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Will & Grace - Limited Revival on NBC for 2017/2018 Season


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From Variety: http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/will-grace-revival-nbc-1201962251/

 

NBC has given a 10-episode order to a revival of comedy “Will & Grace,” the broadcaster announced Tuesday.

 

The limited series will reunite Emmy winners Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally with series creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, who will serve as showrunners and executive producers. James Burrows, who directed the entire eight-season run of the original series, will serve as director and executive producer on the revival.

 

“We’re thrilled that one of the smartest, funniest and most defining comedies in NBC history is coming back,” said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt. “This groundbreaking series for everything from gay rights to social and political commentary — all disguised as a high-speed train of witty pop culture — is coming back where it belongs.”

 

NBC had been in discussions with the cast and creators since September, when they reunited to shoot a surprise 10-minute episode related to the presidential election.

 

Airing on NBC from 1998 to 2006, “Will & Grace” was one of the first broadcast programs to feature gay series regulars.

 

“We started talking with Mutchnick and Kohan about producing new episodes right after they shot the secret reunion show back in September, and the fact that all four of the original stars were excited about getting back into production is a testament to the joyful experience they had doing nearly 200 episodes for eight seasons,” NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said. “Few things cut through the clutter these days, especially in comedy, and ‘Will and Grace’ is one of the best.”

 

“Will & Grace” stars McCormack and Messing as the titular best friends — one a gay man, the other a hetero woman. Hayes and Mullally star as their friends Jack and Karen.

 

“Dave and I are absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to write what Will, Grace, Jack and Karen are thinking about in 2017,” Mutchnick said.

 

The new episodes will be produced and distributed by Universal Television.

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I heard about this the other day.  I assumed it was going to be a Netflix series; didn't realize they would be back on NBC.  It's hard to bring back the same magic as before when shows are revived, but I hope it works for them.  Interestingly, I met Sean Hayes once -- at a Lucy convention!

Me too "Little Ricky"! I've wondered for awhile who you are in "real" life now I'm REALLY curious ...and if you witnessed the same thing I did! :blink:

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From Variety: http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/will-grace-revival-nbc-1201962251/

 

NBC has given a 10-episode order to a revival of comedy “Will & Grace,” the broadcaster announced Tuesday.

 

The limited series will reunite Emmy winners Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, and Megan Mullally with series creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, who will serve as showrunners and executive producers. James Burrows, who directed the entire eight-season run of the original series, will serve as director and executive producer on the revival.

 

“We’re thrilled that one of the smartest, funniest, and most defining comedies in NBC history is coming back,” said NBC Entertainment chairman Robert Greenblatt. “This groundbreaking series for everything from gay rights to social and political commentary — all disguised as a high-speed train of witty pop culture — is coming back where it belongs.”

 

NBC had been in discussions with the cast and creators since September, when they reunited to shoot a surprise 10-minute episode related to the presidential election.

 

Airing on NBC from 1998 to 2006, “Will & Grace” was one of the first broadcast programs to feature gay series regulars.

 

“We started talking with Mutchnick and Kohan about producing new episodes right after they shot the secret reunion show back in September, and the fact that all four of the original stars were excited about getting back into production is a testament to the joyful experience they had doing nearly 200 episodes for eight seasons,” NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said. “Few things cut through the clutter these days, especially in comedy, and ‘Will and Grace’ is one of the best.”

 

“Will & Grace” stars McCormack and Messing as the titular best friends — one a gay man, the other a hetero woman. Hayes and Mullally star as their friends Jack and Karen.

 

“Dave and I are absolutely thrilled about the opportunity to write what Will, Grace, Jack and Karen are thinking about in 2017,” Mutchnick said.

 

The new episodes will be produced and distributed by Universal Television.

While I'm hopeful this will be one of the better "reboots" or whatever you want to call it, I'm a little skeptical ...as most of them are ill-conceived, poorly done or just not a good idea to begin with. Having said that, if it's half (well...hopefully MORE than half) as good as the recent "mini-episode"/reunion regarding the presidential campaign that led to this, I'm all in because it was not only timely, well done and most importantly, HILARIOUS so I say, "bring it on"!

