Three years after playing a huge role in jump-starting the current trend of TV revivals, NBC's influential hit sitcom Will & Grace is once again coming to an end. Thankfully, fans are getting one more season of hilarity, romance and tender emotions. While the detailed nitty-gritty reasoning behind Will & Grace's impending absence is likely complicated in ways that fans may not understand, it looks like the decision to end things was a mutual one amongst the cast and crew.
Will & Grace's stars took to social media after NBC broke the news about the upcoming season being the sitcom's last, and here's how Debra Messing explained things on Instagram.
To the best fans IN THE WORLD, W&G fans, we wanted to tell you that this will be the last season of the Reboot. The creative team got together and we decided it was the right time. We were so lucky to have the opportunity to reunite and do the show AGAIN. It was only supposed to be 10 episodes, but because of you, the fans, it has turned into 3 YEARS. What a miracle. We are all committed to making this season the best ever, and to wrap up the story of Will, Grace, Jack and Karen in a way that feels meaningful and right.
The creative team behind ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. recently announced that the decision to end that show was based on everyone's desire to bring the story to a conclusive end without worrying about suddenly getting cancelled. (ABC announced prior to Season 6's premiere that Season 7 was happening.) Sounds like that same thinking pattern was happening in the minds of creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan.
Co-star Eric McCormack echoed those thoughts with his own post on Twitter, drawing attention to the idea that Will & Grace's final season will be one that ends exactly like everyone involved wants it to. In his words:
Well, we’re taking this one out like we brought it in: with love, laughs, gratitude... and on our own terms. Season 3 of #WillandGrace (well, season 11!) will be our grand finale... and it’s gonna be FANTASTIC.
Fans have been quite happy with the two most recent seasons for Will & Grace's NBC revival. Ratings for Season 9 (or Season 1, depending) managed to rise slightly higher than the average totals for the sitcom's previously "final season" in 2005. The 2018-2019 season wasn't quite as kind, though, with the average viewership dropping from 8.8 million to 5.3 million, with Live + Same Day telecasts drawing around 3 million viewers as the season wore on.
Thursday nights aren't what they used to be on NBC, though, with CBS' comedy lineup taking centerstage on the night for the past decade and then some. It'll be interesting to see how Will & Grace's final season fares each week now that The Big Bang Theory is no longer around to anchor CBS' schedule.
Here's how Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, along with legendary TV director James Burrows, explained things in their official statement about Will & Grace ending.
We think of the Will & Grace reboot episodes the way Karen Walker thinks of martinis – 51 is not enough, 53 is too many. That is why, after consulting with the cast, we all have decided this will be the final season of Will & Grace.
The news of Will & Grace ending broke this week amidst a slew of other TV updates big and small, as the aftermath of San Diego Comic-Con gave way to the TCA summer press tour kicking into high gear. Expect even more big news coming from all the major networks soon, too.
Will & Grace will return to NBC this fall to wrap up everyone's broadened storylines, though its exact premiere date has not been announced yet. Stick with CinemaBlend to learn what new shows are coming to the summer and fall primetime schedules.
