2 original 'Frasier' characters aren't coming back for the reboot. Here's why

Get ready, Dr. Frasier Crane is back!

After a 20-year absence, "Frasier," is returning to the small screen with Kelsey Grammer reprising his role of pompous-but-loveable shrink, Dr. Frasier Crane, for 10 episodes.

The series, which aired from 1993 to 2004, is getting a reboot and will stream on Paramount+ beginning on Oct. 12.

There've been plenty of changes since we last saw Crane, starting with his location. In an effort to reconnect with his now-adult son, Freddy, the new sitcom finds Crane leaving Seattle to return to his former home in Boston.

Fans may remember that Boston is where Crane and wife, Lilith Sternin (Bebe Neuwirth), were first introduced to the TV viewing audience as regular bar patrons on the long-running series "Cheers."

Shortly after "Cheers" ended in 1993, the spin-off "Frasier" was launched and revolved around the newly-divorced Crane as he relocated to the Pacific Northwest to host a call-in radio show and care for his elderly father, Martin (John Mahoney).

Along with Grammer and Mahoney, the all-star cast of the original "Frasier" included David Hyde Pierce, Jane Leeves, Peri Gilpin and featured memorable guest appearances by Patrick Stewart, Jean Smart, Michael Keaton, Bill Gates and dozens of others.

Over the course of 11 seasons, "Frasier" earned 107 Emmy nominations and won 37, the most ever for a comedy series, making it the most successful spin-off in history.

Now that beloved sitcom is returning, you might be wondering which original cast members are coming back and which ones you won't see on the reboot.

Here's what you need to know.

Which original cast members are returning to 'Frasier?'

According to a Paramount+ press release, Grammer will be leading a brand new cast in the "Frasier" reboot which includes Jack Cutmore-Scott as Crane's son Freddy, along with Nicholas Lyndhurst, Toks Olagundoye, Jess Salgueiro and Anders Keith in supporting roles.

As far as original cast members returning to the show, TODAY reported earlier this spring that Peri Gilpin is expected to make a guest appearance as Frasier Crane's sarcastic radio producer, Roz Doyle, as is Neuwirth, who'll reprise her role as Lilith in a guest-starring turn.

Who won't be returning to 'Frasier'?

While Neuwirth and Gilpin will make appearances on the show, some of the original series' most notable principles will not be back including Hyde Pierce, who won four Emmys portraying Crane's neurotic brother, Niles Crane.

Leeves, who played Martin Crane's nurse (and Niles' love interest), Daphne Moon, also won't be returning.

When asked about the pair during a segment on TODAY last spring, Grammer said, “If there is a spot for a one-off appearance, and they’re interested, I’m sure we would do something like that. But it’s a new world. It’s a new life. Frasier’s going back to Boston to put himself back in a place where he didn’t feel like he quite made it.”

Receiving two Emmy nominations for his portrayal of Crane's cantankerous father, Mahoney died in 2018 at the age of 77.

Director James Burrows tells EW that the actor is fondly remembered in the first episode of the "Frasier" reboot.

"It’s a wonderful scene at the end of the show,” Burrows says, according to the article. “It’s about two-and-a-half, three minutes without any laughs. You’ve got to be brave to do that.”

The series also pays homage to the actor by naming the local bar that Crane and his friends frequently patron, fittingly enough, "Mahoney's."

As for Eddie, Martin Crane's mischievous Jack Russell terrier, the dog that played the memorable canine, whose real name is Moose, died in 2006.

Moose's trainer, Mathilde Halberg, tells TODAY.com that toward the end of the original series, Moose aged out of the role and was replaced by his son, Enzo, who has also since died.

"Being on the show for 11 years, it’s a long time. And it was so much fun. It was such a delight to be part of this," Halberg says of the experience. "It was so much laughter all the time."

As for plans to be part of the new series, Halberg says "I wish it would be part of the reboot somehow, but I don't think that's in the works."

How to watch the new 'Frasier'

The first two episodes of the new "Frasier" will stream on Paramount+ and Pluto TV in the U.S. and Canada on Oct. 12, and internationally on Oct. 13.

After that, new episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays.

There will also be a special, back-to-back, airing of the first two episodes of "Frasier" on CBS on Tuesday, Oct. 17, beginning at 9:15 p.m. ET/PT.

According to the Paramount announcement, this fall marks 30 years since the original series debuted on television back in 1993.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com