Will & Grace Premiere Review: [9×01] “11 Years Later”

Grace is still crazy, the guys are still gay, Karen is still drunk, and all is right in the world again.

In the 9th season opener of Will & Grace, we find the fabulous foursome playing a game of “Heads Up!” in true Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) fashion, of course, they are beating the pants off Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally). However, that could have to do with the fact that Karen is in a drunken trance and Jack is looking for a hot date on Grindr. All it takes to bring Karen back to the living is shaking her bottle of pills at her. Karen is confused and has no idea what the hell is going on or what has been going on.

Of course, the writers have to address the elephant in the room, and by an elephant, we mean the 1998 series ender. If you’ve forgotten let us take you back. Will & Grace had a falling out and hadn’t spoken in twenty years until they each took their children to college, where they see each other again. Their children fall in love and get married and live happily ever after. Well, this was all swept under the rug like a big ole dream! Will assures Karen that neither him nor Grace have children, Stan (Ben Acker) is still alive, and she is still rich. Whew, what a relief!

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Will & Grace still has the witty banter and cast chemistry that it always has and it’s clear why it was missed so much on Primetime T.V. Often when a show is revived it’s unclear if it’s going to work, especially when it’s been so long since the cast has been together, but it’s clear with this cast, it’s almost as if they never left. One thing that works so well for them is the fact that each week is a new storyline. They don’t tend to take baggage with them from week to week unless it’s the current events going on in the world and that is something that many shows are lacking. Viewers want to see fresh stories and Will & Grace is back to give them exactly what they’ve been begging for, with a side of lighthearted banter.

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Jack’s so vain he probably thinks this review is only about him, but it’s not!

Will is still a lawyer and spends much of his time writing to his Congressman to voice his displeasure in his voting to the dismantling of the EPA and basically every other policy the guy has. Isn’t that what we’ve all been doing lately? Grace is extremely impressed and wishes she could be more like Will. She says she just doesn’t have the time to be an activist any longer. She’s too busy. Seriously, Grace? Pick a cause and send that letter girlfriend! How cute is it that Grace takes Will’s glasses off his face to read his letter he’s writing? They truly are like an old married couple. Some married people don’t have sex, right?

“You are so woke. I used to be woke. Now I use my pussy hat to sneak candy into the movies.” – Grace

“Get back into it! Write your representative!” – Will

“I should write.” – Grace

“Why don’t you?” – Will

“I don’t wanna write. I’m so busy. What can I do that’s low-effort, high-impact?” – Grace

“Fart in an elevator?” – Will

“That was not me! That’s fake news!” -Grace

Grace’s design business has boomed and she has designers now working under her. Karen is still her drunken assistant but the latest gig she’s signed her up for could be more than Grace bargained for. Karen wants Grace to design The Oval Office for the new President. You know, the one Grace can’t stand. Apparently, Karen and The Trumps are best buds! Also, in case any of you are wondering, Karen, is still using the alias Anastasia Beaverhausen. Which does make us wonder; do the Trumps know Karen or Anastasia?

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The Oval Office, hot Congressmen, & a gay Secret Service? Oh my!

Jack is as funny as ever and can deliver a one-liner with the best of them. He, of course, finds Will writing the hot Congressman and knows it’s more about the guy than the issues Will claims to care about. Jack has to get the details and once he does he helps to book himself and Will on the next train to D.C. to hear Congressman Sandoval (Eddie Matos) speak in The Rose Garden on Friday. He makes sure to upgrade them to First Class, we’re guessing that Will is paying for these tickets and Jack is just along for the ride. It’s all happening so fast, but someone should tell Will that he really shouldn’t store his credit card information in the computer where Jack can just book train tickets on a whim. Who knows what else he’s been buying!

“I’m writing a protest letter to a congressman about issues that matter-in my pants!” -Will

“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! How hot is he on the Ryan scale?” – Jack

“He’s a Reynolds-point-Gosling.” – Will

“Okay.” – Jack

“Grace thinks it’s all political, but we’re totally flirting.” – Will

“Okay, Shonda, now we got a scandal.” – Jack

Will can’t believe that Jack got them into The Rose Garden and honestly we can’t either. Jack tells Will that everyone in the Secret Service is gay. Will thinks Jack is nuts until one of Jack’s friends from the Secret Service comes over and starts flirting. We never doubted you, Jack! Jack’s friend in the Secret Service is named Lenny (Kyle Bornheimer) and they seem to know each other very well if you know what we mean. Congressman Sandoval recognizes Will immediately and there is flirting going on, but wait until Will finds out that Grace is in the Oval Office looking at design pallets with Karen. It seems they’re both going against their morals here and when they tell each other things you know they’re ashamed of themselves.  

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We’re betting Grace’s drink isn’t the only thing that’s been spit out in The Oval.

