Frasier

Instead of relying on an overarching plot, Frasier plays to its strengths: original episodes packed with situational and verbal irony that is delivered through the clashing of Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) bombastic eloquence and his father Martin's (John Mahoney) blue-collar former-cop lines. This conflict is aided by Frasier's equally snobbish but more conservative brother and fellow psychiatrist Niles (Jane Leeves). Whether promulgating psychoanalytic theories to his listeners on his radio show (produced by his lowbrow single friend and coworker Roz Doyle [Peri Gilpin]) or sticking his expansive forehead into the business of his family members, Frasier spouts elitism-clouded advice, which more often than not combusts in his face, leaving his abounding ego bruised.

The writers were able to unleash their vocabularies when giving voice to such pretentious characters as Frasier and Niles, allowing them to articulately capture the ironies of those characters' perceptions of themselves, which, despite being explicitly highbrow, connected with viewers of all social classes.

Years: 1993-2004
Creator: David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee
Stars: Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves, David Hyde Pierce, Peri Gilpin, John Mahoney
Network: NBC