The TV return of NBC’s hit sitcom Will & Grace won’t preach a politically charged message, says series co-creator David Kohan.
“It’s not an opportunity to preach,” Kohan told The Hollywood Reporter. “Anyone who needs to be preached to is not going to be listening, so that’s not the purpose. And I don’t think it’s helpful, quite frankly, I really don’t.”
The late 90s-early 2000s Emmy-winning show featured primetime TV’s first openly gay male characters in lead roles.
Series stars Eric McCormack (Will), Debra Messing (Grace), Megan Mullally (Karen), and Sean Hayes (Jack) reprised their roles last September for a ten-minute scene, which aired online. The election-themed video was meant to encourage people to vote and was full of swipes directed at then-candidate Donald Trump.
Messing and McCormick have found their political voices and have been very vocal opponents of the current administration — in January, Messing spearheaded calls for a “month of resistance” against President Trump.
Still, Kohan insists that the Will & Grace revival won’t push a political agenda and will instead focus on “showing these characters — whom people like — living their lives in 2017. That really is the directive more than anything else or addressing anything else head-on politically.”
“If people are going to be entrenched in their positions, then telling them how to think is not going to change the way they think,” Kohan explained.
Kohan and Will and Grace co-creator Max Mutchnick will also serve as show-runners. The highly anticipated revival premiers Sept. 28 at 9 p.m. on NBC.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter @jeromeehudson
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