martin wants him to keep his nose out of it, Frasier's conscience won't let him stand by and allow Niles to be made a fool by his wife again. Of course, Niles decides to duel the man, who is a fencing instructor, so there's another point for Frasier.
"Frasier Crane's Day Off" (Niles)
When Niles fills in for Frasier after he gets the flu, he turns out to be something of a natural. Of course, Frasier can't stand to allow his spotlight to be on Niles for too long, and he soon shows up to the station in a feverish frenzy and locks Niles and Roz out of the studio.
Hilarity ensues, as you can imagine, as a delusional Frasier tanks his own show. Niles' brief tenure behind the microphone proved that he was just as competent of a psychiatrist and radio personality as his famous older brother.
"A Mid-Winter Night's Dream" (Frasier)
This episode from season one of the show was one of the first episodes to really comedically exploit the bubbling tension between Niles and Daphne. The novelty of the theoretical pairing was still fresh enough to make the audience wonder how far the writers will allow their moments of attraction to go before Frasier inevitably interrupts them to bring Niles back down to Earth.
Frasier's insistence that it wasn't the right time for the couple made it one of his more lucid pieces of romantic advice given to his brother.
"Are You Being Served?" (Niles)
Both brothers learn about their childhood psychology in this particularly funny installment of the show. Heeding Frasier's advice to assert himself more with Maris, Niles ends up getting served divorce papers instead.
Frasier's advice makes a mess out of a puddle, spreading it out and around until it is hilariously too big to control. When Niles reads what his mother observed of him as a child, he finally decides to stand up to Maris because he wants to, not because Frasier urged him, which is an important step in the character's series-long arc.
"Hooping Cranes" (Frasier)
A late-series romp that features Niles getting swept away by the adoration of his father and his father's barfly friends after Niles makes a lucky shot during the halftime of a basketball game.
Frasier is the only one who seems to know that Niles achieved the rare half-court shot purely out of the luck of the universe, and much of the comedic tension of the episode stems from how incredulous Frasier becomes as Niles' inflates fatter and father. This episode represents one of the times when Niles became outright unpleasant and was in desperate need of his brother's grounding.
"Ham Radio" (Niles)
One of the hands-down funniest episodes of Frasier, this seminal installment casts Frasier as the director of an old-school radio murder mystery play. Of course, things swiftly go wrong and hilarity ensues. At the end of the day, Frasier should have listened to Niles' sassy prophecies of disaster before ever going on air with the already painfully terrible material.
Niles is the standout performer in the episode as well as he reluctantly agrees to take on six different roles, all of which have radically different accents. A classic.
"Halloween" (Frasier)
True, both brothers get their moments to be the butt of the joke in this pivotal episode. After Frasier learns that Roz might be pregnant. As Niles misunderstands the information by eavesdropping, he becomes convinced that Daphne is actually the one pregnant and that Frasier is the father.
As he continues to spiral into a jealous frenzy and drink way too much, Niles manages to embarrass himself and Roz in the process. One of the character's funniest moments, while also being his most cringy, this is definitely a time when Niles should have left it to Frasier.