Why Frasier Never Showed Niles’ Wife Maris, According To David Hyde Pierce

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.