The Big Picture
- Kelsey Grammer says the door is open for David Hyde Pierce to make an appearance on the
Frasier
revival if he’s interested. - The second season of the revived series is in the works, with the potential for more original cast members to return.
- Despite interest in bringing back old characters, David Hyde Pierce previously expressed disinterest in reprising his role as Niles.
Niles Crane hasn’t joined his brother on Paramount+’s revival of Frasier yet – but the door is open to the other Dr. Crane. At a Deadline panel today, Frasier star Kelsey Grammer said he’d love to have David Hyde Pierce on an episode of the revived sitcom’s second season if Pierce wants to return. Video of the panel comes courtesy of Twitter user Chelsea Schwartz.
The revived series, which saw Frasier relocate to Boston after his father’s funeral to be closer to his now-grown son, Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott). was renewed for a second season earlier this year. The first season features two guest stars from Frasier’s original run; Frasier’s ex-wife Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth), who first starred alongside him on Cheers, and his former producer Roz Doyle (Peri Gilpin), who dropped in for the series finale. Grammer and the show’s creators are enthusiastic about bringing in more characters from both Frasier and Cheers; one actor they have their sights set on is Brian Cox, who guested on Frasier as Harry Moon, the estranged father of Niles’ wife, Daphne. However, he may be out of luck as far as Pierce goes; back in 2022, when the revival was still in the planning stages, Grammer stated that “David basically decided he wasn’t really interested in repeating the performance of Niles”.
Who Is David Hyde Pierce?
David Hyde Pierce was a New York theater actor before landing a lead role on Norman Lear‘s satirical political series The Powers That Be. The show was short-lived, but it brought him to the attention of the producers of Frasier, who cast him as Frasier’s even-snootier brother Niles on the new spin-off. The role netted him four Emmy Awards over the series’ eleven-season run. Outside of Frasier, he also starred in Sleepless in Seattle, Wet Hot American Summer, and Hellboy. He recently starred on the Max series Julia as Paul Child, the husband of pioneering TV chef Julia Child. He also continues to be active on Broadway, and is set to star in a revival of The Pirates of Penzance next year.
In addition to Grammer and Cutmore-Scott, Frasier also stars Anders Keith as David Crane, the son of Niles and Daphne; Toks Olagundoye and Nicholas Lyndhurst as Olivia Finch and Alan Cornwall, Frasier’s colleagues at Harvard; and Jess Salgueiro as Eve, a friend of Freddy’s. Chris Harris and Joe Cristalli developed the revival series, and also executive produced alongside Grammer, Tom Russo, and Jordan McMahon.
Frasier has been renewed for a second season on Paramount+. No release date has yet been set, but Season 1 is currently streaming on the platform in the U.S. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
Frasier
Dr. Frasier Crane moves back to his hometown of Seattle, where he lives with his father and works as a radio psychiatrist.
- Release Date
- September 16, 1993
- Creator
- David Angell, Peter Casey, Glen Charles, David Lee
- Cast
- Kelsey Grammer , David Hyde Pierce , Jane Leeves , Peri Gilpin , John Mahoney
- Main Genre
- Comedy
- Seasons
- 11
- Network
- NBC