New Will & Grace draws 10.2 million viewers during first episode
The revival of Will & Grace has drawn impressive numbers after its first episode aired.
With 10.2 million viewers when it aired on Thursday night, the show brought massive ratings.
The numbers mean the show drew the biggest numbers to NBC since the Office back in 2013.
The show also got a 3.0 rating amid 18 to 49 year-olds.
It beat its own record of 9.81 million in September 2005 for its season 8 premiere.
The ninth season also brought with it a cutting critique of the Trump Presidency.
The first episode of the gay sitcom’s long-awaited revival aired last night, reuniting original cast members Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally.
The show was back on form with its first episode, which took on the Trump administration.
The episode took aim at the Republicans and the Trump administration, with mega-wealthy sociopath Karen revealed to be BFFs with First Lady Melania.
Fans also finally got to see how the show dealt with the obstacle of its original ending, which had included a flash-forward of the main characters falling out, growing old and having kids.
(Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for SiriusXM)
Rather than follow that slightly-depressing timeline where Will and Grace aren’t friends, the show decided to simply pretend none of it happened.
Awaking from a nap, Karen says: “I had the craziest dream… in the dream Will was living with a swarthy man in uniform and Grace was married to a Jew doctor. What happened to the children you had who grew up and got married to eachother?”
Will deadpans: “That never happened.”
Instead the characters are back in the show’s holding pattern – Will and Grace single and living together, with Jack across the hall and Karen married to her rich husband.
The gang head to Washington DC in the episode, when Karen lands Grace a gig redecorating the Oval Office for Donald Trump, while Will is ‘protesting’ a dishy GOP congressman.
The show takes a number of jabs at the Trump administration, with Grace discovering “a Russian-English dictionary and a fidget spinner” in the Oval Office.
Meanwhile, a secret service officer quips: “My job’s gotten a lot easier. The nut jobs who protested the last President are this guy’s biggest supporters”.
The show includes one unsubtle jab at Trump – with Grace leaving a ‘Make America Gay Again’ hat in the Oval Office.
The hats are sold by the Human Rights Campaign to raise money to fight for LGBT equality.
The episode received mixed reviews, with fans broadly praising the show’s return, while critics accused it of being “stale”.
NBC had already renewed the show for a second season, before its 16-episode first season even began to air.
McCormack, Messing, Hayes and Mullally have been on the PR trail ahead of the show’s return.
They made a bizarre appearance on a new talk show hosted by conservative former Fox News personality Megyn Kelly earlier this week.
Kelly appeared visibly uncomfortable throughout an excruciating interview with the cast.
The host then spoke to a fan of the show, asking: “Is it true that you became a lawyer, and became gay, because of Will?”
Debra Messing later hit out at the host.
Asked why the cast had agreed to appear, she said: “I honestly I didn’t know it was [Megyn Kelly] until that morning. The itinerary just said Today Show appearance. Regret going on. Dismayed by her comments.”