 

My main curiosity is -- unlike the all-too-brief mini-episode -- will they address/clarify how/why Grace is back living with Will, if Will still is with Vince (Bobby Canavale), Grace with Leo (Harry Connick Jr.), etc. etc.... and if with the recent loss of Debbie Reynods, they'll address her character as Grace's wacky mother. :D

 

I really need to rewatch the series finale again because it's been ages and I really don't remember how they left most of the "dangling" storylines... but I do remember fondly the bittersweet scene with an older Jack and Karen at the piano: Great moment!

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While I'm hopeful this will be one of the better "reboots" or whatever you want to call it, I'm a little skeptical ...as most of them are ill-conceived, poorly done or just not a good idea to begin with. Having said that, if it's half (well...hopefully MORE than half) as good as the recent "mini-episode"/reunion regarding the presidential campaign that led to this, I'm all in because it was not only timely, well done and most importantly, HILARIOUS so I say, "bring it on"!

 

My main curiosity is -- unlike the all-too-brief mini-episode -- will they address/clarify how/why Grace is back living with Will, if Will still is with Vince (Bobby Canavale), Grace with Leo (Harry Connick Jr.), etc. etc.... and if with the recent loss of Debbie Reynods, they'll address her character as Grace's wacky mother. :D

 

I really need to rewatch the series finale again because it's been ages and I really don't remember how they left most of the "dangling" storylines... but I do remember fondly the bittersweet scene with an older Jack and Karen at the piano: Great moment!

Agreed on all counts. I'm not sure how they'll manage to fit a 2017 story arc into the established timeline as portrayed in the finale, as the characters went years without speaking and didn't reunite until around 20 years later or so. The election segment seemed to ignore the finale, so I'm wondering if this will just gloss over the whole thing, too. I suppose we'll just have to wait and see. At least everyone seems excited about returning.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong (Jimmy, this is your cue), but is this particular scenario unique? Not counting dramas, overseas productions or one-off reunion movies, has an American sitcom ever been brought back after such a long period of time, with the same cast and crew, for a multi-episode run?

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Me too "Little Ricky"! I've wondered for awhile who you are in "real" life now I'm REALLY curious ...and if you witnessed the same thing I did! :blink:

 

Who I am in real life?  This isn't real life here?  :D In real life I'm Breck.  I actually met you more recently, just a few years ago.  We met with a big group of people -- Tom, Laura, Neil, Rob, Rick and others -- for breakfast (or was it lunch) somewhere around L.A.  I'm struggling to remember the occasion.  It was a restaurant in a little strip shopping center.  What I do remember is getting to my car afterwards and discovering a dead battery.

 

When I met Sean Hayes, it was in the evening in the bar at the Hilton.  And it was a bit embarrassing for me because at that time -- 2001 -- I had never seen a single episode of Will and Grace.  And there I was sitting directly across from him at a little drum-size table having drinks.  My friend Patrick had invited me over to join them.  I remember some girls coming up to meeting him, totally star struck.  I couldn't figure out what their problem was, why they were acting so goofy.  After a couple moments, Patrick whisper's in my ear, "Do you know who this is?"  I whisper back to him, "No, who is it?"  He whispers, "That's Sean Hayes."  I whisper back, "Who is Sean Hayes?"  He tells me and I immediately know who he is because I had recently seen him in an interview on television.  Now I'm mortified, worried someone is going to ask me in front of him what I think about Will and Grace!  It would be too embarrassing to say, we'll I've never seen it!  So I pretty much remained silent the rest of the evening.  And, of course, since that time I've seen quite a bit of Will and Grace.  So I wish I could have a do-over of that evening!

 

My job back in those days consumed all my oxygen, so there was no time to watch television.

 

There was also a young blonde woman sitting with us that evening who was about to go to New York to audition for SNL.  Ever since I've wondered who that woman was, and whether she actually got hired for the show.  I know Amy Poehler joined SNL that year, and wondered about the possibility it might have been her.  But I haven't found any evidence that she and Sean Hayes were buddies in 2001.

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As much as I want these new episodes to succeed, I am concerned about some of the possible consequences: it will likely lead to increased demands for relaunching other long-ended shows. Of course, this will all be subjective, but many of them had such good finales that they're really best left alone, in my opinion. I'm honestly not trying to be negative here, as this is all speculation and I do wish the W&G team the greatest success. I just hope it doesn't stifle more new material in favor of continually rehashing the old.

