Grammer: Here's Why 'Niles' Won't Be in Frasier Reboot

David Hyde Pierce said no, leading to 'an entirely new life' for Frasier Crane
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 25, 2022 11:45 AM CST
Grammer: Here's Why 'Niles' Won't Be in Frasier Reboot
In this Sept. 13, 1998 file photo, cast members of "Frasier," from left, Dan Butler, John Mahoney, Peri Gilpin, Kelsey Grammer, Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce, winners of the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, pose backstage at the 50th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards in Los Angeles.   (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)

The reboot of TV's Frasier, in which Kelsey Grammer will resume his award-winning role of Dr. Frasier Crane, was initially envisioned as reuniting the whole cast. The roster would have included David Hyde Pierce, who played Crane's brother Niles; Jane Leeves, who played Crane's live-in housekeeper Daphne; and Peri Gilpin, who played Crane's radio show producer Roz. But as Grammer tells People, Hyde Pierce "basically decided he wasn't really interested in repeating the performance of Niles." As a result, the reboot will see Grammer's psychiatrist setting out alone in a new city.

Hyde Pierce told Vulture earlier this year that he wasn't approached about appearing in the reboot, though "it was also not something I was looking to do." Grammer, however, says Hyde Pierce's decision "took us to a new place, which was what we originally wanted to do anyway." "It's an entirely new life" for Frasier outside of Seattle," says the 67-year-old. "He's our brave little soldier that continues on in life, finding new challenges and a new love and new people." It won't be the first time. Frasier (1993-2004), a spinoff of Cheers (1982-1993), brought Crane from Boston to his hometown of Seattle to start over following a divorce.

The Paramount+ show will still "honor the past" and "honor the fact that John Mahoney died," Grammer adds of the actor who played the Crane brothers' blue-collar father, Martin. "We'll be dealing with that for sure" and "we'll certainly be responsive about the fact that there was a brother and such," Grammer says. "But the new world for Frasier is one of new friendships—and some new twists and turns he didn't know were still in there." Grammer previously said he "cried" tears of joy upon reading the script for the reboot, per People. Rehearsals for the show begin in February. A release date has not been announced. (More Frasier stories.)

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