We could’ve seen Frasier and Niles running a theater
Had David Hyde Pierce agreed to appear, the Fraiser sequel series could’ve been a lot different
Aux News Frasier
Nothing dashed our excitement for the Fraiser sequel series quite like David Hyde Pierce’s absence. Sure, Kelsey Grammer’s performance as Frasier belongs in the Smithsonian, but a Frasier without a Niles is like a double decaf non-fat latte, medium foam, dusted with just the faintest whisper of cinnamon without a biscotto. A Frasier and Freddy pairing will have to do this season on Paramount+, but in a new interview with Vulture, writer Joe Cristalli and co-creator Chris Harris whet our appetites with amuse-bouche for a meal we’ll never taste. Before Pierce put the kibosh on it, Niles and Frasier were going to open a theater together.
“For a long time, the idea was that Frasier and Niles were going to run a black-box theater, like how they bought that restaurant and brought it back to life,” Cristalli told Vulture. “But it’s hard for Frasier and Niles to run the theater when you don’t have Niles, so we had to step back from that.”
Had they gone ahead with plans to purchase this black box, Harris warns, it would’ve made “Niles the new Maris,” which he admits would’ve been “weird.” One can imagine how frustrating the revival series would’ve been had Niles been frequently derided from afar, and we’re thankful that Frasier can go about his business without reminding us of the one who got away.
The whole interview is packed with interesting tidbits about Dr. Crane, including why he’s wearing jeans and drinking beer (“He’s on the cutting edge). One particularly interesting moment came when Cristalli explained his view of Frasier as a father.
“You look at the original series, and you saw Freddy 11 times. But to be fair, it’s always presented as a good relationship. Frasier’s on the phone, he’s just coming back from Boston, he’s doing the holidays,” said Cristalli, giving Frasier an easy out for three decades of absentee fatherhood. “Kelsey was very firm on this from the beginning: Frasier is a good father and wants to be a good father, but the distance between them grew. I don’t think you can call him a deadbeat dad.”
To be fair, the only thing worse than being called a “deadbeat dad” is a “Frasier father.”
24 Comments
On the one hand, I definitely miss David Hyde Pierce in the new show and I dearly hope he’ll pop up at some point. On the other hand, the pitch about them owning a theater sounds truly execrable and I’m glad he turned it down. What we’ve gotten so far is fine, for better or worse. It could even get good, but it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t be elevated if they could rope in Pierce for a few appearances in the new status quo.
I wonder if, with the fact the new series is classier than expected and garnering half-decent to good reviews, that there could be a return of Hyde Pierce and/or Leeves for S2Hopefully both as it would feel unnatural for either not to appear and you can better believe I’ll riot if they split them up, but you could feasibly at least have one without the other on a “they’re at home” basis. Possibly even lampshade it like the Maris running gag from original recipe Frasier
If the revival lasts, there’s no way he doesn’t show up eventually.
Even Kim Cattrall showed up in “And Just Like That…”
Thing is, I don’t see that kind of partnership lasting past the theater’s first production. They’d kill each other in that environment. It would have been a good idea for a few-episode arc during the original run.
We could’ve gotten The Golden Palace, Frasier-style? Damn you, David Hyde Pierce.
I don’t damn David Hyde Pierce at all because turning Niles into a punchline would be both a travesty of justice and also one of the most Kelsey Grammer moves in history.Frasier – the original – was 100% Niles’ hero journey. I don’t blame DHP for balking at Grammer & co. planning to undo all of that development because Kelsey was tired of not being in a spotlight.
with a sassy black employee, too!
To be fair, the only thing worse than being called a “deadbeat dad” is a “Frasier father.”Is that better or worse than being a “Worf father” ??
I give Worf credit for resisting the urge to put a bat’leth through Alexander.
In his defense, what other child turns 9 after only 2 years then just kinda stays that way?
Reneesmee?
He was four when he was, at best, biologically 1 and a half. And then he became 9 or ten one year later.And then he jumped to about 18 or 19 five years after that.What the hell were they feeding Alexander?
Hey, after he and his crew came out of the timeloop, you’d better believe that everybody knows his name.
It never really bothered me that we didn’t see ‘Frasier’ parenting Freddy much. The show wasn’t about that, and it was established that they lived in different cities but Frasier saw him when he could. Much as you don’t see characters grocery shopping in every episode, I always assumed being with his son was something the character did between episodes.All that said, you could make the argument that if Frasier did see Freddy less than expected, it might be because he was afraid of being a bad father, since he had such a strained relationship with his own dad in the beginning and doesn’t want to repeat the same pattern. The less time he spends around his son, the less likely that is to happen.
I’m still struggling with how they’ve written adult Freddy. It’s not as if Lilith was a woman version of Martin – I expect his upbringing would have been similar to what he’d have experienced with Fraser.
And Freddy was very much like his parents in the few episodes he was in but original show had the two “refined” brothers playing off their “unrefined” dad. So now they have the refined dad, playing off the unrefined son and somewhat refined cousin/nephew.It make more sense for Freddy to be the weird one and David to be the more “normal” since he would have had Niles/Daphne as parents which were more opposites than Lilith/Frasier but is what it is.I enjoyed the first few episodes so far. Of course missing DHP but it’s pretty much “Yeah, that’s a Frasier show alright”
It might have been funnier to make David more like Daphne and less like Niles. Give Frasier an entire younger generation to be befuddled by.
Nothing ensures a quality father-son relationship than not being around. You know, just in case you accidentally say the wrong thing or something.
For a long time, the idea was that Frasier and Niles were going to run a black-box theater, like how they bought that restaurant and brought it back to life,” Cristalli told Vulture. “But it’s hard for Frasier and Niles to run the theater when you don’t have Niles, so we had to step back from that.Yeah, I don’t buy it. We could have done something interesting* with Frasier and Niles but instead we had to go with this incredibly safe and obvious premise and lazily rehash the Frasier/Martin dynamic…curse you, David Hyde Pierce, for foiling our ambitions! *To be clear, this premise also sounds pretty dumb, but at least it isn’t fReDdY iS tHe MaRtIn NoW
I can’t help but wonder if DHP just didn’t want to deal with KG. Their politics are polar opposite. I think “in the old days” it’s not crazy they were able to put that aside but with KG hard-in-the-paint for Trump that may have made it more difficult today.
Moneyplane.
It was always a very weird (and wholly unnecessary) choice for Frasier to move all the way to Seattle in his spinoff series. The creators wanted to get him out of Boston to give some literal and narrative distance between the character and Cheers. Okay, fine.But Frasier was also a father and moving 3000 miles away from your kid is just a dick move and again, the creators could have decided to set the show anywhere and remove that uncomfortable element. He could have moved to Providence, for pete’s sake, and been within a short drive of Freddy, but long enough that no one would ask why he wasn’t playing cards with Sam and Norm every other week.