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The Doctor Is Out

"The Doctor Is Out" is the third episode of American sitcom Frasier season 11, and the two hundred and forty fourth overall.

Cast and characters

Main cast and characters

Recurring Cast

Edward Hibbert – Gil Chesterton

Plot outline

Roz introduces Frasier, Niles and Martin to her new boyfriend Barry in Café Nervosa but Frasier and Niles pick up on the fact that he goes to the gym and he likes shopping for clothes, and deduce that he must be gay. Martin, of course, wholeheartedly disagrees and tells Roz as much. She tells Frasier that he is just guilty of lazy stereotyping, and he apologises - but the Crane brothers both think they are still correct in their judgement. While all this happening, Frasier and Niles spy Alistair Burke - the head of the Seattle Opera Guild - at the counter and quickly introduce themselves to him, telling him they cannot wait to see his latest production.

After their squash game, Niles and Frasier are walking home, with Frasier wearing a pair of Niles shorts as his had split and which look incredibly tight on him. Niles is in a hurry to get him as he said he was at a conference to avoid going to a flower show with Daphne and her mother, but they then see Barry about to pass them and worry that Roz has told him what they thought about him. However, looking up again expecting to meet Barry, the street is deserted. They think he has gone into Bad Billy's, a gay bar, so Frasier decides to go in and confront him leaving Niles outside. The guys inside the bar are obviously interested in a guy wearing very tight shorts, and Frasier is equally surprised to see his French polisher Eduardo serving at the bar. Frasier asks Eduardo if he has seen a guy fitting Barry's description and is told he's in the bathroom, so he decides to wait. Outside, Barry comes out of the house next to Bad Billy's and sees Niles, who then rushes into Bad Billy's and gets Frasier to leave - leaving everyone inside thinking that Frasier has picked up Niles!

The following day on Frasier's show, a caller 'outs' Frasier by telling his listeners that he was at Bad Billy's the previous night, leaving Frasier no choice but to try and explain what he was doing there, but somehow ends up making it worse. This is followed by Gil comforting Frasier on his unexpected 'outing', and a chance encounter with Alistair Burke at Café Nervosa who also heard about his 'outing' and tries to make him feel better about his experience by inviting him to the backstage party for his new play - something that leaves Niles rather envious about. Everyone starts to think that Frasier and Alistair are a pair but Frasier has no idea about it. Frasier gets invited to the party at Alistair's house celebrating his new play and his muse. When he is asked to dance by Alistair, Frasier understands that Alistair looks to him as his better half and tells him that he is straight. Alistair even offers Frasier 3 weeks of holiday with him on Capri in Bertolucci's villa which almost makes Frasier change his mind, but he refuses. Alistair asks him to just pretend to be a pair with him, so that they do not break in front of others to which Frasier agrees.

Episode Title Cards

The Doctor Is Out
The Queerness Of You

Trivia

Kelsey Grammer and Patrick Stewart have crossed paths before, as Kelsey has guest starred in the episode "Cause and Effect" in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Joe Keenan returns to the show as a writer after a 3 year gap. His last episode before this was Ep 165 "Something Borrowed, Someone Blue". This is actually his 3rd "gay" episode, after Ep 27 "The Matchmaker" and Ep 157 "Out With Dad" - all of which were also directed by David Lee.

Memorable Quotations

Alistair Burke has just appeared in Café Nervosa
Frasier: He is only the head of the Seattle Opera Guild, and one of the finest directors in the world!
Niles: His productions are brilliant! He staged a Philip Glass opera last year and no one left.

Frasier picks up on signs that Barry may be gay:

Frasier: One wonders what's been in Barry’s closet a little too long!

Martin can't believe Frasier's assumption that Barry might be gay:

Martin: That guy's not gay! You know how you can tell? The muscles!
Niles: Good point dad. Second tip off, no poodle.

Frasier and Niles think Barry may have gone into 'Bad Billys':

Niles: I wonder what kind of place that is?
Frasier: Well, let's see - Tuesday is leather night, so it's probably some kind of Shoe companies of the United States... It's a gay bar, you idiot!