My husband & I are big fans of this show, but this episode, in particular, had us in stitches! I don't pay much attention to accents, which seems to be the chief complaint others have about this episode. I laughed at the situation, the dialog, and the looks exchanged between the various characters as the situation escalated. It was absolutely hilarious!
18 Reviews
Absolutely Beyond Delightful
Hitchcoc4 October 2019
Writing full reviews and vilifying the entire show because of a guy's accent! Honestly, this was farce at its very best. It has point and counterpoint. Quick wit and delightful give and take. Each character is asked to play a different role and our knowledge of who they are makes it absolutely hilarious. Martin pretending to be an astronaut was the final thrust. Each character has an agenda and yet they have to maintain their new identity. Clive is utterly boring, and whether he sounds English or not, he simply represents the foil. If we wanted reality, we wouldn't watch TV comedies. Everything is exaggerated, but we accept that.
Top ten funniest
csteinmayer-2514111 September 2019
When at first you try to deceive....
lbowdls30 September 2019
Another of my favourite Frasier episodes where a simple lie just keeps snowballing on, getting hilariously out of control. And Daphne's poor ex fiancé is oblivious while the rest of us are rolling on the floor in hysterics. An episode that is a tour de force of the great comic writing.
Don't take it too seriously, just enjoy!
cannedew-7905222 April 2021
I just rewatched this episode for the first time in ages and could not stop giggling. Laughter truly is the best medicine. But I'm actually writing the review to kind of defend the actor who played Clive. The poor guy was getting shredded about his accent in the other reviews. Well I did theater in high school with Scott. He did a stellar job in productions such as Pygmalion and The Importance of Being Earnest among others. So yes, he could actually do a decent English accent. I believe though they were going for a cockney here. A difficult accent to execute and besides, we don't know what exactly the director was wanting. I think Scott did a great job. He had a great rapport with the cast and a wonderful sense of comedic timing. I think if you don't take it all too seriously, you'll find this a hilarious and thoroughly enjoyable episode.
Just about the best Frasier of all
Laight31 March 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Frasier is one of the best comedies ever to appear on TV. All the characters except, perhaps, Daphne, are perfectly executed, the scripts are almost all wonderful, the guest stars do terrifically, and the direction is always spot on. But this particular episode is Frasier at its very best. There isn't a moment when the episode flails, it just builds and builds until it reaches a perfect ending. I've read online that many people objected to Scott Atkinson's accent, but you have to remember this is a TV show, not a movie; there was probably only a day or so to cast the role, and the fact is, 99 percent of the audience would have had no idea Scott's accent wasn't exactly perfect. His acting made up for it. In fact, even Eddy's acting was never better. All in all, with Chuckles the Clown, this might be the most perfect episode in sitcom history. Send in the clowns. Don't bother. They're here.
As good as comedy writing gets
amit_raam13 November 2020
A lie becomes a struggle to hold it together, when some characters want to stop the ball, the others pushing it until it spirals out of controls, people venting their secret desires and dreams while we, the spectators, roll on the floor, laughing.
Maybe not being from an Anglo country, the accent didn't bother me. Even then, the writing and delivery makes up for it. Jane and Peri out-act each other as they desperately clash, in escalating anger.. Easy 10/10.
Maybe not being from an Anglo country, the accent didn't bother me. Even then, the writing and delivery makes up for it. Jane and Peri out-act each other as they desperately clash, in escalating anger.. Easy 10/10.
One of the best of the series
nickb-228131 June 2022
This episode is one of the best of the series. Here, Daphne is trying to let down an old boyfriend who she believes has come to ask her hand in marriage. So as to dissuade him she tells him she is married to Niles and thus ensues every character rattling off lies about themselves.
This episode is so FUNNY and hilarious. One of the best examples of comedic misunderstandings and dramatic irony. Each character has their own motive for lying and it just falls together perfectly.
This episode is so FUNNY and hilarious. One of the best examples of comedic misunderstandings and dramatic irony. Each character has their own motive for lying and it just falls together perfectly.
Awesome
djlynn-3005129 December 2021
This episode is one of my favorites, and I am not the only one. It is included to the Fan Favorites DVD.
I can't imagine anyone but Scott in the role of Clive. The episode is very funny. Bad accent doesn't mean bad acting. I've watched this episode multiple time. Awesome episode.
I can't imagine anyone but Scott in the role of Clive. The episode is very funny. Bad accent doesn't mean bad acting. I've watched this episode multiple time. Awesome episode.
The accent!!
Midgegirl3 April 2018
I get it- Americans don't care about non-American accents: it's an American show for American people. But given that so many of their top sitcoms get syndicated and shown around the world, do they not have enough professional pride in their work to make sure that they get the details right? Millions watch Frasier in the UK, NZ, Australia and various other countries and they can spot an awful English accent- and Clive's is so awful it's like nails down a chalk board. It's so bad that every time he spoke I couldn't concentrate on the rest of what was going on and it stopped me from enjoying the rest of what should have been a great episode.
Surely by the 4th series the show had enough money and clout to be able to get an actor who was either English or could do a decent English accent? I know Americans can't hear it, but surely Jane Leeves or John Mahoney told someone?
