Debra Messing on bringing back Will and Grace: ‘never say never’

willgracereunion

If you’re a fan of Will and Grace, you’ve no doubt seen the 9-minute mini-episode, of the original cast – Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally – reprising their roles and discussing the upcoming elections. The clip was shot last Wednesday, which marked the 18th anniversary the show’s premiere on NBC in 1998, and was released on Monday. The video has already had nearly four million views. If you haven’t seen it yet, check it out here. It’s hilarious, but not as funny as the terrible laugh track will make you believe. Wow, I do not remember the laughter being quite so obnoxious. Anyway, here’s the clip.

Is this clip the precursor to a full-on Will and Grace reboot? You can keep Fuller House, this, my friends, is a reboot I can completely get behind. The event was teased on social media by everyone involved. Debra tweeted a group shot with the caption, “Only smiling because of where Eric’s hand is!”

Eric also tweeted some photos, including one from rehearsals, noting, “I used to be able to do this without glasses…” I do love me a man wearing glasses.

And, my favorite part of Will and Grace, Megan tweeted a photo of her triumphant return to the set, with the caption, “I remember this place.”

Debra and Eric spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about how the reunion came together and talked about the possibility of getting the gang back together again. The whole article is a good read, but here are some of the highlights:

Debra on the reunion: It was immediate, electric joy [when she got the call from show co-creator Max Mutchnick]. I did not hesitate for a second. I said, “I’m in, just tell me where and when.” I thought it was such an incredible idea. Will & Grace was always about being irreverent about whatever was going on in the world. With how unprecedented this election cycle has been, there’s no perfect time than right now for the show to be on based on the kind of show it was and the kind of comedy we did. To find out that after 10.5 years of being away from it and be able to come back and have this reunion — and Max had the sets, which was so insane — so to do this homage sketch and revisit the characters and to have fun with what’s been going on the election was heaven to me. 

Eric on the reunion: It was incredibly emotional. The show was always funny and fun. Rehearsals were funny, read-throughs — the very first one of the script — were always funny. Across the board, the network would always show up because they knew it was going to be funny right out of the gate. From moment one [of the reunion], there was a tremendous happiness — but also a real sadness — because we knew it was brief: it was going to be 24.5 hours and then we were going to be done. It wasn’t just the four of us either; we had a lot of our original writers and producers and crew there. There was a sense of, “This is incredible and it’s all going to be over way too soon.”

Debra on filming the episode: It was incredible and not something I ever thought could ever be possible….Of course people were saying, “I wish this wouldn’t end.” All department heads said, “Why can’t we pick this up in a week? Why aren’t we doing this? This is what the country needs with all the craziness.” There was a longing to keep the family together. But at the end of the day, it was like a family coming together for a wedding: family members from far and wide, having big party, hugging and saying goodbye and realizing that we shared something really special.

Eric on bringing W&G back: There is no official talk. A lot of that started the past 36 hours on the internet, which can create its own crazy expectations. We had a great time. It’s a never say never type of situation. But at this point, there is no talk.

Debra on bringing W&G back: Everyone has been asking: are we really coming back? Could we really come back? My response, which I’ve learned in the last five years, is I never say never anymore.

[From The Hollywood Reporter]

I get the feeling everyone would be up for this, even Megan Mullally, who,when asked about the possibility of stepping into Karen’s stilettos again, , said “All I can say is I don’t know what the future holds, but I know there’s a very good feeling right now between everybody, and we had a lot of fun going back and working together…So who knows.”

This really needs to happen. Please TV gods, make this happen. Oh, and please, everybody, #VoteHoney.

38th Annual AAFA American Image Awards

Photo credit: WENN.com, Getty Images

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

21 Responses to “Debra Messing on bringing back Will and Grace: ‘never say never’”

Comments are Closed

We close comments on older posts to fight comment spam.

  1. Aiobhan says:

    I would totally watch a reboot of this show, if it was on Netflix.

    Jack, Karen, Beverly Leslie and Rosario were my favs. Please do not bring back Leo,though. He was the worst.

  2. Gabby says:

    I’m such a big fan of this show! Karen is goals for me!!!! It was a great treat for fans, just like the original: silly, fun, a bit superficial, but dealing with a real issue and being honest.

    P.s: I wish Rosario had had a bigger part, arguing with Karen!

  3. Maum says:

    Karen/Megan looked amazing!!!! I have such a crush on her.

    • MrsBPitt says:

      I couldn’t believe how fantastic Karen/Megan looked! Actually, they all looked really good! I still watch the show in reruns, and this is one reboot, I would be on board for!

  4. Nicole says:

    Yes yes. Give me this reunion reboot. I was so into will and grace in high school

  5. Aang says:

    Wow. They all look great. And that was really funny.

    • LinaLamont says:

      Yeah. I thought it was really well-written (true to the original show), and, that the laugh track was the same as the original. It’s difficult to sustain 9 minutes of preaching and still be funny. I guess I never found the show hilarious to begin with— just likable, with laughs here and there.

  6. DesertReal says:

    Yeaaaah….I tapped out at the 6:47 mark of that clip. I agree that the first couple seasons of the show were fantastic, but after that it just careened downhill. But #VoteHoney doesn’t hold up very well, I’m afraid.
    It started out so clever and just tapered off and got annoying…just like the show!
    I suppose there’s something that can be said about consistently?

  7. Lucy2 says:

    Megan Mullally, are you a vampire???? She looks amazing. Actually they all look very much like they did 10 years ago.
    It was funny, but I can’t stand laugh tracks. If they do a reboot I would want to watch, but hope the laugh track isn’t overwhelming.

  8. Rhiley says:

    Eric McCormick is a vampire. And yes, I would watch. I think a reboot on Netflix would be great followed by a reboot of 30 Rock.

    • Amy Tennant says:

      I *just* started watching 30 rock this week, and it’s amazing! I can’t imagine why I didn’t watch it when it was on!

      • LinaLamont says:

        It’s hilarious and more true-to-life than you can imagine.

      • Rhiley says:

        I only watched it on Netflix. Same with The Office. I have now gone through both of them 3 times. Also Parks & Rec but I have only watched that one twice through. I have tried to get into Arrested Development but can’t. I fall asleep during it.

  9. mellie says:

    I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this really happens!

  10. Suzanne says:

    LOVE and miss their show…I’d be glued to the channel if they came back again!

  11. Maum says:

    I loved the show but I was so sad at how it ended. Will and Grace having a huge fallout because she backed down on having a baby with him…
    I remember they had a vicious fight. The 20 years later ending was very bittersweet.

    • Alix says:

      Oh yeah, the finale was a TRAIN WRECK. Absolutely hideous.

      I loved this show back in the day, but please, let’s say ‘never’ to a reboot. It’s NEVER the same (see: Arrested Development).

    • Lucy2 says:

      I forgot how bad the finale was!

  12. Ageonmaui says:

    One of my favorite shows and hands down my favorite series finale.

  13. Artemis says:

    The reunion worked well because the actors haven’t aged a lot, the jokes were funny, the actors jumped in their characters the second they were on the screen so it immediately took you back to the series. It could have been the start of a new season! Soooo good! Great quality. And of course Karen would vote Trump!

    I would 100% watch again if this was back on.