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I just watched the Trump/Hillary mini-episode.   What was this produced for?  I mean, where was it shown?

My God, they're all looking pretty much exactly the same.   At least how I remember them.  I haven't seen those early W&Gs in a while.  The crisp and witty, fast-paced dialogue is in the exact tone of the original show.  

This fall the debut of W&G would have been 19 years ago!

This is the equivalent of the I Love Lucy cast reuniting in 1970!---with Gale Gordon finally getting his Fred Mertz part (unless they offered it to still-active William Demarest. )

Can you imagine the I Love lucy setting and regulars with the 1970 writers?  The calendar year 1970 was arguably HL's worst-written year with (approved) spec scripts coming in from every unemployed hack that played cards with Milt.   Cheapskate, Inc. (LBP) played that "we spent so much money on the Burtons that we can't afford  (fill in blank)" card for way too long.    

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Who I am in real life?  This isn't real life here?  :D In real life I'm Breck.  I actually met you more recently, just a few years ago.  We met with a big group of people -- Tom, Laura, Neil, Rob, Rick and others -- for breakfast (or was it lunch) somewhere around L.A.  I'm struggling to remember the occasion.  It was a restaurant in a little strip shopping center.  What I do remember is getting to my car afterwards and discovering a dead battery.

 

When I met Sean Hayes, it was in the evening in the bar at the Hilton.  And it was a bit embarrassing for me because at that time -- 2001 -- I had never seen a single episode of Will and Grace.  And there I was sitting directly across from him at a little drum-size table having drinks.  My friend Patrick had invited me over to join them.  I remember some girls coming up to meeting him, totally star struck.  I couldn't figure out what their problem was, why they were acting so goofy.  After a couple moments, Patrick whisper's in my ear, "Do you know who this is?"  I whisper back to him, "No, who is it?"  He whispers, "That's Sean Hayes."  I whisper back, "Who is Sean Hayes?"  He tells me and I immediately know who he is because I had recently seen him in an interview on television.  Now I'm mortified, worried someone is going to ask me in front of him what I think about Will and Grace!  It would be too embarrassing to say, we'll I've never seen it!  So I pretty much remained silent the rest of the evening.  And, of course, since that time I've seen quite a bit of Will and Grace.  So I wish I could have a do-over of that evening!

 

My job back in those days consumed all my oxygen, so there was no time to watch television.

 

There was also a young blonde woman sitting with us that evening who was about to go to New York to audition for SNL.  Ever since I've wondered who that woman was, and whether she actually got hired for the show.  I know Amy Poehler joined SNL that year, and wondered about the possibility it might have been her.  But I haven't found any evidence that she and Sean Hayes were buddies in 2001.

BRECK!! Of course, now it makes sense...and you're friends of Patrick's, which is who Sean was there to visit.

 

We may have very well been at the same little grouping but I don't remember who all was in the "group", other than Patrick and Tom Watson. :D

 

Well I don't remember if you were there at the time or not that this happened -- maybe he was there more than once -- but the very same girls you mention (I think), one in particular was very drunk and actually seemed to either be hitting on Mr. Hayes (!) (Note: he was not out publicly back then) or was just gushing because he was a celebrity, but she was so drunk she spilled her drink all over his back!! He was very kind about it (much more than I would have been!) and let her off the hook but he took off right after that happened since he was all wet.  Felt very bad for him, he was just sitting there minding his own business with our group and was just there to support Patrick and should have been left alone.

 

I vaguely remember the blonde friend you mention too but I can' honestly remember her name or who she was.  Would Patrick maybe remember??

 

Weren't those conventions great, Breck?? God I wish we could do another one!! :blink:

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Correct me if I'm wrong (Jimmy, this is your cue), but is this particular scenario unique? Not counting dramas, overseas productions or one-off reunion movies, has an American sitcom ever been brought back after such a long period of time, with the same cast and crew, for a multi-episode run?

Arrested Development went off the air in 2006 and was revived by Netflix in 2013 and is expected to do another season soon. WKRP in Cincinatti, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, and, of course, The Brady Bunch all made comebacks, although not all of them had the same behind the scenes personnel as the original series.

