Is Niles in the 'Frasier' reboot? What viewers can expect
The doctor is in!
After wrapping in 2004, the hit TV series "Frasier" is returning to the small screen with Kelsey Grammer once more stepping into the role of pretentious-but-lovable psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane.
The new series will stream on Paramount+ starting on Oct. 12 and runs for 10 episodes.
It's been nearly two decades since viewers caught up with Crane, who we last saw hopping on a plane to Chicago to be with his potential soulmate, Charlotte (Laura Linney).
Since then, the older, wiser Crane has undergone some major life changes including embarking on a new career and relocating to the East Coast.
Along with Grammer, a host of new faces will be joining the reboot including Jack Cutmore-Scott as Crane’s son, Freddy, along with Nicholas Lyndhurst, Toks Olagundoye, Jess Salgueiro and Anders Keith in supporting roles.
However, the burning question for many fans of the original is: Will Niles will be in the new "Frasier?"
Played by David Hyde Pierce, Crane's persnickety brother, Niles, is one of the most memorable characters from the show and over the course of the 11 seasons "Frasier" aired, Hyde Pierce won four Emmys, as well as scoring countless other nominations and awards, for his portrayal of Crane’s younger sibling.
Naturally, viewers are curious if he will return to reprise his break out role. Here's what we know about whether or not Hyde Pierce is coming back, as well as all the details on other original cast members including Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin, John Mahoney and Moose, better known as Eddie, the cheeky Jack Russell terrier who frequently tormented Frasier.
Is Niles returning to "Frasier?"
At this point, it doesn't appear that Hyde Pierce will be reprising his old role.
In a segment on TODAY last spring, Grammer said that other than a possible "one-off appearance," Hyde Pierce wouldn't be coming back for the "Frasier" reboot, explaining to the Associated Press in 2022 that "David (Hyde Pierce) honestly wasn't very interested in playing that role again and I get that. He's an actor."
However, the absence of Niles isn't necessarily a bad thing according to Grammer, who says it "propelled us to a whole new story and that actually is what I wanted to do anyway."
The updated storyline revolves around Frasier's return to his old stomping grounds in Boston with a new career in higher education and hopes of reconnecting with his now-adult son, Freddy (Cutmore-Scott).
"It’s Frasier’s fourth act, really, when he left Seattle in the previous show, he went to Chicago. There’s a whole raft of time there that we discover a little bit about, but he’s mostly he’s now going to Boston, he wants to go become a writer of critical novels and it doesn’t quite work out," Grammer says during the TODAY segment.
Viewers may remember that Grammer's character first got its start on the popular sitcom "Cheers" in 1984.
When the series ended in 1993, the subsequent spinoff, "Frasier," gave Crane a new life as a divorced talk radio psychiatrist living in Seattle with his crotchety father Martin, (Mahoney), the elder Crane's live-in nurse, Daphne Moon (Leeves) and dealing with his sarcastic radio producer Roz Doyle (Gilpin) and managing brother Niles' lovesick devotion to Daphne.
What other 'Frasier' characters are (and aren't) returning?
Along with Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves is also not returning for the revival.
Earning two Emmy nods for his portrayal of Crane's father, Martin, Mahoney died in 2018 at the age of 77. And Moose, the memorable dog (and star in his own right) that played Eddie, passed away in 2006.
Moose’s trainer, Mathilde Halberg, tells TODAY.com that toward the end of the original series, Moose aged out of the role and was replaced by his son, Enzo, who has also since died.
“Being on the show for 11 years, it’s a long time. And it was so much fun. It was such a delight to be part of this,” Halberg says of the experience.
As for possible returning cast members, TODAY reported earlier this spring that Peri Gilpin is expected to make a guest appearance as Roz Doyle, and Bebe Neuwirth, who played Frasier's emotionless ex-wife Lilith, will reprise her role as Lilith in a guest-starring turn.
Showrunners behind the new "Frasier," Joe Cristalli and Chris Harris, tell Variety that Gilpin and Neuwirth are the only two original characters expected to show up in Season One, but in subsequent seasons, anything's possible.
"I can’t wait to bring back BB Glaser or Gil or Bulldog. Niles, if he’ll do it, or Daphne. Anybody that wants to would be great. Just as long as it feels organic to the story and isn’t just a shameless, ‘Hey, look, it’s Bulldog!,'" Cristalli tells Variety.
A "Cheers" reunion isn't out of the question either, but fans shouldn't expect to see or hear about the neighborhood bar (where everybody knows your name) in the first season of the revival.
“It is a little bit by design that (Frasier) hasn’t mentioned it or gone back there,” Cristalli says in the interview. “He’s not ready. He left Boston with his tail between his legs. So hopefully it gets to a place where he can do it. I would love to see Norm and Sam. How great would that be?”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
