Rachel Dratch's Frasier Appearance Came With An Unfortunate Acting Credit
Rachel Dratch used to be the ultimate "Oh, her!" comedian — the type of face and voice you'd always recognize, but whose name you might forget. Well, that didn't last long, because she was so memorable in tiny parts like "Southern Woman" ("Martin & Orloff") and "Female MC" ("Winter Passing") at the outset of her career that she quickly grew into a beloved household name.
We know and love her now for her long tenure on "Saturday Night Live," where she helped create enduring characters like Debbie Downer, and in memorable roles in films like "Sisters," "Click," and "Just Go With It." Since she made her screen debut, Dratch has amassed an enormous 125 screen credits, and that's just counting individual projects, not episodes of TV, which would stretch into the multiple hundreds.
Those early years, where she was fighting for recognition with ounce inch of her comedic prowess, are well worth revisiting. One single episode stint on "Frasier," in a scene that lasts no more than a couple minutes, is a prime example. In the season 11 episode "Match Game," Frasier (Kelsey Grammer), deep in the valley a romantic nadir (when he is not), stumbles across Charlotte Connor (Laura Linney), a matchmaker. She convinces him to let her set him up on a series of blind dates — for the reasonable fee of $10,000, that is. Each date proves to be a bigger disaster than the last, with the actresses portraying Dr. Crane's suitors earning hilariously abject credits. Dratch's has no competitors for the worst.
'Horny Date'
The evening of dates starts off strong with Beth Littleford, who plays "Creationism Date." Littleford's character informs Frasier that she's a science teacher, to which Frasier responds, "Serendipity!" before professing his own love for science. But then she goes on. "My field is biology, but my specialty is creationism," she says. "They're only in first grade, so they don't understand everything. But Brother William — he's our leader — he likes us to get 'em started young before their minds get warped by all that fossil nonsense." Littleford is dismissed, and Dratch is on deck. Though three more dates follow her (Dress Date, Wig Date, and Teen Date ... yeah), they're all eclipsed by what a complete, unmitigated, superlatively sure-footed disaster she is.
Dratch dons a choppy chestnut wig, plunging aquamarine blouse, and extremely post-9/11-era upper arm bangle. She slurs, curses, and cackles from the jump, shocking Frasier's refined sensibilities. Here's just a snippet of her dizzying dialogue:
"I gotta to warn you — I'm a horny drunk. Last spring in Cabo, I wake up one morning under a beach umbrella, stark naked, tequila bottle in one hand, and some guy's tightie-whities on my head!"
"Match Game" might best be remembered for the introduction of matchmaker Charlotte, who goes on to be Frasier's last love interest whom he chases to Chicago in the series finale, but this is Dratch's episode. She was in the peak of her "SNL" era when this episode taped, and you can see resonances in sketches like "Chocolate Cake" and "Oprah's Favorite Things: Birthday Edition." Like her "SNL" castmates, all Grammer needed to do is give her a character, sit back, and try not to laugh.