 The original focus of the series was intended to be the relationship between Frasier and Martin, and it was the focus of most of the first-season episodes.Once the show began airing, Niles became a breakout character, and more focus was added to the brothers' relationship, and other plots centering on Niles, starting in the second season.The producers initially did not want to make Niles's wife Maris an unseen character because they did not want to draw parallels to Vera, Norm's wife on "Cheers".