A revived 'Will & Grace' is ready to reclaim its 'Must See TV' tiara
When "Will & Grace" premiered in 1998, the biggest comedies of the year were "Seinfeld," "Veronica's Closet" and "Friends." It was the year President Bill Clinton denied having "sexual relations" with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The year that gave us Google. A time when the notion that young adults were spending less time with the television set was beginning to percolate.
And there were two thirtysomething writers, Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, on the verge of helping to pave the way for LGBTQ characters on TV with their prime-time sitcom that featured two openly gay characters.
"Will & Grace" followed the close friendship between gay lawyer Will Truman (Eric McCormack) and straight interior designer Grace Adler (Debra Messing) along with their kooky cohorts Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally).
The comedy, which packaged its then-boundary-pushing portrayal of gay men in a simple premise about friendship, ran for eight seasons, racked up 16 Emmy Awards and was one of the last ratings stalwarts of NBC's venerated "Must See TV" era.
"When the show wrapped, I moved to New York City and went to a therapist," Mutchnick, now 51, recalls. "The first thing I said to her was, 'I've just finished a run
