USA TODAY International Edition
After shaky start, they get their groove back
The Fab Four are back. And not much has changed. We’re in a golden age of TV revivals. Gilmore Girls, Arrested Development, and now, Will & Grace, dancing back onto NBC Thursday out of four).
At its outset, Will & Grace appears to have trapped its main characters in amber for the 11 years it was off the air. Will (Eric McCormack) is single again, Grace (Debra Messing) is divorced and “temporary” roommates with Will, Jack (Sean Hayes) speaks with the same inflections and Karen (Megan Mullally) is still uber-wealthy, uber-selfish and working for Grace. The fast-paced dialogue, frequent pop-culture references and cast chemistry remain. The feeling of being frozen in time is harshly apparent in the premiere, which is essentially a longer version of the “get out the vote” short the foursome made in 2016 that led to this reunion. It finds them all at the White House for outlandish reasons and uses the trip as an excuse to make tired Trump jokes that were better made by other entertainers. As exhausting as that is, the bigger issue is that it throws away the events of what fans thought was the series finale in a rushed opening that explains why Will and Grace are once again living together.
However, the second and third episodes do a better job re-introducing the characters. Rather than brushing over the events of the past decade, they lean into the ways even sitcom characters had to have changed in that time, including aging (a problem not even Karen and Jack can avoid).
The second episode is a particular standout, homing in on the fact that the series follows a generation older and more established by having Will and Jack date young Millennial men. Will’s date is 23 and a bit clueless. He cheerily performs the worst of Millennial tropes (and some specific jokes about Millennial white gay men) while getting lectured by Will on what older gay men have done for him. It’s a smart plot that subtly acknowledges Will & Grace’s own place in LGBTQ history while also recognizing that much has changed.
Early episodes demonstrate two different paths for Will & Grace, and while superfans probably will love either direction, here’s hoping it continues in the latter vein. It doesn’t need to focus on hot-button political issues or incorporate slang to feel relevant in 2017. Instead, it only needs to tell stories about what people their current age are actually going through right now, whether it’s recovering from a divorce or figuring out Grindr.
The four actors at the heart of Will & Grace have the kind of chemistry that you can’t fake, and they could carry it into the future if they don’t fake anything else, either.