Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth): I mapped out our dominant and recessive traits on a genome square, applied Mendel's laws, allowed for anomalies and concluded that you are the best biological choice.
Frasier (Kelsey Grammer): I see. Well, as enticed as I am by your honeyed words, I'm gonna need some kissin'.
In the episode of Frasier that first aired 15 years ago tonight, "Lilith Needs a Favor," Frasier's ex–wife Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) made the long flight from Boston to Seattle to ask for a special favor.
She had a delightful in–flight conversation with her seatmate in which she mentioned that she was going to Seattle to ask a favor. Her seatmate was going to Seattle in pursuit of a job. Their conversation began with a discussion of how both were unusually pale.
"My ex–wife used to say she could tell when I was embarrassed," Lilith's seatmate said, "because I'd turn off–white."
Lilith was yearning to be a mother again. Their son was almost grown, and she was overcome by a wave of nostalgia for the days when he was a baby. She craved the feeling of being wanted and needed.
So she came to Frasier hoping to get him to contribute some sperm that she could take back with her. She wanted their son to have a full sibling and, being the woman of science that she was, Lilith had subjected the matter to numerous tests and concluded Frasier was the best choice to father her child.
Frasier, though, was resistant and asked for time to think about it. Lilith agreed to let him think about it and give her the answer at dinner the next night.
He had some questions, too. Would he and Lilith have to sleep together? Lilith said no. She wanted to freeze his sperm.
That opened the door for jokes at Lilith's expense.
"Is that a yes or a no?" Frasier asked.
Frasier was inclined not to agree to Lilith's request — for some pretty valid reasons. But he allowed emotion to overcome reason when he had dinner with Lilith, and she evoked memories of their son when he was little.
So off they went to the clinic, where Frasier was to provide a sperm sample that Lilith would take home with her. But Lilith kept kibitzing, offering advice on the proper mental state for making such a contribution.
Finally, Frasier had had enough. "If there is one thing I can do by myself," he insisted from behind a closed door, "this is it!"
In the end, though, they couldn't avoid the truth. Lilith was trying to recapture the past, and, as Frasier observed, "The past can be very seductive." Nevertheless, he also observed, "You can't use the past to fill what's missing in the present." In one way or another, we all do that, don't we? It's good advice to give but not so easy to follow.
Lilith resisted, however, saying that it "it feels right to me." But it wasn't right for Frasier.
So Lilith flew back to Boston — and found herself seated next to the same seatmate she had on the flight to Seattle. It turned out both their trips had been disappointing. His job prospect wasn't a good fit.
But the seeds of a possibly productive partnership were sown on the flight home.
