Lilith Sternin (formerly Sternin-Crane), M.D., Ph.D., Ed.D, A.P.A. is a fictional character on the American television sitcoms Cheers and Frasier, portrayed by Bebe Neuwirth. The character first appears as a date for Frasier Crane, though mutual hostility and discomfort causes the evening to end badly. Several months later, Lilith meets Frasier again and, with some help from Frasier's ex-fiancée, Diane Chambers (Shelley Long), they start a romantic relationship, eventually living together, marrying, and having a son, Frederick.
In the final season of Cheers, Lilith has an affair with another man and leaves Frasier. The affair later unravels and Lilith returns, seeking reconciliation with Frasier. Although Cheers ends ambiguously with regard to Frasier and Lilith's marriage, at the beginning of the spin-off series Frasier, their divorce has been finalized, with Lilith continuing to raise Frederick in Boston while Frasier has moved back to his hometown of Seattle. Lilith occasionally appears in Frasier, sometimes with Frederick.
Role in Cheers
Lilith debuts in the Cheers episode "Second Time Around" (1986), as Frasier Crane's (Kelsey Grammer) date; it does not go well, with Lilith walking out of the date with disdain at Cheers as a venue and Frasier's activities. In "Abnormal Psychology" (1986), they feel mutual attraction again when he becomes accustomed to her makeover done by Diane Chambers (Shelley Long). At first reluctant to start over again, they then decide to go on another date. For years they live together, as first shown in "Dinner at Eight-ish" (1987). "Our Hourly Bread" (1988) reveals that they wed one month before the episode. In "Smotherly Love" (1992), they re-enact their wedding to please Lilith's mother Betty (Marilyn Cooper), who was irritated that she had not been present for their marriage. In "The Stork Brings a Crane" (1989), Lilith gives birth to Frederick during the taxi ride home after false labor in the hospital.
The tenth-season Cheers episode "I'm Okay, You're Defective" (1991) features two plots: one subplot about Lilith pressuring Frasier to finalize his will and one main plot about Sam Malone's (Ted Danson) concern that his sperm count may be low. The episode's epilogue is described as "Many years later" with an elderly Lilith and adult Frederick (Rob Neukirch) sitting for the reading of Frasier's will. The lawyer opens the sealed envelope and is surprised to find Sam's sperm count report, which turns out stable. In response to the mix-up, Lilith bitterly remarks, "That damn bar."
In the eleventh and final season (1992–93), in "Teaching with the Enemy" (1992), Lilith admits her affair with another man – Dr. Louis Pascal (Peter Vogt). In "The Girl in the Plastic Bubble" (1992), Lilith leaves Frasier, with him contemplating suicide until she promises to him that the marriage can be saved, to live with Pascal in Pascal's experimental underground eco-pod. In "Is There a Doctor in the Howe?" (1993), a depressed Frasier almost has sex with Rebecca Howe (Kirstie Alley) in their bed until Lilith unexpectedly returns. In the following episode, "The Bar Manager, The Shrink, His Wife and Her Lover" (1993), Lilith storms out of the room to go to Cheers, demanding the others tell her how long Frasier and Rebecca have been having an affair. The other characters have no idea as the affair has barely started that very evening. Lilith reveals that the eco-pod experiment with Pascal was a disaster – Pascal turned out to be claustrophobic, among other mental problems – and she abandons the project to return to Boston. Frasier and Rebecca, and eventually Pascal, converge on Cheers in pursuit of Lilith. Pascal, armed with a pistol, demands Lilith return to him, threatening to shoot Frasier and the others. Lilith demands that he shoot her first, which causes him to back down and surrender to police. Although Frasier initially refuses to take Lilith back, her pathetic sobbing wins him over, suggesting a reconciliation can occur.
Role in Frasier
In the spin-off Frasier, Lilith and Frasier have divorced, and Frederick continues to live with Lilith in Boston after Frasier's move to Seattle. In the opening scene of the 1993 pilot episode of Frasier ("The Good Son"), Frasier is hosting his call-in radio show and relates the following:
<blockquote>Six months ago, I was living in Boston. My wife had left me, which was very painful. Then she came back to me, which was excruciating. ...So I ended the marriage once and for all, packed up my things, and moved back here to my home town of Seattle.</blockquote>
Actress Bebe Neuwirth reprises the role of Lilith in several episodes of Frasier. In her debut Frasier episode, "The Show Where Lilith Comes Back" (1994), Lilith calls Frasier during his radio show, which surprises him, and mocks Frasier's psychiatric advice to his callers, especially one who overeats and whom Lilith attempts to help. Later at his apartment, Lilith reminds him about their times together during marriage. They make love at one point, but end up regretting it, strongly indicating no chance of a lasting reconciliation. Throughout the series, Lilith reappears on occasion, often rekindling hers and Frasier's lingering emotional bond, sometimes over concern about the future of Frederick (Trevor Einhorn), Frasier and Lilith avoid each other in the wake of the former's returning to Boston, only running into her by chance a few weeks later. In spite of their earlier détente, the pair immediately start sparring verbally, much to their son's chagrin. They nonetheless attempt to share a place in Freddy's life, but after passionately kissing on his bed, they agree to divide the holidays between them so that Freddy never has to deal with the two of them together.
Creation and development
thumb|upright|The role of Lilith earned Bebe Neuwirth an Emmy as an Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1990 and 1991.
A stereotypical "intelligent ice queen" Lilith Sternin first appeared in one single scene of a Cheers episode "Second Time Around" (1986; season 4, episode 17), intended as a one-off character. However, she was brought back in the fifth season and became a recurring character thereafter. Over the years, like Diane Chambers, an educated Lilith is often mocked yet "manages to put people in their place."
Cheers and Frasier writers Ken Levine and David Isaacs found the chemistry of Frasier and Lilith "special" enough to compare them with Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy mixed with "Prozac" and to comfortably write stories about. Nevertheless, Neuwirth did not want to appear as a regular player, and left the role of Lilith on Cheers. Neuwirth's career has since been focused on stage work. However, she made several guest appearances as Lilith in the spin-off Frasier.