Cogs can think.

And another entry in my series on good comedy. We all know Frasier, by almost every measure imaginable the best comedy show in history. 37 Emmy Awards, and voted Ultimate Sitcom by the British Channel 4, and the BBC more or less agrees.

What makes Frasier so good is not just the intelligent jokes, not just the fact that Frasier transcends the usual penis-vagina-poo level of most other sitcoms (I’m looking at you, Friends), but the fact that the actors in Frasier actually know how to act. Each one of them, every single character, is portrayed so well that if Frasier were a film, it’d sweep the Oscars.

Move the slider to 4m45s in. Peri Gilpin (as Roz) at full hurricane force. Breathtaking.

The difference between a good comedy show, and an outstanding one is not the humour, it’s not the funny situations - it’s how well the writers and cast deal with the situations that are not funny. And when it comes to that, I don’t think there is anything in the world that beats Frasier.