PaleyFest 2018 kicked off last Friday at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles with an appearance by Barbra Streisand, who was the subject of this year’s Icon Tribute. Her long, diverse, award-winning career was honored through clips of her greatest television appearances, and she was joined in a conversation by Emmy Award-winning writer, producer, and director Ryan Murphy. There were rumblings of disappointment the next day that she didn’t sing at any point in the evening, but soon PaleyFest attendees had other things to turn their attention to.
Will and Grace.
Saturday night marked the appearance of different icons: the stars, director and key producers of the historically successful and recently rebooted NBC sitcom Will & Grace. Panel moderator Dan Bucatinsky – he himself an actor, writer and producer – started off the session by defining the words “will” and “grace.” This elicited laughter from the audience, presumably because the character of Grace is anything but what her name portends. Bucatinsky went on to share his own coming out story and noted that the show gave gay people something that showed them being gay wasn’t bad.
His story gave way to a screening of an upcoming episode (set to air March 29), which the audience seemed to thoroughly enjoy (keep an ear out for a perfectly executed joke about one of last year’s best films, the Oscar-snubbed Lady Bird). When it was over, creators and executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnik, and stars Eric McCormack (Will Truman), Debra Messing (Grace Adler), Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland) and Megan Mullally (Karen Walker) hit the stage for a panel and audience Q&A.
Bucatinsky asked them about starting the initial show back in 1998. Director James Burrows – who was lauded multiple times during the panel as the man who directed other legendary sitcoms including Cheers and Frasier – said he knew the show was a hit based on his usual test. He explained that on the fourth day of shooting the pilot of shows, he’d bring in an audience off the street. With Will & Grace, he knew by the audience’s reaction that “we had something special.”
The script and luck.
“This was a wonderful script. After that, it’s all luck,” said Burrows. “You gotta get four actors lined up. We were fortuitous that these four were all available. We got a good time slot… We were fortuitous, all the pieces lined up.”
Eric McCormack revealed that originally a fifth character was slated for the show – Will’s partner at the law firm, meant to be played by Cress Williams. Ultimately, it was decided the character wasn’t needed given the strength of the core four. (For those wondering, Williams had a healthy television career anyway: He appeared on Nash Bridges and Providence in the early 2000s, recently co-starred on Hart of Dixie, and currently headlines the freshman superhero show Black Lightning on CW).
Back in time.
The four reminisced about their favorite memories of the old show, including one particular guest star, Debbie Reynolds, who passed away last year. Apparently, Reynolds, who played Grace’s mom on the show, introduced herself to some of the team as Burt Reynold’s sister, and to Sean Hayes as Princess Leia’s mom. In response to being asked to dye her hair red, Reynold’s said “I have two hairs on my body. They’re grey and on my p****.”
On a more serious note, Messing said she and Reynolds bonded over talks of being working moms, noting Reynolds became particularly special to her.
The End. The first time.
The PaleyFest guests also chatted about wrapping up the show’s original run, in 2006. When asked about pillaging things from the set, Debra Messing said that she took home Grace’s door – only to have NBC ask her for $250 a week later to pay for the “stolen” door.
“I said sue me… f*** em,” said Messing. “We were on for eight years. We made (the network) like a zillion dollars!”
This crass response prompted McCormack to joke that he loves when Messing drinks before events.
New Beginnings.
The gang also, of course, talked about bringing the show back. In the wake of their now legendary election-based reunion skit, released in September 2016, Mullally and Mutchnick were inspired to fully restore the show. Everyone else jumped on board.
“I was excited to see what was going on in Grace’s life at that point,” said Messing. “I love that she’s a single woman, working, thriving, she’s happy, she has great friendships.”
The creators joked about the much-discussed decision to simply ignore the existence in the series finale of the characters’ spouses and children, as they wanted to just resume the magic of the core four.
Some other obstacles they’ve encountered is getting the cast to understand the pop culture jokes in the scripts. Both Grace and Karen crack Game of Thrones-related jokes and neither actress watches the show. Still, that hasn’t stopped the actresses from nailing those bits so far.
On a favorite part about the reboot, Mullally said she was “blown away” by the script for Rosario’s Quinceanera, the sixth episode, which served as a way to wrap the storyline of Karen Walker’s revered housemaid, as the actress had decided to retire.
“It was a send-off of a beloved character played by this beloved actor, and it was perfectly calibrated in every way,” said Mullally.
Going forward.
On the future of his character, McCormack dropped some tear-jerking tenderness.
“People say when will Will settle down, but maybe it’s more fun that way,” he said. “[Will and Grace] try and fail [to find love] and we always find each other. Will’s not afraid to try and fail because he has Grace.”
LOVE.
The love was just as clear between the actors and creators themselves, with a whole lot of praise for one another mixed in with inside jokes and playful antics.
“We’re fans of each other,” said Hayes.
Mutchnick praised Mullally for nailing Karen’s reaction to (SPOILER ALERT) Rosario’s death in one take and earlier noted that he loves watching Messing watch her peers because she laughs as if she isn't on set with them.
McCormack praised the creative team for their fearlessness in commitment to excellence. “I think a reason the show is so fresh is because they’re never afraid to invent and reinvent.”
On the success of the reboot, Burrows said, “this is a once in a lifetime experience that is happening again… when we got to do this rebirth, it occurred to me we can go home all again.”
From the audience.
During the Q&A, fans expressed similar sentiments. One man, who’d driven to Los Angeles from Arizona with his husband to be at PaleyFest, got hugs from Mullally and Hayes.
Another woman, before asking a question, said, “Thank you for being our home. You have no idea the impact you’ve had on teens in America. You’ve created such a safe haven.”
That kind of respect, reverence and significance was the vibe throughout the Will & Grace session – an environment well-suited to one of the most iconic shows in TV history.
As a bonus, the group announced the show's second season will have five more episodes than this first season, and the show has already been renewed for a third season.
It was a great way to cap off night two of PaleyFest.
Before the "Will & Grace" session, though, the stage belonged to a new – and genre-wise very different show – that’s doing some groundbreaking of its own: "The Orville." For coverage on The Orville’s PaleyFest session, check out a separate PaleyFest story.