{
  "id": 15283087,
  "title": "The One Frasier Storyline Jane Leeves And David Hyde Pierce Would Change",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/17/the-one-frasier-storyline-jane-leeves-and-david-hyde-pierce-would",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-17T21:12:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TVLine",
    "slug": "tvline",
    "url": "https://www.tvline.com/2285259/jane-leeves-david-hyde-pierce-frasier-storyline-change-daphne-weight/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Frasier stars Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce, who played Daphne Moon and Niles Crane, engaged in one of the longest \"will they or won't they\" storylines in sitcom history. Their romance culminated in marriage and the birth of their son. However, their relationship's beginning was met with an unusual twist. Leeves and Pierce revealed in a 2026 interview with The Guardian that their writers had initially conceived Daphne's pregnancy as a result of a compulsive eating disorder that forced her to go on a weight loss retreat. Leeves acknowledged that this was a product of the era, but criticized the writers for fat-shaming her character and hiding her pregnancy. She wondered if it might have been more interesting to see her come back pregnant. Hyde Pierce also praised Leeves' idea, suggesting that it could have added an unexpected twist to the storyline.",
  "summary": "Frasier may have been as close to perfect as a sitcom can get, but it wasn't completely flawless - and even Jane Leeves and David Hyde Pierce agree.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}