David Hyde Pierce Looks Back On 'Frasier' And Its Then-Progressive Take On Gay Issues

Emmy Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce opened up about his time on the smash NBC sitcom, "Frasier," in an interview on HuffPost Live this week, recalling -- among other things -- the show's then-progressive treatment of gay issues.

Many of the gay-themed jokes on the series, Pierce said, were created to acknowledge the fact that Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) and Niles Crane (Pierce) engaged in a lot of behavior, including "wine-tasting, going to the opera and all," that would be "seen as gay by a lot of people."

The comedy, he noted, never included "jokes at the expense of gay people," but rather acknowledged "the preposterousness of stereotypes."

Pierce's latest project finds him in the director's chair. Starring Tyne Daly, Harriet Harris and David Burtka, the ensemble musical "It Shoulda Been You" opened on Broadway in April and is a collaboration with Pierce's husband, Brian Hargrove, who penned the book and lyrics.

"We've always been there for each other, we've always advised each other," Pierce said. "He knows me better than anyone ...This was a high-stakes, high-pressure version of what we've been doing all along."