If you loved “Will & Grace” back then during those NBC “Must See TV” years or recently discovered it with the recent revival season and enjoyed the series, “Will & Grace (The Revival)” – Season One” is a DVD that I highly recommend!
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DVD TITLE: Will & Grace (The Revival) – Season One
SERIES DATE: 2017-2018
DURATION: 16 Episodes (5 Hrs., 36 Minutes)
DVD INFORMATION: English, Brazilian, Portuguese, Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, Widescreen (1:78:1), English SDH
COMPANY: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: June 12, 2018
Created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick
Directed by James Burrows
Written by Jon Kinnally, Tracy Poust, Alex Herschlag, Ryan O’Connell, Anne Martin, John Quaintance, Suzanne Martin, Nina Pedrad
Executive Producer: David Kohan, Max Mutchnick, Tim Kaiser, Kames Burrows, Alex Herschlag
Producer: Bruce Alden, Tim Kaiser, Steve Sandoval,Jon Kinnally, Tracy Poust
Music by Scott Icenogle, Lior Rosner
Cinematography by Gary Baum
Edited by Peter D. Beyt
Casting by Julie Ashton
Production Design by Glenda Rovello
Set Decoration by Peter M. Gurski
Costume Design by Lori Eskowitz-Carter
Art Direction by Conny Boettger-Marinos
Starring:
Erin McCormack as Will Truman
Debra Messing as Grace Adler
Megan Mullally as Karen Walker
Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland
Harry Connick Jr. as Leo Markus
Leigh-Allyn Baker as Ellen
Bobby Cannavale as Vince D’Angelo
Leslie Jordan as Beverley Leslie
Michael Angarano as Elliot
Blythe Danner as Marilyn Truman
Jerry Levine as Joe
Charles C. Stevenson Jr. as Smitty
Alec Valdwin as Malcolm Widmark
Laura Kightlinger as Nurse Sheila
Minnie Driver as Lorraine Finster
Molly Shannon as Val Bassett
Steve Paymer as Steve
Anthony Ramos as Tony
Jennifer Lopez as herself
Robert Klein as Martin Adler
Mary McCormack as Janet Adler
Sara Rue as Joyce Adler
That’s right, honey! A decade after their unforgettable eight-season run, comedy’s most fabulous foursome is back. Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally reprise their infamous roles as Will, Grace, Jack and Karen. The legendary James Burrows, director of every original Will & Grace episode, returns along with a slew of razor-sharp jabs and dirty martinis. Behold once again, from the minds of Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, TV’s wittiest ensemble ever.
Back in the late ’90s to the mid-2000s, “Will & Grace” was considered one of America’s most successful television series as part of NBC’s popular “Must See TV” Thursday night lineup along with “Seinfeld”, “Friends” and “Frasier”.
“Will & Grace” was brought up as a replacement for “Mad About You” and was broadcast from 1998 to May 2006.
Created by David Kohan and Max Mutchnick (and modeled on their personal lives with their female friend), the series is directed by James Burrows (“Cheers”, “Taxi”, “Frasier”).
The show focused on a gay lawyer named Will Truman (portrayed by Erin McCormack) and a straight interior designer named Grace Adler (portrayed by Debra Messing). Best friends since they were students back in Columbia University, Will is more OCD, while Grace is more neurotic and both compliment each other.
They are joined by Grace’s assistant, the wealthy, alcoholic and uncaring Karen Walker (portrayed by Megan Mullally) and Will’s other best friend from college, Jack McFarland, who is flamboyantly gay, confident and free-spirited.
While the series ended in 2006, with the political climate of 2017, a secret meeting was held between the cast and crew in reviving “Will & Grace” and in January 2017, NBC announced that “Will & Grace” would return for a ninth season (also considered “Season One” for the revival). With 16-episodes having aired, a tenth season is being planned.
And now “Will & Grace (The Revival) – Season One” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD.
VIDEO & AUDIO:
“Will & Grace (The Revival) – Season One” is presented in Anamorphic Widescreen (1:78:1). Picture quality is as good as it can get on DVD. Lighting is well-done, many shots are done outdoors and for the most part, picture quality is good. As for audio, the series is presented in English, Brazilian, Portuguese, Latin American Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 and dialogue is crystal clear, as with the music presented throughout the series.