Karen reminisces about the first time she was ever in the Oval Office. It was when Ronald Reagan was in office. She says that she and Nancy used to chase Ronnie around the desk to try to get protein in him. In Karen’s defense, the man did look like he needed a bit of protein! Grace is all about business though, she tells Karen they need to make sure whatever color they go with has to match the President’s coloring so she opens a bag of Cheetos to compare. Yes, we said Cheetos. Hey, a good designer thinks on her feet! Grace realizes that it’s the gross anti-environment Congressman that Will has been writing that is speaking outside and she feels even worse about being in the Oval looking at fabric swatches. What she sees next causes her to spit her drink at the window. We’re sure Grace is thinking, how could Will betray her like this? However, when Will spots Grace through the window it’s on like Donkey Kong! Jack seems to be the only one genuinely having a good time because let’s face it, Karen is always bored no matter what she’s doing.

“That’s the awful guy Will’s been writing. He’s rolling back environmental regulations.” – Grace

“Ha! Take that, trees and water!” – Karen

“You know they make gin out of trees and water.” – Grace

“Eh, rich people won’t be affected.” – Karen

Jack does not want to talk about “Just Jack” so do not ask him about it. Lenny did and his Jack time was almost cut short. We have to admit “Just Jack” was not one of Jack’s best ideas. Has Jack ever really had a steady job? He still doesn’t, in case you were wondering. He’s still a little lost and looking for his place. He’s tried out numerous projects as he tells Lenny, but none of them have been the right fit. Hopefully, he’ll find his calling soon, because (don’t tell him this) but he’s not getting any younger. Maybe Lenny could get him on the gay Secret Service? Can you just see it now? Jack protecting The President? We’re smelling a spinoff!

Of course, Grace and Will have to fight it out in the Oval Office because that’s just what they do. The magic of their relationship is that it ends in a pillow fight with feathers flying everywhere. If that’s not the best fight ever, we don’t know what is. Will tells Grace he can’t live with her crazy and she needs to move out if she can’t be normal. Will, Grace has never been normal. You know this, man! Duh! We hate to be the ones to say it! Okay, really we don’t because the pillow fight was absolutely hilarious.

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Final Verdict: A solid return for a beloved show that will give TGIT a run for its money.

Series reboots are risky and there is no way around it. If you use a new cast, you run the risk of people absolutely hating the entire concept. If you use the same cast, will the chemistry still be there? The cast of Will & Grace came together during the 2016 election to try to get people to come out and vote. That spot was so well received the viewing public practically demanded that NBC put them back on the air. Of course, they had to make sure that the cast was willing to do so. Once it was determined that they were all willing to sign back on, the show was reborn. The question – is did it work? Our answer is yes!

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We’ve already stated that we believe the cast chemistry is still alive and well. Each character still has their quirks from the original 8 season run of the show. They could have had a little more personal growth in eleven years, but we’re willing to forgive the writers for that. They’ve gone through career growth and changes in relationship status so that was enough change for us. It was great to see that they’re all still friends and Will is still living in the same apartment. Hopefully, he owns the place and he doesn’t pay rent. Unless, like Monica and Chandler, he gets a good deal because of rent control!

Many were criticizing the politics of the show. Will & Grace has always been political. If you were to go back and do a rewatch of the first eight seasons you will see a ton of political references thrown in, but will it be targeted as much as it was in this one episode? Probably not, but this is also a show that makes it funny. It’s also a show that showed both sides and that everyone can be friends and get along no matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on. Will didn’t agree with anything Congressman Sandoval stood for but that didn’t stop him from wanting to get to know him, and Karen is a Trump supporter through and through but Grace is still one of her best friends and they want the best for each other. There’s a middle ground out there, we just have to be willing to find it.

The scene stealer this week was Jack. His one-liners absolutely were everything in this episode.  Sean Hayes could have literally been in one scene where he delivered a one-line response to everyone and it would have canceled out everything anyone said.

We are definitely looking forward to this season of Will & Grace. Do we have questions? Sure! Will guest stars stop by? This show is famously known for their big-name guests and we have no doubt that they’re going to pull out all the stops. We’d also like to know why Grace’s marriage ended and what happened between Will and Vince (Bobby Cannavale)! While this is an old show reborn, it almost feels like a fresh new comedy with old friends and it’s just what the doctor ordered in these very turbulent times.

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5 Burning Questions:

• Do you think POTUS really has a fidget spinner on his desk?
• What do you think is the perfect job for Jack?
• Will we see Brittany this season? or J-Lo? Or Cher?
• Does Leo (Harry Connic Jr.) still work for Doctors without Borders?
• Where is Rosario (Shelley Morrison)?

Will & Grace returns next Thursday, October 5, 2017, at 9/8C on NBC.