‘Will & Grace’:
After 11 years, beloved sitcom returns to NBC with a hilarious episode that fits perfectly in today’s political climate.
“Will & Grace” are very anxious to tell you that times have changed in the 11 years since last they cracked wise on NBC.
Boy, have they ever, which you’ll especially notice in the premiere of season nine on Thursday, Sept. 28. The episode is overloaded with references to the fact that it’s been 11 years. But the biggest — one is tempted to say noisiest — acknowledgement of currency is in the dialogue. You can bet one resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., or, more likely, the Bedminster Golf Club, won’t like it one bit. “Sad”? Try “hilarious!” Max Mutchnick and David Kohan created the sitcom at a time when attitudes about LGBTQ issues were changing rapidly. So rapidly, in fact, that the show was groundbreaking when it premiered in 1998 but almost seemed dated when it went off the air after eight strong seasons, in 2006.
The show’s title notwithstanding, “Will & Grace” was and is an ensemble show about a gay man named Will Truman (Eric McCormack) who lives with his straight best friend, Grace Adler (Debra Messing), and together they form half of a quartet that includes over-thetop Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) and wealthy, witty and defiantly un-woke and perpetually looped trophy wife Karen Walker (Megan Mullally).
The idea of a show with an out male lead on broadcast wasn’t completely new. NBC tried it once before with “Love, Sidney,” starring Tony Randall, which aired from 1981 to 1983. The show was so discreet about Sidney’s sexual orientation that he may as well have been a eunuch.
In some ways, Will hadn’t progressed that far out of the post-cathode closet in the late ’90s, but the show was clear about the fact that gay people have sex with each other just as straight people do. And in time, Will got a boyfriend and Jack got several, usually of shorter duration.
America loved the show because it loved the characters, because it was always exquisitely directed and acted, and, most of all, because it was funny.
All of those assets have been reignited for the ninth season. Yes, the first episode feels a little desperate to insist that time has passed and not only is Karen’s candidate in the White House, but all four friends have gotten older. Life has happened in the past 11 years for all of them. Jack is aghast when a younger guy refers to him as a “daddy” at a gay bar, and Will gets his dander up when a younger guy doesn’t get how many generations of LGBT people gave their all, and sometimes their lives, to get a toehold on equality in American culture.
The season opener has some establishing to do, obviously, but probably not as much as its writers think. We get it right away and are just happy the gang is back together again.
The other two episodes made available to critics justify its return even more than the premiere, with a sidesplitting scene of Jack trying to look younger and scenes that show off Hayes’ nonpareil skills at physical comedy. At another point, a sequence that evokes the best of Ethel and Lucy highlights the screwball chemistry that has always powered the relationship of Karen and Grace.
Current-affairs references are woven throughout the two latter episodes, but there’s a much greater emphasis on rekindling the magic that was and is the real strength of the show. That said, “Will & Grace” doesn’t “just” feel as though it’s picking up where it left off 11 years ago. It is so full of contemporary grace notes, it almost feels like a brand new show.
Less obvious at first but even more important, Mutchnick and Kohan have allowed the characters to age and evolve without in any way losing the core of what makes each one of them funny. “Will & Grace” has been not only revived but revitalized. It’s the perfect show for the times, and hilariously timeless as well.
All we can say is, what took you so long? David Wiegand is an assistant managing editor and the TV critic of The San Francisco Chronicle. Follow him on Facebook. Email: dwiegand@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @WaitWhat_TV