Frasier (season 3)

New station manager at KACL Kate Costas (Mercedes Ruehl) has a reputation for being a fearsome perfectionist, and everyone at her last radio station was afraid of her. Frasier refuses her demands to change his show in various sensationalist ways (such as themed shows and giving priority to "juicier calls"). His show is moved to the graveyard shift as a result, spoiling his sleep patterns and making Roz bitterly resentful.

Niles and Frasier are in the office of couples therapist Dr. Schachter. Flashbacks show Frasier receiving a call on his show about a recurring dream, which he does not have time to investigate fully, while Niles is having problems with a tenant in his office, a practitioner of scream therapy. When Frasier revealed his discontent with radio psychiatry, and his wish to return to private practice, Niles proposed that the solution to his difficult psychiatrist co-tenant is to replace him with Frasier. The prospect of working together and consulting each other excited the two brothers initially, but they soon fall out.

Frasier's Aunt Louise, who was not popular in the family for her tendency to criticize everyone, has died. Frasier has been left in charge of organizing her memorial and delivering a eulogy, and Niles is responsible for disposing of her ashes. Neither appreciates their task. Meanwhile, Daphne reveals that Martin has a collection of songs in a shoebox which he wrote years ago for Frank Sinatra, always dreaming that one day he may open a concert with them. The problem is that only the words are written down; the tunes are all in his head. Niles and Frasier are keen to help out.

Bulldog targets a series of pranks at Frasier (which culminates in Frasier singing "Three Little Maids" from The Mikado in a falsetto voice live on air). Frasier decides to get back at Bulldog by releasing a lizard in the studio, after discovering that Bulldog has a phobia of them, only to watch in horror as Kate becomes his unintended victim.

Frasier is angling to become the maître de chez of his wine club, so is holding a special wine tasting session in his apartment to try to win club members over. Needing to repair a dent in his floor quickly, he employs Niles's handyman Joe DeCarlo to fix it. Joe tells him he will be done by midday, but when Frasier returns home a few hours later, he finds his apartment in a state of disarray with holes in his walls and workmen everywhere. Joe tells him that when he plugged in the sander, a circuit blew and this has led to faulty wiring being discovered. At 4:30 pm, the apartment is still unfinished, the water is cut off, the gas pipes are damaged, and his guests will arrive soon. Martin tells his sons to give him all the cash they have, which he then offers to the workers to finish the job quickly.

The support staff at KACL are indignant because Kate refuses to pay their annual 5% raise. However, they are also too frightened to confront her about it. The decision does not affect the on-air talent, but Roz persuades Frasier to rally his colleagues round in support of those who are affected (and also to act as spokesman in place of Noel). They march to Kate's office, but when she comes out everyone else flees, leaving Frasier to argue their case alone. The discussion grows to a fierce argument, which suddenly transforms into an intense mutual lust, whereupon Kate kisses Frasier passionately before throwing him out.

Frasier and Kate have a moment of passion in the studio, in which they accidentally press the "on-air" button and broadcast their descriptions of each other as "bad boy" and "dirty girl" to Seattle. Martin and Daphne are shocked to hear the on-air romance, while Niles crashes his car after hearing the broadcast. Frasier is suspended for a week after the broadcast. Kate comes round to his apartment later to apologize, but they both end up being trapped in a service lift with a bed, a music box and some musk oil. Their passion reignites but stops when the elevator restarts and the removal man gets into the service elevator.

Maris has been missing without trace for three days. Frantic, Niles is convinced that she has been kidnapped, but Maris' recent credit card transactions are checked, indicating that she is merely indulging in a shopping expedition in New York City, and Niles is relieved. Frasier, on the other hand, is annoyed by Maris' lack of concern in going on a shopping spree without a word. He persuades Niles to stand up to his wife for a change and confront her about her selfishness, which he does. However, rather than apologising, Maris demands a divorce and throws Niles out. Frasier feels responsible, and gives Niles sanctuary at his place, but is unable to talk Maris round. Eventually Maris agrees to take Niles back on the condition that he apologize to her; he cannot decide whether to do so.

