Frasier: Kelsey Grammer explains why David Hyde Pierce won’t be back for the revival series

Paramount+ officially gave the green light to a new Frasier series starring Kelsey Grammer in October. The revival will once again see Grammer playing the psychiatrist-turned-radio host Frasier Crane, and while the actor once hoped that the original cast would also return, it seems that won’t be the case when it comes to David Hyde Pierce.

While speaking with People, Kelsey Grammer said, “For a while we were going to try to bring back the whole cast, the whole legacy cast,” but that all changed when David Hyde Pierce turned the project down. Of course, Pierce played Niles Crane on Frasier, but Grammer said, “David basically decided he wasn’t really interested in repeating the performance of Niles,” which is certainly fair. Once David Hyde Pierce decided not to return for the Frasier revival, Grammer said it wound up benefiting the project. “In a very funny way, it just took us to a new place,” Grammer said, “which was what we originally wanted to do anyway, which was a Fraser third act. It’s an entirely new life for him.” While it may be a little sad not to see Frasier and Niles reunite, it’s probably for the best that the show charts its own course.

As for where the Frasier revival will find its main character, Kelsey Grammer said, “He’s our brave little soldier that continues on in life, finding new challenges and a new love and new people and a new city and stuff like that.” The actor added that they’ll “always honor the past,” particularly the passing of John Mahoney, who played Martin Crane. “We’ll be dealing with that for sure,” Grammer said. The new series is expected to consist of ten episodes, and Grammer said they’ll be starting rehearsals in February. The actor first appeared as Frasier Crane in Cheers in 1984 and played the character until the series ended in 1993, after which he starred in his own series from 1993-2004.