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Arrested Development went off the air in 2006 and was revived by Netflix in 2013 and is expected to do another season soon. WKRP in Cincinatti, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, and, of course, The Brady Bunch all made comebacks, although not all of them had the same behind the scenes personnel as the original series.

....and with varying degrees of success, wouldn't you agree? While I've enjoyed the "reboots" of The X-Files and (to my surprise) "One Day at a Time", I still feel overall that resucitating long-dead characters/shows/favorites is more often than not not a great idea! Exhibit A: "Fuller House" B: "The 'New' Monkees" C. "The 'New' Leave it to Beaver"... need I go on? :peachonthebeach:

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I was there in 97' and 99' balling it up. I think we shared a banquet table.

 

We, as in you and I?  Really?  I was there in '96, but skipped '97.  Then I was there in '98 and (I think) '99 and '01.  Can't remember if I was there in 2000.  One of those years (the year Tab Hunter was there) I wasn't at a table because I got put up on the stage.  :o 

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BRECK!! Of course, now it makes sense...and you're friends of Patrick's, which is who Sean was there to visit.

 

We may have very well been at the same little grouping but I don't remember who all was in the "group", other than Patrick and Tom Watson. :D

 

Well I don't remember if you were there at the time or not that this happened -- maybe he was there more than once -- but the very same girls you mention (I think), one in particular was very drunk and actually seemed to either be hitting on Mr. Hayes (!) (Note: he was not out publicly back then) or was just gushing because he was a celebrity, but she was so drunk she spilled her drink all over his back!! He was very kind about it (much more than I would have been!) and let her off the hook but he took off right after that happened since he was all wet.  Felt very bad for him, he was just sitting there minding his own business with our group and was just there to support Patrick and should have been left alone.

 

I vaguely remember the blonde friend you mention too but I can' honestly remember her name or who she was.  Would Patrick maybe remember??

 

Weren't those conventions great, Breck?? God I wish we could do another one!! :blink:

 

OMG, my memory is either failing me, or I was just oblivious (which frequently is the case with me), but I have no recollection of a drink spilling on Mr. Hayes.  Or maybe this was a different night?  When I met him, it was the night of the banquet.  There were only about six of us seated there.  Patrick was on my left, the blonde woman was on Patrick's left, and Sean was to her left (and directly across from me).  And then there were a couple guys to my right (Sean's left).  Perhaps you were one of those guys?  I assumed at the time that those guys were friends of Sean's.  I don't remember Tom being with us, though, at least not initially.  Maybe he showed up after a bit.  But sitting there in my personal horror of realizing I had this big celebrity in front of me whose very popular TV show I had never even watched, I was keeping my mouth shut for fear someone might ask me something about Will and Grace.  I was sort of in another zone.  But yes, we should ask Patrick about that blonde woman.  Or maybe not?  I like thinking that I once might have hung out with Amy Poehler.  If it turns out that wasn't her, that will end that little fantasy.

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....and with varying degrees of success, wouldn't you agree? While I've enjoyed the "reboots" of The X-Files and (to my surprise) "One Day at a Time", I still feel overall that resucitating long-dead characters/shows/favorites is more often than not not a great idea! Exhibit A: "Fuller House" B: "The 'New' Monkees" C. "The 'New' Leave it to Beaver"... need I go on? :peachonthebeach:

 

I love Leave It to Beaver, but Still the Beaver (or whatever it was called) was pretty terrible.

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Arrested Development went off the air in 2006 and was revived by Netflix in 2013 and is expected to do another season soon. WKRP in Cincinatti, Leave It to Beaver, Get Smart, and, of course, The Brady Bunch all made comebacks, although not all of them had the same behind the scenes personnel as the original series.

Of course! I knew about both Arrested Development and The Bradys, plus Get Smart. Wasn't aware of Beaver or WKRP. But for the original W&G crew to also come back is a real coup here.

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Exactly what I was wondering.  Surely they're not still roommates after 19 years!

I don't think the election segment necessarily meant to portray them as roommates again. Undoubtedly Grace was just visiting Will. They wouldn't omit Vince and Leo. Depending on schedules, Harry Connick, Jr. And Bobby Canavale might not be able to appear that often, but the characters will likely be mentioned or their absences explained.

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