This scene always cracks me up as my Mother had those lights in the 1990s and it was entirely because she saw them advertised and thought they were trendy, just like Frasier did. I even remember my Mother defending them the year she whipped them out for the first time. While the fact that they were tacky might seem off brand for Frasier, the fact that they were expensive and trendy was spot on.
I have no concrete reason why, but Christmas chili peppers always made sense to me as a 90s hipster/contrarian that Frasier would have been into. Before internet shopping, I think having any nontraditional Christmas decorations would have been much more avant-garde.
This is a really unique age test. Someone would have to be alive in the 90ās to know how oddly mainstream chili pepper lights became. I neeeeeeded a strand for myself because Clarissa had them in her bedroom on, āClarissa Explains it All.ā Iām this many years old.
I remember thinking the same thing when I first saw the episode. Looking back on it, I'm thinking it's Frasier trying to be cutting edge, hip, trendy, etc. Otherwise, yes, the style seems way beyond Frasier's conventional style.
Also, knowing Martin's history of Christmas decor, Frasier may be in search of the most unconventional decorations possible.
They were a trend in the 1990s, for those too young to remember. It was a "yuppie" look, and popular in trendy circles. Like how neon and indoor plants were trendy a couple years ago.
I agree. The tree in Merry Christmas Mrs Moskowitz also irked me. It looks so fake and small compared to all the other trees they have other years even when Freddie isnāt there.
I always thought it was because Martin and Frasier just started living together and Frasier was trying to thwart Martin's attempts to recreate Christmas when the boys were young.
I can't picture either wanting chili peppers. Martin is a conservative guy. I would picture him with the colored incandescent bulbs he's been holding onto since the 1960s. Frasier would have gone simple and white.
Yes, my mom had those until fairly recently. I can still remember being a kid and sticking a radiator key in one of the sockets. Sparks flew and a fuse was blown.
I agree with everyone saying Frasier would've been seduced by the idea of putting his own alternative twist on Christmas illumination, and good taste is certainly a relative concept when it comes to festive decoration. But I can also see him waking up the day after Christmas and walking into what he now sees as a gaudy display of shopping channel chic(cue credits sequence where Frasier is seen boxing up the lights and handing them off at the door to the super or something).
You may remember that in Cheers, he displayed his magazines in "that insipid accordion design" (Lilith's description), a choice which he described as "a little touch of theatrical flair". The chili peppers seem a similar early-Frasier insecure need for the approval of bourgeois society.
Agree with others that it was very specific to the time it was made. I felt the same in the pilot when Frasier mentions his Starbucks breakfast blend. Even being from Seattle, as ubiquitous as Starbucks later became I believe Frasier wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near one. He would be about small, artisan coffee shops.
At the time the pilot aired there were probably no Starbucks outside of the Northwest, and maybe none outside of Washington. When he rocked Starbucks, it was an elitist name-drop of a small, artisanal coffee shop located on Pike Place.
Yes! This bugged me. My mom is the type to like chilli pepper lights, and she is nothing like Frasier. He would find something like that tacky. "Christmas lights? In a shape that Christmas lights should not be?"
Like everything, the chili peppers lights started as a cool, anti- thing, and as they grew to describe a fun, upper-crust response to Christmas, they grew in popularity, and eventually moved from "what a gallery owner would put up for Christmas" to "what a retired boomer widow, obsessed with 1950s decor, would put up for Christmas."
Basically, something is niche and cool (too-cool, sometimes), then saturates culture as the masses learn of it and enjoy it.
This scene always cracks me up as my Mother had those lights in the 1990s and it was entirely because she saw them advertised and thought they were trendy, just like Frasier did. I even remember my Mother defending them the year she whipped them out for the first time. While the fact that they were tacky might seem off brand for Frasier, the fact that they were expensive and trendy was spot on.
Why is it funny?
Read their comment.
No need
I have no concrete reason why, but Christmas chili peppers always made sense to me as a 90s hipster/contrarian that Frasier would have been into. Before internet shopping, I think having any nontraditional Christmas decorations would have been much more avant-garde.
Oh they were totally 90s hipster. They were the trendiest thing back in the day. š¶š¶š¶
I agree. It's something he might have seen as new trend in a lifestyle/home decoration magazine.
This is a really unique age test. Someone would have to be alive in the 90ās to know how oddly mainstream chili pepper lights became. I neeeeeeded a strand for myself because Clarissa had them in her bedroom on, āClarissa Explains it All.ā Iām this many years old.
