Will & Grace and the rest of the gang are officially ready to stage their comeback.
Sparked by the groundswell of support generated by their pre-election reunion, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally will return for a 10-episode limited run in the 2017-2018 TV season. NBC made the announcement earlier today, confirming that series creators and showrunners Max Mutchnick and David Kohan are also on board alongside James Burrows, the director-cum-producer behind the original and indeed seminal sitcom.
“We’re thrilled that one of the smartest, funniest, and most defining comedies in NBC history is coming back,” NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt said in a statement. “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.”
You’d have to cast your mind back to the year 1998 to locate the moment when Will & Grace made its premiere via NBC. Throughout its eight-season run, the comedy collected a staggering 18 Emmy awards, and was widely praised for its portrayal homosexual characters in lead roles. From ’98 all the way up to the show’s curtain call in 2006, Will, Grace, Karen and Jack ostensibly became household names, and longtime fans will no doubt be eager to discover whether this 10-part revival will acknowledge the decade-long time gap or, in the style of Gilmore Girls, break course from the established timeline for a new story arc.
Details are still thin on the ground at the moment, but viewers can rest assured that Will & Grace is officially set to return – even if just for a limited series. A 2017-2018 window is the current target, which indicates a fall premiere on NBC.