It is Christmas Eve and Frasier is excited as his son Frederick is coming to stay with him for the first time since his parents' divorce. Niles believes he and Maris may be reconciled soon, but then he discovers that she has cancelled his credit cards and his mobile phone service. Frasier discovers that a postal mix-up means that the educational toys he ordered for his son have not arrived. He and Niles attempt to replace them.

Guest Caller(s): Ray Liotta as Bob

Niles has tickets for the race track at the weekend, and offers them to Frasier; he prefers not to go, as something about the jockeys reminds him of Maris. When Martin declines the invitation to join him, Frasier realizes that he has a shortage of friends in Seattle, as most of his old ones are back in Boston. After talking on radio about friendship, he meets up with Bob, a listener who called in, at Café Nervosa. Their initial friendship dwindles as their lack of common interests becomes apparent: Bob, a photographer at a local discount store, likes wearing a tam o'shanter and has an obsessive interest in barbecue. Frasier finds it difficult to break off the friendship when he sees that Bob is in a wheelchair.

Niles is scanning the society page when he sees a picture of Maris with another man. He plans to take an heiress on a date at a society event, the Snow Ball. He then realizes that he cannot dance but Daphne then offers to teach him. His date cancels, prompting Daphne to suggest that she go with him to the Ball. At the ball, Niles and Daphne dance, to show everyone there that he is not mourning his divorce. As they dance a tango, Niles declares that he adores Daphne, and she reciprocates. When the dance is over, Niles realizes that Daphne thought that he was just acting to try to impress everyone in the room. An attractive former associate of Niles' walks up to him, giving him a card and telling him that if he would ever like to take her dancing, all he need do is call. At first, Niles decides not to accept her proposal, but as he leaves with Daphne, he turns around and takes the card with him.

Niles brings news of Maris' legal troubles: she has had a minor road accident, but while the police were filing the report, they came across a heap of unpaid parking tickets. Niles initially asks Martin to exert his influence, but his father refuses on principle. Roz, however, informs Niles of a man named Jerome Belasco, who "makes wishes come true". When Niles and Frasier meet Jerome, he quickly resolves the issue, and Niles is so happy that he promises to help Jerome "any time". Jerome requests that Frasier persuade his reluctant fiancée to set a wedding date; Frasier meets the fiancée, learns of her unhappiness in the relationship, and advises against the marriage.

Frasier feels that he stands alone in upholding common courtesy, and loses his patience in a crowded Café Nervosa, forcibly ejecting a man who claimed a table just before him. He is hailed as a hero, and a wave of phone calls to KACL report how people have started emulating him. However, the man he targeted threatens to sue. Niles provokes the man to ensure a counter-suit.

Niles announces that he has been retained to testify in a high-profile legal action to be broadcast on Court TV; local millionaire Harlow Safford (Donald O'Connor) is, at age 78, apparently showing signs of senility, so his son is trying to get him committed. Niles has agreed to speak as an expert witness to Safford's mental instability. Frasier is persuaded by Safford that his eccentricities are merely his effort to embrace life and make the most of his health while he still can, and give something back to the world that has been kind to him. Frasier decides to testify in favor of Safford, but in court, his senility is confirmed.

Roz is going to a wedding as a bridesmaid, and has to wear an unattractive lime-green dress to make sure the bride is radiant by comparison. The occasion starts her thinking about settling down, instead of moving from one brief relationship to another, and Frasier suggests she look for a man with more substance than superficial flash. Soon afterwards, he and Niles see her in Café Nervosa with someone, whom Niles recognizes as his least favorite patient: a compulsive womanizer called Ben Collins. He shares this detail with Frasier, but in the strictest confidence as one therapist to another, and as a result Frasier cannot tell Roz why she is dating the wrong man without contravening his professional ethics. He still tries to convince her, without giving a reason, and after a conversation with Daphne, Roz begins to wonder if he is doing this out of more than just friendship.

Frasier and Roz celebrate the third anniversary of Frasier's show, and their time spent together making it, with presents: Roz gives Frasier a taped copy of the first ever episode of the show. Later that day, Frasier returns home to find Daphne on the phone to her mother, calling him a dictatorial tyrant who will not let her go home to Britain. She is trying to avoid having to make a visit. Frasier puts on the tape of his first ever show, and as his awkward voice starts, he remembers his first show and his early days back in Seattle.