Will & Grace Reboot Draws Impressive 10.2 Million Viewers in First Episode

The reboot premiere drew more ratings than any other NBC sitcom episode in four years.

Tracy E. Gilchrist

Tracy E. Gilchrist is the VP of Editorial and Special Projects at equalpride. A media veteran, she writes about the intersections of LGBTQ+ equality and pop culture. Previously, she was the editor-in-chief of The Advocate and the first feminism editor for the 55-year-old brand. In 2017, she launched the company's first podcast, The Advocates. She is an experienced broadcast interviewer, panel moderator, and public speaker who has delivered her talk, "Pandora's Box to Pose: Game-changing Visibility in Film and TV," at universities throughout the country.

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Tracy E. Gilchrist

September 30 2017 12:40 PM EST

July 11 2018 11:59 PM EST

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The return of Will & Grace brought with it the highest ratings for an NBC sitcom since The Office series finale in May 2013, and its slot at 9 p.m. on Thursday may also have helped the rest of the evening's line-up including Superstore and The Good Place get a boost, according to Deadline.

The reboot of the beloved series drew 10.2 million viewers and a 3.0 rating among 18-49-year-old Live+Same Day rating. The first episode that brought the Will, Grace, Jack, and Karen back together 12 years after its original run, beat out its eighth season premiere numbers in Sept. 2005, which garnered 9.81 million, according to Deadline.

The ninth series premiere, which brought the quartet back together as they jabbed and jeered at the Trump White House, alienating what was likely not their core audience anyway, aired to a fair amount of critical praise and some criticism, with a few critics asking "why" a reboot was necessary and if it was edgy enough, as if network sitcoms are universally renowned for their edginess.

But the numbers don't lie and time will tell if those millions tuned in for nostalgia, curiosity or a deep love of the magic Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes, and Megan Mullally proved they still had when they made a 10-minute get out the vote mini-episode supporting Hillary Clinton ahead of the election last year.