The TV Column

TV turning back dial with reboots, reimaginings

NBC’s fall revival of Will & Grace will reunite fan favorites (from left) Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes.
NBC’s fall revival of Will & Grace will reunite fan favorites (from left) Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes.

Reboots, revivals and returns were some of the topics discussed at the recently concluded Television Critics Association summer press tour. It seems Hollywood is still in the mood for everything old being new again.

Just look at some of the shows on the list.

ABC is resurrecting the barely moribund American Idol. ABC is rebooting Roseanne for eight episodes. They'll ignore the fact that Dan (John Goodman) died in the series finale.

Shawn and Gus are being called back for Psych: The Movie on USA. Syfy has ordered a pilot for a Tremors series set 25 years after the movies. Kevin Bacon will reprise his role. And The X-Files will get yet another season on Fox.

A contemporary Dynasty is set for The CW this fall. Curb Your Enthusiasm is finally returning to HBO. Lifetime is developing a new Fame. TV Land has ordered a pilot of The First Wives Club starring Alyson Hannigan, Megan Hilty and Vanessa Lachey.

For some reason, Fuller House has been renewed for Season 3 on Netflix. Gilmore Girls' (disappointing) revival is streaming on Netflix. The Gong Show is airing on ABC. Lost in Space will be rebooted on Netflix in 2018. The reimagined MacGyver will be back for a second season on CBS.

Netflix has renewed its re-do of One Day at a Time. Star Trek: Discovery is set for CBS All Access. The Tick will download on Amazon on Aug. 25. A Trading Spaces revival (complete with former host Paige Davis) is greenlit for TLC.

Vin Diesel is considering an NBC Miami Vice return in 2018, and HBO is "moving forward" with a Deadwood movie.

Finally, ABC is rumored to be contemplating diving back into Lost.

Please. Don't. Why? Two words: Twin Peaks.

As promising as some of these shows are, they all pale in comparison to the happy news that NBC is reviving Will & Grace. Sixteen episodes of the seminal 1998-2006 sitcom will air beginning Sept. 28. And a 13-episode second season has already been ordered.

The Emmy-winning series will reunite four of our all-time TV favorites -- Jack, Karen, Will and Grace (Sean Hayes, Megan Mullally, Eric McCormack, Debra Messing).

The stars and the show's producers had a memorable Aug. 3 panel session in front of the critics, reports indicate. Here's some of what we learned.

The idea for the reboot came from Mullally, who pitched it to Max Mutchnick, one of the show's co-creators. He was instantly on board.

The revival will ignore the original series finale with its 20-year flash forward in which Will and Grace each have children and husbands. Instead, we'll see the duo still single and moving back in together. It will all be explained.

Expect the relationships between the four main characters to be the same. However, the series will be set in the present and everyone will be responding to contemporary issues.

"These four friends are experiencing life in America in a very similar way to other people in the country," Mutchnick said.

Given the current divisive climate, will the reboot get political?

"First and foremost, [the job is] to be funny," McCormack said. "Will that include political and cultural things? Of course it will. It's about the politics of friendship and how you navigate that. And it can be quite hysterical how we're all navigating it."

"Our show is not a news show," Hayes added. "Our show is a situation comedy."

Messing said, "I want to make other people laugh right now. That's the reason I wanted to come back."

After the first group reading of the script, Messing said, "It felt like coming home, and we laughed so hard. To come back together and to laugh out loud and to be surprised by one another and to have new stories to tell and have the opportunity to do it, it's a no-brainer. It's just a beautiful, crazy thing that's happened."

Finally, if the chemistry in an NBC trailer is any indication, we can expect the same old magic. The video shows Messing and McCormack visiting their old mothballed set at NBC. Messing expresses concern about reviving the series.

"I'm just not feeling it," she says. "I'm scared. What if we've lost it. What if something fundamental has changed?"

Mullally then jumps up from the couch where she has been taking a nap and picks up a martini. Then Jack comes through the door escorting a handsome young man.

"I think you're really going to like the unit," Jack says with a wink. "The apartment's not bad either."

"Nooobody's changed," McCormack quips. Then they all break out in song and dance.

"Wooo," McCormack sighs. "That was gay."

The TV Column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Email: mstorey@arkansasonline.com

Weekend on 08/17/2017

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