WILL AND GRACE THE REVIVAL SEASON 1: WASN’T THIS SHOW FUNNY?

While I watched this new revival of the groundbreaking series from 1998-2005 I kept asking myself that question: wasn’t this show funny when it was first on? I can remember watching it back then but not to the point I found it to be must see TV. I did enjoy it and laughed at the shows I can recall watching. But in watching this season not so much. As a matter of fact I can only recall laughing twice while watching this.

For those who don’t recall the series it’s the story of two best friends who live together. Grace (Debra Messing) is a somewhat successful home designer who we last saw get married when the show ended. She’s not divorced and once again living with Will (Eric McCormack). Will is a successful lawyer and gay. When the show first aired that was a somewhat controversial aspect of the show. These days it’s nothing more than another show on the air. Across the hall from their apartment lives Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), a wealthy woman whose husband is rarely seen. Living in the same apartment is Jack (Sean Hayes), a gay actor still searching for the right role and living off of Karen as much as she allows. The four of them are friends and find themselves in various sitcom difficulties with each episode.

So what makes this season different. To start off with the opening episode has decided to dive into the realm of political commentary while forsaking comedy. The episode is perhaps one of the most mean spirited things I’ve ever witnessed on TV. There have been some truly humorous shows and skits revolving around the current President, Donald Trump. Even some of the worst skits seen on SNL have at least had some humor to them. This one just seems determined to placate the personal politics of the stars as they bash Trump from the beginning of the episode to the end. It makes for a bumpy start that was sure to please some and alienate others which seems like an odd thing for a series to do out of the gate.

Fortunately the series doesn’t remain in his style with each episode that follows. But each of these episodes seems a bit dated in today’s world. Where a story involving openly gay characters in the past might have been controversial they’re blasé now. And yet the same humor found in the series earlier incarnation is found here once more as if time had not passed and acceptance had never occurred. It becomes trapped in a time warp with only a few things making it different. Most of those involve the now acceptable act of two men kissing, something that would have alarmed folks back when the show first aired. Today it’s nothing.

One thing that has changed with time is the ages of the actors and the characters as well. Episodes deal with that here as when Will begins dating a younger man while Jack faces the fact he’s not as young as he once was. Another episode deals with a grandchild that Jack never knew he had. But their love lives are still a topic of several episodes, dealing with coming out of the closet it discussed and more items that as I keep saying might have been controversial or surprising in the past but whose time has long since passed.

Perhaps the worst thing about the revival is the lack of anything funny. I kept watching and hoping that I would find something to make me laugh. Two exceptions out of 16 episodes is not a great track record for a comedy series. In comparison I find myself laughing almost non-stop at the series MAN WITH A PLAN, even when I watch the reruns. And if it weren’t enough that this series was trying to revamp topics from its previous incarnation they even try and revamp items from other shows such as Grace and Karen getting trapped in a shower that’s sealed shut. Shades of Lucille Ball!

In the end I can’t recommend this series on TV let alone spending money on it to own. I’m sure there will be the die-hard fans that will buy anything connected to the series and find it amusing. And there will be fans of the shows political persuasion which is on display throughout that will scream yeah take that and find enjoyment in the mean spirited moments it offers. But for most this is nothing more than a ghost of what the show once was, a pale imitation, a look at characters that were once funny now fueled by an obvious laugh track instead of actual laughter. I think there are other shows who played politics in a more subtle manner that are more enjoyable. Like M*A*S*H whose old episodes can still evoke laughter. Not so this revamp.

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