What Happened to Niles Crane in the ‘Frasier’ Reboot? What David Hyde Pierce Fans Need to Know
Viewers are really feeling Nile’s absence on the Paramount+ series.
Well, folks, Frasier Crane is officially back in the building.
After close to two decades since Frasier ended after 11 seasons in the early aughts, fans of the hit sitcom were ecstatic to see a reboot debut on Paramount+ on October 12. Just like the original series, this show follows Kelsey Grammer as he reprises his iconic role in the city of Boston. While fans know Frasier lived in Boston when he was a character on the ’80s TV show Cheers, this time around, our favorite psychologist is playing a college professor while also trying to bond with his adult son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott).
As folks tuned in to watch Frasier, they realized that Frasier’s brother Niles Crane, played by David Hyde Pierce, is nowhere to be seen. Given how fans loved seeing the sibling dynamic between the two, along with Niles’ road to romance with Daphne Moon (Jane Leeves), it’s hard not to wonder what happened to him as we see Frasier relocate to a new city after some time away from TV.
So, what happened to Niles in the Frasier reboot? And more importantly, why did David Hyde Pierce not return to the franchise? We did some research, and fans will definitely be surprised to learn more details.
What happened to Niles Crane in the Frasier reboot?
As of right now, the show hasn’t really addressed Niles’ absence on Frasier. The last fans saw the character, his wife Daphne gave birth to their first child, a son named David (season 10 also had a flash-forward scene that showed the couple giving birth to two daughters, implying that Niles’ immediately family expands to a group of five people).
But what about Niles’ relationship with Frasier? While it’s unclear what happened to Niles and Frasier’s relationship, series co-writer Joe Cristalli told Vulture in October that the original reboot idea was meant to focus on the brothers’ dynamic as they opened up a theater in Seattle.
“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,” he said. “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.”
Why isn’t David Hyde Pierce in the Frasier reboot?
As for why Niles isn’t in the Frasier reboot, it stemmed from David not wanting to return to the role after almost two decades after the final episode. Kelsey confirmed this to People in November 2022, stating how David’s choice to not come back actually opened up for new storylines to emerge.
“David basically decided he wasn’t really interested in repeating the performance of Niles,” he shared at the time. “In a very funny way, it just took us to a new place, which was what we originally wanted to do anyway, which was a Fraser third act. It’s an entirely new life for him.”
Looks like we’ll need to keep an eye out to see what comes of Niles as Frasier goes on!
