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TIT

'Will & Grace (The Revival): Season One'
(Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, Megan Mullally, et al / 2-Disc DVD / NR / 2018 / Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

Overview: That's right, honey! A decade after their unforgettable eight-season run, comedy's most fabulous foursome is back. Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally reprise their infamous roles as Will, Grace, Jack and Karen.

DVD Verdict: Well, to put it frankly, 'Will & Grace' was a childhood favorite of mine and so I was greatly looking forward to its comeback. But, both Will and Grace's obvious hatred for Trump has not only triumphed over the whole show, but from my humble viewpoint, drowned it in near-complete saturation.

I mean, everyone bashes Trump, in real life, I get it, but to have it spread across a taught 24 minute monologue (and one that's meant to be a funny comic relief to enable us to step away from real life, is just too much. Indeed, I turn to my favorite comedy sitcoms to get away from politics. Ergo, if I wanted a show about politics I would put on CNN, MSNBC or even Fox News.

That said, and playing Devil's Advocate here, the political theme does (thankfully) wane as the episodes progress, but trust me when I say they are never more than a point barb away whenever something seems to be hindering, or opposing our lovable characters.

So, yeah, I enjoyed this "Revival," as it seems Universal Pictures has now deemed it to be on the cover art. Will and Grace are back, for the most part, on sparkling fine comedic form and lucky for us all, Debra Messing is still funny ... and beautiful.

Megan Mullally is also hilarious and stil has that sexy voice of hers running at full tilt, and both Eric McCormack and Sean Hayes are, aside from being hilarious, as cute as ever!

The script is as funny and as well written as it ever was (save for all the damn Trump jokes), the performances are all top notch. So yeah, it's good to see a US sitcom that has grown up a little over the 11 year hiatus they all had.

As for the actual "new" show, well 'Will & Grace' starts off by completely negating (script wise) the events that climaxed the what-they-assumed-to-be-at-the-time final episode of their past eight-season run! I won't reveal what that was, if you're now bringing (and why not) before you tackle this "revival," but it's safe to say they come in hot and very, very (politically) current.

Again, and not to give plot points away here for this season, but just to give you a polite heads-up lead in, Karen, of course, is old pals with Donald and Melania! Grace mentions a pink pussy hat, Jack’s on Grindr, and Will redirects that righteous lawyerly indignation towards the 45th president!

Oh, and there’s even a “Make America gay again” hat, which Grace leaves in the Oval Office after a potential interior design gig brings the whole gang to the White House!

However, where the Will & Grace "revival" does succeed is in mining the changes that have taken place during those 11 lost years. In the first three episodes, the highlight is a cameo by Dear Evan Hansen’s Ben Platt, who plays a caricature-like millennial gay guy, unable to differentiate between Stonewall and Stonehenge, wondering how long he’ll be holed up in a small Manhattan apartment with his best girl friend (“You’d be surprised,” Will says).

What ultimately remains unchanged – and ensures the "revival", which has already been picked up for a second season, will be a surefire success – is the camaraderie between Hayes, Mullally, Eric McCormack and Debra Messing.

It’s a tall task asking viewers to pretend Will and Grace never went their separate ways or had kids, and surely there were ways the creators, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, could have stuck to their original finale and still produced a fitting revival.

But they didn't and in the world of 'Will & Grace,' it's ok that they didn't. It kinda works that it's all been washed away over the past 11 years, for the fans don't care and nor, seemingly, do the characters involved! This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.78:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Features of:

Gag Reel
Reunited the Team
Back to the Beginning
Classic Comedy

Official DVD Purchase Link

www.UPHE.com





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