The fab four
The cast of Will & Grace are laughing all the way to the top of the reboot pile and the bank – they’re a TV hit… again.
Will & Grace Season 9 Wednesdays (from 18 July) M-Net (*101) 19:30
Season 9 of comedy Will & Grace (1998- current) works for a number of reasons, explain show creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan. “We brought back the original cast, writers and tone. What makes our reboot work is that we’ve pretended like time stood still. It’s literally the same show.” Will (Eric McCormack) and his husband had a baby in the two-part season 8 finale, as did Will’s bestie Grace (Debra Messing) with her hubby. Thanks to a falling out, they didn’t speak for 20 years until their kids got engaged. Drama queens Jack and Karen (Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally) had their own over-the-top war thanks to Karen’s frenemy Beverley Leslie (Leslie Allen) trying to steal gay Jack from Karen. So how did the producers deal with season 8’s finale? Drama series Dallas (1978-1991) turned its season 9 into a dream, so Will & Grace went one better: the finale is revealed as an hallucination for a pillpopping-martini-swallowing Karen. There are no divorces and no kids.
SECOND FIRST HELLO’S
“It’s like being back in ’98 and we are getting to learn these characters,” says Eric. “You leave your small town [TV] and everyone is like, ‘We won’t miss you,’ and then you come back and you find that everyone missed you, that is something really cool!” Debra adds that “it’s difficult to call this work. We come in and laugh from our make-up chairs through to the final take. There really is no place like home.” They’re already looking forward to season 10 later this year too, says Eric with a smile: “We’ve established where the gang are; next we need to grow them out. We’ve read some of the new scripts and the work the writers are creating is great too!”
SHARING IS CARING
Something else that hasn’t changed is Will and Grace’s living arrangements – they’re single and still under the same roof. “We’re back to the original dynamic,” says Eric. “Don’t think for a second that their love-lives and work aren’t going to become each other’s business again!” Lawyer Will is dating a congressman from episode 1 and interior decorator Grace is handed a fancy job overhauling the White House. “They both show up at the same place and you just know that it’s going to explode,” hints Debra.
PACKING A PUNCH
It’s no joke that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts – the cast haven’t had nearly as much success on their own…
Megan played The Chief in medical dark comedy web series Childrens Hospital (2008-2016).
Debra saw both her shows Smash (2012-2013) and Mysteries Of Laura (2014-2016) axed after two seasons.
Eric was Dr Pierce for three seasons in the ill-fated thriller Perception (2012-2015). At least he’s doing well as Dr Grant in post-apocalyptic sci-fi Travelers (2016- current).
Sean’s comedy Sean Saves The World was cancelled after one season in 2014, with two episodes unaired.