Why Frasier Never Showed Niles' Wife Maris, According To David Hyde Pierce
One of the best running gags in the history of sitcoms has to do with the wife of Niles Crane (David Hyde Pierce) on the NBC series "Frasier," and it was actually inspired by another, even greater sitcom. Throughout the series, audiences hear plenty about Niles' wife Maris, but she never actually appears onscreen. Other sitcoms have had similar gags, like the neighbor Wilson never showing the lower half of his face on "Home Improvement," but the "Frasier" writers drew inspiration directly from Frasier's parent show — "Cheers."
In an interview with The Washington Post all the way back in 1996, David Hyde Pierce revealed that there were actually originally plans to introduce Maris at some point, but they ended up going in a different direction. It's kind of a funny story of trying to stand apart, only to realize it didn't actually matter. Though if they try and pull the same joke a third time on the "Frasier" revival on Paramount+, it may start to become stale.
"Frasier" was a spin-off of the wildly successful sitcom "Cheers," on which bar regular Norm (George Wendt) often spoke about a wife who never appeared on-screen. When "Frasier" became its own series, the same thing began happening with Niles. Pierce said that wasn't the plan ... until it was:
"Originally, they were going to show her — not have her seen for a few episodes, and then show her. They didn't want her to be like Norm's wife on 'Cheers.' Once the show was a success on its own, and they didn't have to worry about separating it from 'Cheers,' they just forgot about showing Maris because they were having such fun writing this character bit by bit."
Niles, Norm, and missing wives
That's right, originally the writers had planned on introducing Maris after a few episodes in order to avoid comparison to Norm's wife — but "Frasier" soon grew successful enough in its own right that they didn't have to really worry about it. Instead, they had the opportunity to write a truly hilarious character who is only ever really described by others, making her more of a myth than a real woman. (She does sort of appear in two episodes, though the audience cannot see her clearly in either, just her general shape.) While Norm's wife was only ever described because she never came into Sam's bar on "Cheers," the writers of "Frasier" had to get a bit more creative to write around Maris, and to great comedic effect.
Maris and Niles' marriage isn't a particularly happy one, as the former is frequently very sickly and is also rather eccentric. She's described as being very tiny, frail, and pale, and the pair eventually separate and then divorce. Thankfully for Niles, this horrific romance is offset by the one he ends up having with his father's live-in nurse Daphne (the incredible Jane Leeves), which ends up being the kind of fairy-tale happy ending one might expect from a network sitcom. Niles had been infatuated with Daphne for years, so when the two end up together, it really feels like fate.