Why David Hyde Pierce refused to return to ‘Frasier’ reboot

“Frasier” is doing just fine without David Hyde Pierce.

The Emmy winner, 64, played Dr. Niles Crane for 11 seasons from 1993 to 2004 on the hilarious NBC sitcom.

However, he opted not to return to this year’s Paramount+ revival as his iconic character.

A slew of new stars joined Kelsey Grammer in the 10-episode reboot, which premiered on Oct. 12.

Pierce got candid about why he decided not to make a comeback on the series, 20 years after its conclusion.

“I never really wanted to go back,” he told the Los Angeles Times in a new profile.

He added: “It’s not like I said, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to do that again.’ I loved every moment. It was that I wanted to do other things.”

“And when we got into real talks about the reboot, I had just started on the ‘Julia’ TV show and was working on a musical and going to do another musical, not this one,” the Tony Award winner went on.

The “Wet Hot American Summer” alum currently stars in Max’s drama “Julia” as Paul Child. The series follows world-renowned chef Julia Child as she embarks on her cooking career in the 1960s.

Pierce continued: “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.”

While Dr. Niles Crane doesn’t make an appearance, his 19-year-old son David (played by Anders Keith) does.

David attends Harvard University in the reboot while his uncle Frasier Crane (Grammer) teaches at the school.

The new show also follows Frasier as he reconnects with his son Freddy (Jack Cutmore-Scott) in Boston.

The “X-Men: The Last Stand” actor, 68, revealed to the Associated Press last year why Pierce wouldn’t be returning to the show.

“He honestly wasn’t very interested in playing that role again and I get that. He’s an actor,” Grammer explained.

Despite Pierce choosing to pursue other projects, other OG “Frasier” alums have returned to the new series.

Bebe Neuwirth, who played Frasier’s ex-wife Dr. Lilith Sternin, and Peri Gilpin, who portrayed Roz Doyle, both made special cameos on 2023’s “Frasier.”

The first episode also paid tribute to the late John Mahoney, who died in 2018 at the age of 77. He played Frasier’s retired police office father Martin Crane in the 1993 series.