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Martin’s Chair vs. Frasier’s Chair

Image from my Frasier Book, a very long story at the end of which you will roll your eyes.

Martin and Frasier’s chairs are some of the most easily identifiable and beloved symbols of the show so I thought it would be fun to create a list of the chair centered episodes.

Frasier’s chair: an Eames Classic

Martin’s chair: “I want the chair I was sitting in when I watched Neil Armstrong take his first step on the Moon. And when the US hockey team beat the Russians in the ’80 Olympics. I want the chair I was sitting in the night you called me to tell me I had a grandson. I want the chair I was in all those nights, when your mother used to wake me up with a kiss after I’d fallen asleep in front of the television. You know, I still fall asleep in it. And every once in a while, when I wake up, I still expect your mother to be there, ready to lead me off to bed… Oh, never mind. It’s only a chair.”

“And when you sit in it, you don’t have to look at it!”

Chair-centric episodes:

  • 1:9 Give Him the Chair!
  • 3:5 Kisses Sweeter than Wine
  • 7:10 Back Talk
  • 7:13 They’re Playing Our Song
  • 9:7 BlaZBoy

Frasier: You know, eleven years ago when he moved in here, I couldn’t imagine a bigger infringement on my life. Now, I can’t imagine my life without him.

Niles: It would be very hard to walk into this apartment and see that chair and know that Dad wasn’t here anymore.

Frasier: Oh, I’d get rid of that chair immediately.

“Niles. Niles, be careful with that! That’s a Wassily!”
Marcel Breuer club chair
Newfields, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Random Chair Facts:

  • In season 5, episode 22 Martin’s chair cushion is sideways
  • The same actor, Cleto Augusto, who plays the moving man who brings Martin’s chair into Frasier’s apartment in season 1, episode 1 is the moving man who removes the chair during the final episode of the series.

“Evidently the Dirt Scourge 2000 is no match for the Dirt Pile 1957.”

There are many good chairs in the series. If furniture design is something you’re interested in, Frasier is a time capsule of different styles and designs. It’s fun for me when I recognize a furniture piece from the show.