10 Recent TV Shows That Made ONE Huge Mistake
8. No Niles, No Sale - Frasier
Though the recent Frasier revival wasn't bad as such, it was massively hobbled from the outset by the absence of a character who helped make the original show what it was - Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) pathologically neurotic brother Niles (David Hyde Pierce).
David Hyde Pierce opted not to return for the revival because he felt it didn't offer him much to do, and given that the razor-sharp dynamic between Frasier and Niles was the show, keeping one half of the Crane siblings off-screen put it on the back-foot before filming had even started.
And indeed, though the show tried to fill the void by introducing a bevy of new characters - including Niles' incredibly Niles-like son David (Anders Keith) - there's just no replicating the note-perfect magic of the Frasier-Niles two-hander.
Niles was missed throughout the revival's first season, and while the show had its moments, it felt unmistakably lesser from start to finish.
With Paramount recently renewing it for a second season, though, it'll be interesting to see whether or not Pierce can be lured back, even if only for a brief supporting arc.