GRAMMER They picked Seattle randomly because it was far away from Boston. It gave Frasier its own identity.
LITTLEFIELD I think the only question was ''How quickly can you write it?''
II. 'YOU DON'T HAVE TO HAVE FRIENDS!'
In early 1993, with their lead in place, Casey, Lee, and Angell set about finding the rest of the Seattle gang -- prissy brother Niles, gruff dad Martin, dry-witted physical therapist Daphne, and Frasier's hard-charging producer, Roz. And then Lee had the brilliant idea to add a dog...
PIKE We cast this in two days.
CASEY [Paramount casting exec] Sheila Guthrie brought in a picture of David Hyde Pierce and said, ''Are you guys thinking of having a brother in the show?'' We weren't. She said, ''Look at this guy if you ever do. Doesn't he look like Kelsey did 10 years ago when he first started on Cheers?'' We just fell in love with him right away. That's how we created Niles.
DAVID HYDE PIERCE (Niles) After reading my part, I thought I had made a huge mistake in taking the job because, well, they wrote somebody just like Frasier. What a stupid idea! Which shows what I know.
JAMES BURROWS (director) Kelsey and David clicked immediately. They were like Sam and Diane.
PIERCE Oh, God, that makes me Diane.
JOHN MAHONEY (Martin) I was disillusioned with television, so I decided to concentrate on films and stage. Frasier wasn't something that I desperately wanted -- until I read the pilot. Then I desperately wanted it.
CASEY We literally didn't confront Daphne until we got to the point in the script where it said, ''Sound effects: doorbell [Daphne arrives at Frasier's home].'' Then we said, Well, NBC likes Jane Leeves, so let's just write her as an English character.
GRAMMER I was very, very ambivalent about the idea. I said, ''I saw Nanny and the Professor a long time ago. I didn't like it then, I don't like the idea now.''
JANE LEEVES (Daphne) I was auditioning for two other pilots at the time, including the series Nurses. But I didn't want to say yes because I knew Frasier was in the background. When the part came over my fax, I was going, ''Oh, this is perfect. This is me!''
CASEY Kelsey read with her [alone]. He was in the room for a minute and a half and the door opened. ''She's in,'' he said, and just walked out.
GRAMMER We hadn't quite figured out what Roz should be.
PERI GILPIN (Roz) There were five or six of us reading for it at NBC. I remember it was me, Lisa Kudrow, and Caroline Aaron [The Secret Life of Zoey, Along Came Polly]. I don't remember the others.
GRAMMER We went with Lisa in the beginning, because we thought it was a quirky interpretation of what was on the page. Then we suddenly realized that it was probably better served by someone who is more grounded, and that turned out to be Peri. It was a simple matter of tone.
CASEY Lisa had that sort of bitchy quality about her. She was funny at the table, but the next day at rehearsal it didn't seem to work as well. Kelsey was holding back with her. [We thought], maybe we should recast her. Lisa was obviously upset, but these things all happen for a reason.
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