Kelsey Grammer tried but couldn't convince David Hyde Pierce to return for Frasier reboot: "I did my best"

24 November 2023, 14:59

The Doctor's long-awaited return delivered.

After nearly two decades away from our screens, Dr. Frasier Crane put tossed salad and scrambled eggs back on the menu in 2023.

Beloved sitcom Frasier, which originally ran from 1993 to 2004, was brought back by Paramount+ after a long-mooted reboot series was announced.

Of course, at the helm was the titular star Kelsey Grammer - what kind of return would it be without him?

The reboot of the Cheers spin-off television series was warmly received, especially the roles of psychology professor Alan Cornwall, who was played by none other than Only Fools and Horses legend Nicholas Lyndhurst.

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But not all of the original series' main characters returned for the reboot, with the exception of Peri Gilpin and Bebe Neuwirth who played Frasier's friend and co-worker Ross Doyle and his ex-wife Lilith Sternin.

Though, it was the initial intention to bring back the likes of David Hyde Pierce as Frasier's scene-stealing brother Niles and his wife Daphne Moon - sadly, Martin Crane wouldn't be back after the death of actor John Mahoney in 2018.

In a recent interview with Variety, Kelsey Grammer revealed he tried to convince Hyde Pierce to make a return, but in the end couldn't convince him, saying: "I did my best."

"I really wanted David Hyde Pierce to join us," Grammer said. "And I did my best to have him come along for the ride."

"And at one point, he finally just said, 'I don't really want to play the character anymore'. And that was fine."

"I mean, we have Niles’ son on the show," he continued. "It would be nice to have that happen. We won’t force it; we’ll see what happens."

"We can certainly write to it. There's arguably a lot of people in the world that have seen Frasier, and would really sort of celebrate seeing him again."

In October 2023 when the Frasier reboot made its debut, the show's creators revealed they intended for Hyde Pierce to return as Niles.

Showrunners Chris Harris and Joe Cristalli approached Pierce "a couple of times" about returning before he declined, which made them pursue a different approach.

"He was in a tough position," Cristalli said in an interview with Vulture. "Everybody wants to see him as Niles, but he doesn't want to step back into those shoes."

"He felt like he didn't have anything new to bring to the character. He read versions and gave us notes and thoughts, and he acknowledged it was funny and we found the tone the original did so well. It just wasn't for him."

Frasier (2023) | Official Trailer | Paramount+

Cristalli went on to explain that without Niles making a return, it offered them a sense of freedom about which direction to take.

"Yes, we have to live up to the incredibly high standards of Frasier," he added. "But with a little more leniency."

"This can live in the same universe as Frasier and Cheers without being Frasier or Cheers."

Kelsey Grammer was the only central character to make a proper return, which sees him in Boston once again where Cheers took place, and it was warmly received with another series reportedly in the works.