The show is presented in English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Will & Grace (The Revival) – Season One” includes the following special features:
- Gag Reel – (7:41) A gag reel for the first season of “Will & Grace (The Revival)”.
- Reuniting the Team – (5:23) A featurette about reuniting the cast and crew for “Will & Grace (The Revival)”.
- Back to the Beginning – (8:40) Looking back at the beginning of “Will & Grace” and the casting of the characters.
- Classic Comedy – (5:00) The cast and crew discuss “Will & Grace” as a classic comedy and its characters.
For anyone who grew up or was fixated on NBC’s “Must See TV” of the ’90s and the 2000s, “Will & Grace” was a series that a series that was not just ahead of its time, it was wonderfully written, acted and entertaining.
Today, having a hit show on Prime Time is no doubt a challenge, with many shows coming and going and the dominance of NBC’s “Must See TV” nowhere near the success of series such as “The Cosby Show”, “Cheers”, “Friends”, “Seinfeld”, “Mad About You”, “Frasier”, “Just Shoot Me!”, “Wings” and “Will & Grace”, there has no doubt been a longing by fans of wanting to see these shows come back.
And the revival of “Will & Grace”, the short-lived revival of “Roseanne” and the upcoming “Murphy Brown”, so far, the revivals have turned out quite positive in the ratings.
For “Will & Grace (The Revival)”, the return of the series is great timing, considering today’s political climate.
In the first episode of the ninth season, Will and Grace discuss how upset they were about the elections but the first episode sets up what happened to the characters eleven years later.
Will is divorced from Vince and Grace is divorced from Leo and she is temporarily staying at Will’s place for the time being. As for the two having children (as shown at the finale for season 8)? We learn that it was all a daydream.
Jack gets Will to go to a congressman’s speaking engagement (a congressman that Will had written angry letters to because he was gutting the Environmental Protection Agency), while Grace who is tired of Karen rubbing it in her face that she lost the bet of who would win the 2016 presidential election, finds out that Karen manages to get her a job to redecorate the Oval Office.
Needless to say, Will is in Washington and finds the congressman to be cute, while Grace takes the job because it is a huge job for Grace Adler Designs.
As the first episode establishes the characters and their lives eleven years later and that Grace is now going to live with Will for the time-being, we get to see entertaining episodes such as Will and Jack dating younger gay men (who have a different perspective on life).
The season also features return of characters such as Grace’s ex-husband Leo (portrayed by Harry Connick Jr.), who is contacted by the doctor after Grace visits the doctor’s office. We also see the return of Jack’s estranged son Elliot (portrayed by Michael Angarano) who has a son named Skip. And Skip has mannerisms like his grandfather but when Jack and Will find out that Elliot and his wife are having Skip attend a camp to make him straight, Grandpa Jack comes to the rescue.
We also see the return of Lorraine Finster (portrayed by Minnie Driver), Karen’s husband, Stanley Walker’s mistress and the daughter of Karen’s fourth husband Lyle Finster, who comes to visit Karen at Rosario’s funeral. Also, the return of the crazy neighbor Val (portrayed by Molly Shannon) who is supposedly hit by Jack on his first day as a Lyft driver. And what happens when Will attends the wedding of Will’s ex-boyfriend Vince (portrayed by Bobby Cannavale).
We also see Jack reunite with Jennifer Lopez on the set of “Shades of Blue” and Jack learning the secret of Karen and Malcolm Widmark (portrayed by Alec Baldwin). And what happens when Grace’s father (portrayed by Rober Klein) and Will’s mother (portrayed by Blythe Danner) come to visit them?
For the most part, I really enjoyed season 9. With James Burrows still directing and a lot of the original writing staff having returned to the series, the cast and crew were able to deliver. And the return of “Will & Grace” brought back that feeling of those NBC “Must See TV” days where shows were shot in front of a live audience and were simply delightful and entertaining.
The DVD as one can expect, looks a lot better this time around when compared to the past seasons, which can be expected. You also get nearly a half hour of special features including a hilarious gag reel, the top secret reunion and talks of reuniting the cast and crew and memories of the beginning of “Will & Grace” and the casting of each talent. And why “Will & Grace” continues to be a classic comedy after all this time.
If you loved “Will & Grace” back then during those NBC “Must See TV” years or recently discovered it with the recent revival season and enjoyed the series, “Will & Grace (The Revival)” – Season One” is a DVD that I highly recommend!
