https://www.yahoo.com/tv/why-frasier-never-cast-maris-215332981.html

As Frasier fans know, the role of Maris was never cast. That wasn’t what co-creators David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee originally intended. “When David, Peter, and I were writing the pilot, we thought, ‘Let’s pull a fast one on the audience and make them think that we’re going to do a thing like Norm’s wife, Vera, in Cheers, where he talk about her but you never see her. Let’s do that for a few episodes, and then surprise — we’re actually going to see her, so we weren’t ripping off that Cheers thing after all,’” Lee tells Yahoo TV.

In the series premiere, the Crane Brothers discuss whether Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) likes his sister-in-law. “I like her from a distance, you know, the way you like the sun,” Frasier tells Niles. “Maris is like the sun. Except without the warmth.”

Hyde Pierce allowed himself to imagine who could Maris: “I had done a show with Valerie Mahaffey [the short-lived NBC comedy The Powers That Be], and she is a wonderful, beautiful, terrific actress who in many ways, physically, might have been right,” he says. Co-star Jane Leeves, meanwhile, always pictured the British actress Eleanor Bron (Women in Love) in her mind. “There was something so wrong about her,” she says. “But hilarious.”

So why didn’t producers follow through? “Two or three episodes in, she was already so bizarre, she was uncastable,” Lee says. “So we just went, ‘Well, we’re never going to see her.’ Although we did see the shadow of her behind a shower curtain once.”

Exactly. They realized the way they ended up describing her was so ridiculous that it would be impossible to find an actress who actually looked like that.

Ed.

I'm glad they didn't because seeing her would not only be scary but would have killed the mystery of Maris Crane. I've written her in a few of my fanfics and even I can't picture her when I'm writing!

It was better off that way

This entire thing says absolutely nothing positive in any way about Niles taste in women.

This entire thing says absolutely nothing positive in any way about Niles taste in women.

So I take it you were anti-Daphne?

So I take it you were anti-Daphne?

As much as I love Niles and Daphne, I've been toying with the idea of writing a huge breakup story focusing on them. I just want the challenge of doing it although I know it will be hard since they're my favorite couple. I have a ton of notes, but I haven't started it for that very reason. It's hard to figure out what could possibly break them up for good! It's only a challenge mind you, but it will still be fun to try. Not everyone loves or even likes them together so I'm thinking that maybe I'll get some new readers out of it. But it's more for the challenge to see how it turns out.

So I take it you were anti-Daphne?
Personally, I thought that the way Niles just dumped his new wife the moment he found out that Daphne had feelings for him was very tacky. I also thought that Niles and Daphne coming together was very anti-climatic. At that point, it felt like their moment had passed a long time ago.

right. I agree. I also thought daphne didn't fit in and that his 2nd wife was perfect.

right. I agree. I also thought daphne didn't fit in and that his 2nd wife was perfect.
Mel? Mel and Miles were actually perfect for each other.

Mel, right. I thought she was great.

If the producers were always going to put Niles and Daphne together, they shouldn't have brought in Mel or Donnie. All those episodes weren't necessary when Niles and Daphne were just going to end running off. That season was kinda off.

You see when a show goes too long, that the ending gets wacky.

I liked Donny. I though he was great for Daphne.

Yeah, I heard about this long ago. Maris became uncastable. This was a great show.

They built her up so much that any casting choice would have met with disappointment from the audience.

Sometimes, it's better that a character like this goes unseen...leaving us, the audience, to conjure up in our minds what Maris might look or be like.

right. I agree. I also thought daphne didn't fit in and that his 2nd wife was perfect.
So glad you agree.
Niles and Mel actually had a lot in common, where as Niles and Daphne really had nothing in common at all. Daphne should have remained just a fantasy. In my opinion, their union was so blah and I did not like them as a couple at all.

I like the fact that they never cast Maris and I like having my own imagination of her

Jane Leeves thought Eleanor Bron would make a good Maris? I just looked her up. I could see that.

Jane Leeves thought Eleanor Bron would make a good Maris? I just looked her up. I could see that.
Oh man, she is scary looking! :lol:

Oh man, she is scary looking! :lol:
Ditto. She should do horror movies. LOL!

I enjoy the curiosity in never seeing Maris. Her physical absence is like reading the book form of a movie; the viewer gets to determine what she is like in their own mind, which is especially fun when imagining how she would react to something Niles or Frasier might do. If Lilith had never been shown in Cheers, it might have been fun to have a running gag in which neither Maris or Lilith are ever shown!

So glad you agree.
Niles and Mel actually had a lot in common, where as Niles and Daphne really had nothing in common at all. Daphne should have remained just a fantasy. In my opinion, their union was so blah and I did not like them as a couple at all.

Mel and Niles may have had a lot in common, but Mel was awful. Niles wouldn't have been happy with her for long because he was in love with someone else. Besides Mel was a lot like Maris and he was only with her because of how much she reminded him of Maris. I get that you don't like Niles and Daphne but just because they don't have anything in common is not a good reason. Frasier and Lilith had a lot in common, like Niles and Mel, but their marriage didn't work out. Just because they don't have a lot in common doesn't mean they shouldn't be together. Have you ever heard of opposites attract? Niles loved Daphne BECAUSE she was different than Maris and Mel. She was a breath of fresh air for him, and helped him loosen up. I thought Niles and Daphne were perfect for each other because they brought out the best in each other. Niles explained that very well to Daphne in The First Temptation of Daphne. He even said to her that the only woman on his mind when he was with Maris and Mel was her.
Now I know that Niles and Daphne wasn't everyone's cup of tea, and that's okay but Mel wasn't good for him either. I will always love Niles and Daphne and have always thought they belonged together. I have always been one for unconventional relationships, i.e. Niles and Daphne. I can respect your opinion about not liking Niles and Daphne as long as you respect mine as a Niles and Daphne fan.

Frasier and Lilith had a lot in common, like Niles and Mel, but their marriage didn't work out.Bebe Neuwirth was offered a series regular role on Frasier but turned it down because she wanted to do Broadway full time. If she had accepted the marriage would have been kept. I do agree that Mel was totally wrong for Niles.

I saw her on Broadway in Sweet Charity and she was fantastic. I say she made the right choice to move on.

New fan of Frasier, and just finished watching S01. Just based on S01 (haven't seen the others yet), I'm glad Maris was never cast, since the show was funnier with her just being mentioned & that's it; at the beginning of the first season, I thought maybe we would see her at some point - however, after a while you realized that one of the many 'running jokes' of the show was that she was always talked about, but never seen. I also agree that anyone they cast would have been a let-down - no matter who it was.

And, Maris' perpetual absence just makes Niles' lusting after Daphne more understandable. I.e., Maris is never around (she's either sick, travelling, hosting parties at the house so Niles has to leave, etc.) so you can see why Niles has such a "wandering eye" - LOL.