Re-Writing Family History
Originally, Niles and Martin weren’t going to be on the show at all. According to “Cheers,” Frasier was an only child whose father had died years ago. The writers decided to change canon by introducing a fiercely competitive younger brother and laid-back, blue-collar father. After seeing a picture of David Hyde Pierce that resembled Grammer in his youth, the network executives were eager to cast him as Niles. They won over John Mahoney, who was their ideal actor for Martin, by FedEx-ing him a hastily-written script for the pilot episode that “was the best by far” in a line of scripts the actor had received before accepting the role.