The Frasier Storyline That Had Niles Actor David Hyde Pierce Overcome With Emotion

When David Hyde Pierce signed on to play Niles, the titular doctor's brother in "Frasier," he initially thought the pilot script was "terrible." The actor thought the writers had essentially created two versions of the same character in Frasier and Niles and wasn't sure how the show's dynamic was ever going to work. Fast-forward two years to the 1995 episode "The Last Time I Saw Maris," and Pierce was fully converted. Having played Niles for almost three seasons, the actor had developed a bond with his cast mates and an appreciation for the writing quality on "Frasier," which remains one of the best and most consistently well-written sitcoms in TV history. But it seems he'd also developed a real affection for his character's wife, Maris, despite the fact she had never been seen on-screen.

By 1995, audiences had become well-acquainted with Niles' wife even though they'd never once seen her in the flesh. When Maris was first introduced to "Frasier," it was in the pilot episode "The Good Son," wherein Niles reveals that his father, Martin (John Mahoney) doesn't get along with her. This prompts Frasier to deliver the first of what would, across the series' 11 seasons, became many, many digs at his brother's partner: "I like her from a distance. You know, the way you like the sun. Maris is like the sun. Except without the warmth."

As "Frasier" went on, the show never once showed Maris. The writers initially intended to cast someone in the role, but as more episodes came and more and more characters started to describe Maris in increasingly bizarre ways, it became a running joke to keep the character off-screen. So, you'd think that when Niles and Maris broke up, there wouldn't be all that much to get upset about. But for Pierce, it seems his fictional divorce was a little too much to take.

In "The Last Time I Saw Maris," Niles' wife disappears, causing him to become distraught before finding out Maris embarked on an impromptu shopping spree in New York. Urged by his father and Frasier to demand an apology for her insensitive actions, Niles stands his ground only for Maris to ask for a divorce — again remaining off-screen for the duration of the episode. By the end, Niles adheres to Maris' wishes and the final scene sees him leaving his and his wife's apartment for the last time.

In a behind the scenes featurette, David Hyde Pierce recalls being "emotionally overcome" when doing the table read for "The Last Time I Saw Maris." The actor remembered being blindsided at the table read by how upset he became over a character that, in reality, didn't even have an actor attached to the role. "I remember the first time we sat down to read this episode," he said. "I was seriously emotionally overcome sitting at the table discussing the possibility of separation from this woman who doesn't even exist in real life. We don't even have an actress to play the part." He continued:

"It took me completely by surprise, because I'd read the script the night before and I thought, 'Oh this is nice,' and then something about sitting around the table with the other actors, with the writers, with your family like that enhances the reality of it. It was very strange."

Trying to make sense of his unexpected surge of emotion, David Hyde Pierce put it down to the fact that "the writing is this good" and that he and the cast had "all worked together so closely for, at that point, three years." He added, "You don't realize how much a part of your character's life, even someone who we've never seen, has become." In that sense, it wasn't so much Maris the character that prompted Pierce's response, but his empathy for his own character, which even casual "Frasier" fans would agree he completely inhabited.

It's interesting to note how Pierce was not only convinced of his show's quality after initially balking at the pilot script, but just how much the actor became immersed in "Frasier." The show seems to have a record of converting unbelievers, with even Kelsey Grammer himself admitting to being a "sitcom snob" before starring in "Cheers," the show off which "Frasier" span. In fact, in what is an eerie portent of things to come, Grammar admitted that he thought the "Cheers" pilot was "terrible" when he first read it. Of course, these days the "Frasier" star can't stop himself getting emotionally overwhelmed, with the new Paramount+ revival series providing plenty of excuses to turn on the waterworks.

It's a testament to the quality of "Frasier" that its actors become so totally caught up in the world and characters created by Glen and Les Charles. Now, if Grammer could only convince Pierce to return for the revival, audiences could have an emotionally overwhelming moment of their own.