If you can't get enough Will and Watch How Young Sisters Share a Man OnlineGrace,NBC has good news, honey -- the network has picked up the iconic comedy for a second season of 13 episodes, more than a month before the revival premieres on Sept. 28. NBC chairman Robert Greenblatt also confirmed that Season 1 has been bumped up to a 16-episode order.
The show reunites Eric McCormack as Will Truman, Debra Messing as Grace Adler, Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland and Megan Mullally as Karen Walker more than a decade after the show left the air.
One thing fans need to know about the revival: It's ignoring the events of the 2006 finale, which saw the titular duo getting into a fight that lasted for years, before finally reuniting and rekindling their friendship after their children met in college. Instead, the show will pick back up with the gang all together, because let's be honest, that's what we're here for.
"What you’ll see the most of is the four of them," said co-creator Max Mutchnick at NBC's presentation at the Television Critics Association press tour. "We spent the most time at story camp figuring out how to tell the audience where they’re at and what they’re up to at this time, and we think we found the right way to do that. We want to hold off on telling you exactly what that is, but it’s not anything that’s going to surprise you."
SEE ALSO: 20 years later, Ellen's coming out episode remains one of the best in television history"The finale was written when there was no anticipation of ever continuing the show," Greenblatt pointed out. "There’s jokes about it in the first episode. I don’t think you want to see them aging with children and you know, we love the essence of the old show. There’s a really interesting and, I think, clever [explanation for] why they’re still living together. We wanted the old show and didn’t want to take the risk of, 'Well, it’s Will & Grace, but it’s so different than the show you watched."
Another big change for the revival is the political landscape -- the viral video that the cast released for the election established that Karen is canonically friends with Donald Trump, which puts her at odds with her friends and, according to McCormack, offers an organic way for the show to comment on current events without shoehorning them in.
SEE ALSO: Debra Messing's message to Ivanka Trump is both pure LOLs and political fireMutchnick admitted that given the unpredictability of the current administration, keeping the writing timely is a challenge that they're still trying to navigate. "We will film something and with the way things are going in the world these days, you can be in one moment and out the next, so we’re going to try and keep it topical, but it’s not easy," he said.
Still, the cast and creators intend to maintain the show's relevance and inclusivity. Messing noted that the original series explored "LGB" characters, but stopped there, admitting, "My hope is that now we can finish the alphabet with gender identity," and other concerns that resonate with the LGBTQIAPK community.
"This show has always been about inclusion, that’s the type of people they are, that’s the type of characters they are, we will get to it again," Mutchnick promised. "it’s about making the funniest shows with these characters passing through the life that’s going on out there right now."
Will & Gracepremieres Thursday, September 28 at 9 p.m. on NBC.
Featured Video For You
Meet 'Sam,' a transgender toy that's teaching kids about gender fluidity