• 'Frasier' was a very popular sticom
  • Its reboot has not been so well-received
  • THIS is why David Hyde Pierce didn't want to come back

The revival, which has been stirring up nostalgia on Paramount+, just couldn't lure Pierce back to his Emmy-winning role. Even though for many, he was half the fun of the show and producers really wanted him to return, it was still not enough to convince the brilliant actor to reprise his signature character.

David's mind was already made up

"I never really wanted to go back," Pierce spilled the tea in a candid chat with the 'Los Angeles Times.' "I loved every moment. It was that I wanted to do other things." Talk about a plot twist that not even the most astute 'Frasier' fan could have predicted!

Pierce's current projects include portraying helpful husband Paul Child on the Max series 'Julia', which stars Sarah Lancashire as the iconic American cookbook author Julia Child. He's also got a strong supporting role in 'Here We Are', the new theater piece that contains the last music written by legendary composer Stephen Sondheim before his death in 2021.

"When we got into real talks about the reboot, I had just started on the TV show and was working on a musical and going to do another musical," Pierce said.

"And I just thought, 'I don't want to be committed to a show and not be able to do stuff like this.' And I also thought, 'They don't actually need me.' Frasier has moved on to a new world. They have new characters. And I think I'm right. It's doing great. And the new people they have are great."

And so, with that in mind the page of return had officially closed for Pierce.

As the reboot unfolds, viewers find an older "Frasier" jetting back to Boston to bond with his firefighter son, a fresh face on the scene portrayed by Jack Cutmore-Scott. But without the neurotic charm of "Niles," some fans are left wondering if the show can still hit those comedic high notes.

After all, the two brothers and their banter was the highlight of each episode. Joe Cristalli, co-writer of the reboot, revealed to Vulture the original plan was to reunite the Crane brothers in a black-box theater venture. Alas, without Pierce's participation, that dream fizzled faster than a "Frasier Crane" dinner party!

But some stars like Peri Gilpin, who played Roz Doyle will be making a comeback. "It was fun to revisit and felt really good. I wasn’t expecting it not to be, but I really was surprised at how great it felt to be there again," Gilpin previously told 'TheWrap'.

"I genuinely love this character. So I would love to do it [again]. It just depends on what happens next."

If Pierce did happen to come back, the creatives said they would have been able to move the character and his story forward. Showrunner Chris Harris said this:

"Of course, Chris and I would have come up with something to evolve the character, make him fun and we’d love to still do that. But from his point of view, he felt like he wouldn’t add to this new version of Frasier and his son," Harris continued.

"He very understandably felt like he didn’t want to do that again, and he was in a tough place because everybody wants him to do it again. Writing Niles and Frasier banter is very, very fun. But the fact that he did step aside and allowed us to open up with a blank slate, and give room for all these new characters to grow."

Also interesting:

Meanwhile, Grammer's enthusiasm for the reboot is through the roof! He's aiming for a whopping 100 more episodes and hasn't ruled out the possibility of "Niles'" return. "It would be nice to have that happen," Grammer mused to Variety. "We won't force it; we'll see what happens."

Wouldn't that be something special?

The first season's 10 episodes are already causing a stir on Paramount+, but will the absence of "Niles Crane" leave a hole too big for new characters to fill? Only time will tell if this reboot can capture the magic of the original without one of its most cherished characters.

So, pour yourself a sherry, folks! The drama off-screen is just as juicy as the one on-screen!