Don't Americans also experience excruciating embarrassment when someone does an appalling American accent? It's actually worse than Dick Van Dykes- at least his didn't go from London to Australia via vague parts of northern England. It makes the current crop of accent-savvy British & Australian actors stealing roles from American actors seem much more acceptable. Revenge!!
Don't Americans also experience excruciating embarrassment when someone does an appalling American accent? It's actually worse than Dick Van Dykes- at least his didn't go from London to Australia via vague parts of northern England. It makes the current crop of accent-savvy British & Australian actors stealing roles from American actors seem much more acceptable. Revenge!!
The only Frasier I haven't liked
HarryHart5 January 2010
I have watched many, many Frasier episodes and most of them many times too, but this one is definitely the worst and only one I dislike, although as usual there were several good one-liners.
The plot was contrived and farcical, but what really ruined it completely was the accent of "Clive", Daphne's former boyfriend. What on earth was it, an Australian trying to sound English, like one of Daphne's brothers? Actually, it was difficult to believe it came from an earthling! Even worse than Dick Van Dyke's reviled "cockney" accent, the supreme accolade!
What is it with Daphne's family on the show? Her mother has a London accent, her father northern somewhere and goes to pubs that disappeared 50 years ago, one brother is Australian, one posh, and the other just speaks gibberish.
The plot was contrived and farcical, but what really ruined it completely was the accent of "Clive", Daphne's former boyfriend. What on earth was it, an Australian trying to sound English, like one of Daphne's brothers? Actually, it was difficult to believe it came from an earthling! Even worse than Dick Van Dyke's reviled "cockney" accent, the supreme accolade!
What is it with Daphne's family on the show? Her mother has a London accent, her father northern somewhere and goes to pubs that disappeared 50 years ago, one brother is Australian, one posh, and the other just speaks gibberish.
Loved it !
Gramadillo2 November 2013
Warning: Spoilers
A classic farce, not like the general episodes, but a treat all the same for sure. Martin Crane takes on the plot with great enthusiasm so much he sparkled! Off piste it maybe, but fun all the same. I loved his reminisces of his days as an astronaut, a great laugh! In this episode he certainly got a lead part for a change. Nice to have an episode where Fraiser takes a seat further back. Daphne was a hoot in her choice of costume, so funny. Roz acted her role as the man mad woman a treat, and Niles looked as though he was really into his part as Daphne's secret admirer. The acting by Clive was a bit wooden, and the accent was a bit odd But overallI I don't think he spoiled the fun. All in all, one to watch over and over again.
Awful accent
racheladams-5398128 October 2019
I HATE this episode due to the awful accent by the actor playing Clive. I am british and i have never heard anything like it, it grates on me! What on earth were they thinking! It's a shame because it was a good story otherwise
Accent made it unwatchable
allie_wells24 August 2018
What would have been a brilliant episode was completely spoilt by the terrible English accent. I'm English, the accent was so bad I actually struggle to watch the episode, it just makes the whole thing unbelievable. Two of the five stars in the show are English, surely they could hear how terrible it's is? It's just a shame because the plot and writing is really funny
Disappointing
beresfordjd31 March 2015
Considering the high values and supreme acting talent of the Frasier team it seems odd that Scott Atkinson could have been cast as Clive , Daphne's old flame from England. He simply does not even come close to proper English accent. He is American and it seems that like many Americans he just cannot nail an English tone. The episode is really badly unbalanced because of this and I wonder that Jane Leeves did not veto his inclusion in favour of a better accent from another actor. Mind you her Manchester accent is nothing to write home about but it is at least a English one. It would be a real tragedy if a viewer new to Frasier happened to see this episode as an introduction to the best sitcom ever. They would wonder what everyone was raving about. The situation is still well written and, accent aside, is very amusing. The production team should dub in an English actor's voice and it would work brilliantly.
Unbelievable
stevo300123 April 2020
I've never forgotten this episode. Just watched it for the first time in 20+ years and yes, it's still true... Clive's accent is the worst I have ever heard.
Shame, because if it was possible to ignore that, then this would probably be one of the funniest episodes of the show.
How is it possible that they made a farce that is this precisely executed in every aspect except one and yet give the role of a visitor from Britain to someone who has apparently never heard a British person in his life?
Shame, because if it was possible to ignore that, then this would probably be one of the funniest episodes of the show.
How is it possible that they made a farce that is this precisely executed in every aspect except one and yet give the role of a visitor from Britain to someone who has apparently never heard a British person in his life?
It's the Plot, in the end, that decides if you like it.
piercejeans8 November 2021
Something most executive producers do not get or know somehow is that Shakespeare had comedies and tragedies. Tragedies mean that main characters die somewhere along the way. Comedies are those Shakespeare plays in which the main characters do not die along the way. Romeo and Juliet was a tragedy, therefore. In this episode, Clive does come off as Australian. Most of the joke lines in Frasier are overdone and milked too much. It is its mortal flaw. Once the bounds of incredibility are transgressed, there is no hope of buying into the plot anymore. That is a fatal flaw of sitcoms. I could nitpick this from front to back, but why bother. It's a solid six.
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