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Putting aside the sitcom mischief he gets up to in each episode of his eponymous series, Frasier Crane has a sweet life. His job as a Seattle radio personality lets him afford a luxurious lifestyle. He even develops fulfilling relationships with his father and brother after years of living apart from them in Boston. But some fans of the Cheers spinoff suspect that Frasier's setup is too good to be true. Numerous fan theories have attempted to explain the title character's good fortune, but an idea proposed by a sociologist may be the darkest one yet.
As Looper reports, sociology professor John Preston put forth his interpretation of Frasier on Twitter. According to Preston, the premise of the show seems unrealistic because it doesn't depict the character's actual life. Instead of landing a prestigious job in Seattle and moving into a luxury high-rise with his father, Frasier never leaves Boston. That means that every episode of the show takes place in the character's head.
"The show exists entirely in Frasier's unconscious and represents his guilt on abandoning his father in Seattle whilst he lives on the street as an alcoholic in Boston," Preston wrote. "His fragmented psyche is the 'tossed salad and scrambled eggs' of the theme tune."
As these delusions play out in Frasier's mind, he's really passed out in the alley behind the Cheers bar in this alternate timeline. This theory could explain Frasier's exorbitant wealth and the relative lack of conflict that occurs on the show. Of course, his job hosting a popular radio show may just pay really well, and the low-stakes nature of his life could be a product of living in a sitcom. As for the show's odd theme song, lyricist Darryl Phinnesse claims that “tossed salad and scrambled eggs” is a metaphor for Frasier's patients—not the character's own mental state.
If you haven't seen Frasier in a while, rewatching it through this lens would be an interesting experience. Here are some facts about the show to brush up on.