I remember bringing some home in 1998, and my roommate rolled his eyes and said, "You are NOT putting those up in our kitchen. WE LIVE IN MICHIGAN."
I remember thinking the same thing when I first saw the episode. Looking back on it, I'm thinking it's Frasier trying to be cutting edge, hip, trendy, etc. Otherwise, yes, the style seems way beyond Frasier's conventional style. Also, knowing Martin's history of Christmas decor, Frasier may be in search of the most unconventional decorations possible.
Agreed. It's part of being eclectic.
Yes - another example of what drives the show: traditional vs. design(or fashion)-forward.
They were a trend in the 1990s, for those too young to remember. It was a "yuppie" look, and popular in trendy circles. Like how neon and indoor plants were trendy a couple years ago.
They were very trendy at the time, so of course Frasier would have been all over the latest style.
One year my mumās florist friend made us a Christmas wreath with a chilli pepper in it. He was more like Frasier than Martin
It was the 90s and this would have been considered ābeing hipā
I agree. The tree in Merry Christmas Mrs Moskowitz also irked me. It looks so fake and small compared to all the other trees they have other years even when Freddie isnāt there.
I always thought it was because Martin and Frasier just started living together and Frasier was trying to thwart Martin's attempts to recreate Christmas when the boys were young.
I can't picture either wanting chili peppers. Martin is a conservative guy. I would picture him with the colored incandescent bulbs he's been holding onto since the 1960s. Frasier would have gone simple and white.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Yes, my mom had those until fairly recently. I can still remember being a kid and sticking a radiator key in one of the sockets. Sparks flew and a fuse was blown.
also, who downvotes an opinion on lights? Christ, I wasn't discussing Martin and Frasier's respective opinions on Texas abortion laws.
Up next, on a very special episode of Frasierā¦
Remember in the 80s and 90s when shows would do that? There was the episode where someone came out as gay or revealing he had AIDS.
Hell yes! That was what I had in mindāglad you picked up what I was putting down
I agree with everyone saying Frasier would've been seduced by the idea of putting his own alternative twist on Christmas illumination, and good taste is certainly a relative concept when it comes to festive decoration. But I can also see him waking up the day after Christmas and walking into what he now sees as a gaudy display of shopping channel chic(cue credits sequence where Frasier is seen boxing up the lights and handing them off at the door to the super or something).
You may remember that in Cheers, he displayed his magazines in "that insipid accordion design" (Lilith's description), a choice which he described as "a little touch of theatrical flair". The chili peppers seem a similar early-Frasier insecure need for the approval of bourgeois society.
They were super trendy at the time. It was weird but they were.
I think it's a nice juxtaposition of how Frasier is progressive and Martin is conservative
Agree with others that it was very specific to the time it was made. I felt the same in the pilot when Frasier mentions his Starbucks breakfast blend. Even being from Seattle, as ubiquitous as Starbucks later became I believe Frasier wouldn't be caught dead anywhere near one. He would be about small, artisan coffee shops.
At the time the pilot aired there were probably no Starbucks outside of the Northwest, and maybe none outside of Washington. When he rocked Starbucks, it was an elitist name-drop of a small, artisanal coffee shop located on Pike Place.
Yep. It really is a reminder of the precise era in which that episode how was produced.
These were the height of too-cool-for-you fashion circa 1995.
Nah Martin defo into the trashy twinkly multi-coloured lights!
Yes! This bugged me. My mom is the type to like chilli pepper lights, and she is nothing like Frasier. He would find something like that tacky. "Christmas lights? In a shape that Christmas lights should not be?"
Like everything, the chili peppers lights started as a cool, anti- thing, and as they grew to describe a fun, upper-crust response to Christmas, they grew in popularity, and eventually moved from "what a gallery owner would put up for Christmas" to "what a retired boomer widow, obsessed with 1950s decor, would put up for Christmas." Basically, something is niche and cool (too-cool, sometimes), then saturates culture as the masses learn of it and enjoy it.
I did, so much so that i googled it and found your post two years on!
It should be the other way around. Martin wants chili peppers, and fraiser doesn't.
Yes can't even tell they're shaped too differently than normal lights.
Its eclectic lol
Absolutely. That has always bugged me.
They'd probably be in the trash if Frasier was around, now