TCA 2017 Winter Press Tour: NBC, Includes Will & Grace Revival

Thursday, January 19, 2017

TCA 2017 Winter Press Tour: NBC, Includes Will & Grace Revival

NBC is rounding out the TCA 2017 Winter Press Tour. The biggest news was a classic sitcom that is indeed coming back. "Honey ... What is this? What's going on? What's happening?" NBC is officially bringing back television's favorite foursome with a 10-episode limited run of Will & Grace during the 2017-18 season. Stars Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally - each of whom received at least one Emmy Award for their respective performances throughout the series - will be back, and original series creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan will act as showrunners and executive producers. Legendary director James Burrows, who directed every episode of the show during its initial eight-year run, is on board to direct and executive produce. Debuting in 1998, the show's popularity climbed steadily, ultimately becoming the highest-rated sitcom in the adults 18-49 demo from 2001-05, and garnering an audience of more than 18 million for its series finale in 2006. In addition to taking its place in the cultural zeitgeist as a critic and fan favorite, Will & Grace was nominated for 83 Emmy Awards, winning 16 of them including Outstanding Comedy Series. Universal Television will produce and distribute the 10 all-new episodes.

Other NBC TCA updates include: To the delight of a massive and passionate fan base, NBC has ordered two minimum 18-episode seasons of its Tuesday night drama sensation This Is Us. The Pearson family will be spending a few more birthdays with NBC. Next, NBC will offer audiences a preview of Chicago Justice, the newest installment of superproducer Dick Wolf's highly successful Chicago franchise, on Wednesday, March 1 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. The preview will immediately follow a crossover event between Chicago Fire at 8 p.m. and Chicago P.D. at 9 p.m. that is set to introduce a storyline which seamlessly flows into Chicago Justice. The premiere of Chicago Justice will air in its normal 9 p.m. Sunday timeslot beginning March 5. Finally, NBC has ordered 20 more episodes of its edge-of-your-seat new alternative hit The Wall, executive produced by NBA superstar LeBron James and Maverick Carter and hosted by Chris Hardwick.

Sitcoms Airing Tonight

Sunday, December 3

Krapopolis - "Ty's Tail Tale" (Fox, 8:00PM ET/PT)
When Tyrannis is possessed by his deceased grandfather who rules with fear and a large scorpion tail, Shlub must fight to bring back the old Tyrannis; Hippocampus and Stupendous bring a pregnant pegasus home.

The Simpsons - "AE Bonny Romance" (Fox, 8:30PM ET/PT)
When Groundskeeper Willie is kidnapped to Scotland, Bart and the Simpsons follow, only to be faced with Homer's worst nightmare.

Bob's Burgers - "Fraud of the Dead: Zombie-docu-pocalypse" (Fox, 9:00PM ET/PT)
A documentary film profiling world-class archer Louise Belcher is interrupted by unexpected visitors.

Family Guy - "Baking Sad" (Fox, 9:30PM ET/PT)
Meg discovers her tears produce delicious cookies; Peter and the guys launch a male talk show.

Complete TV Listings

Sitcom Stars on Talk Shows (Week of November 27)

Friday, December 1

Henry Winkler (Barry/Arrested Development/Out of Practice/Monty/Happy Days) - Watch Henry on a repeat of Jimmy Kimmel Live! at 11:35pm on ABC.
Brie Larson (United States of Tara/Raising Dad) - Brie is a guest on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Eric Idle (Suddenly Susan/Nearly Departed) - Eric appears on a repeat of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon at 11:35pm on NBC.
Maria Bamford (Lady Dynamite/Benched) - Maria is a guest on a repeat of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert at 11:35pm on CBS.
Ms. Pat (The Ms. Pat Show) - Ms. Pat appears on a repeat of Late Night with Seth Meyers at 12:36am on NBC.
Angela Means (Cousin Skeeter) - Angela is a guest on repeats of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen on CBS between 12:37-1:37am.
Kelsey Grammer (Frasier/Partners/Hank/Back to You/Cheers) - NBC's Today catches up with Kelsey in the 9am hour.
Brandy Norwood (Zoe Ever After/The Game/Moesha/Thea) - Brandy chats and performs on ABC's Good Morning America sometime between 7-9am.
Patrick Stewart (Blunt Talk) - Patrick sits down with to chat about his book Making It So on Live with Kelly and Mark, so check your listings.
Marcus Scribner (grown-ish/black-ish) - Marcus tells Sherri about his coming-of-age film, How I Learned to Fly, on Sherri, so check your local listings.
Chris Redd (Bust Down/Kenan/Disjointed) - Chris discusses his upcoming film Candy Cane Lane on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.
Tiffani Thiessen (Saved by the Bell/Alexa & Katie/Good Morning, Miami/Saved by the Bell: The College Years) - Tiffani discusses her latest cookbook, Here We Go Again: Recipes and Inspiration to Level Up Your Leftovers, and cooks on The Talk on CBS at 2pm ET/1pm CT-PT.