John Curley tells story of nightmare Frasier taping in Seattle
Apr 12, 2012, 8:54 AM | Updated: Apr 14, 2012, 8:30 am
The popular series Frasier was based in Seattle, but only the show's 100th episode was actually taped in the city. 97.3 KIRO FM host John Curley was there and explains the shows taping in the Emerald City may not have been its finest moment. (AP Photo/file)
(AP Photo/file)
 The popular series Frasier was based in Seattle, but only the show’s 100th episode was actually taped in the city. 97.3 KIRO FM host John Curley was there and explains the show’s taping in the Emerald City may not have been its finest moment. (AP Photo/file) |
The popular series Frasier was based in Seattle, but only
the show’s 100th episode was actually taped in the city.
97.3 KIRO FM host John Curley was there
and explains the show’s taping in the Emerald City may not
have been its finest moment.
The first sign the shoot was in trouble was a bad dining
experience at an unnamed Seattle spot.
“I don’t want to say the name of the restaurant or the
hotel, but the night before, a great portion of the cast
ate something and got food poisoning,” said Curley.
That made the multiple location shoot the next day, “a
long day for everybody.”
The episode featured scenes at various notable Seattle
locations, including the monorail, which Curley said
turned out to be a disaster.
“They had to turn the air conditioning off on the
monorail, because the sound of the monorail’s AC was way
too hot for the mics. So they would turn it off, which
then made these things like rolling jacuzzis,” said
Curley.
Kelsey Grammer also had a few hours off in the afternoon
before his final scene, according to Curley. When he
returned, he wasn’t quite himself.
“Kelsey Grammer was not well,” said Curley. “He at the
time was battling alcohol. On this particular afternoon,
alcohol won.”
The shot required the crew to get the scene in one take,
but apparently Grammer was having trouble getting through
the entire scene.
“Every time he would stumble through a line he would go,
‘Hold on a second. Line? Line?’ And they’re like, ‘No,
that’s not going to work because we need continuity for
the background.’ ‘Well what do you want from me?’ [Grammer
asked], and then he’d sing some sort of baldy Irish
drinking song,” said Curley. “Kelsey would deliver three
of the lines and then David Hyde Pierce would do his and
then back to Kelsey again, ‘Line? Line?’ and they’re like,
‘No, you can’t call for line because we’ve got to have
continuity.'”
Curley said this went on, and on, and on.
“It was really uncomfortable,” said Curley. “At one point
I was standing next to David Hyde Pierce and he said, ‘I’m
sorry.’ And I said, ‘This is really sad.’ He says, ‘Yeah.
This is sad.'”
Once the episode aired on TV, Curley said it was clear
Grammer never made it all the way through.
“They obviously had to loop it, because if you’ve seen it,
if you watch in on television, his voice does not match
his lips.”
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By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor
