New ‘Will & Grace’ will include transgender issues, Debra Messing hints

Will & Grace star Debra Messing has hinted that the show’s revival will feature transgender issues.

The beloved gay sitcom is being revived this year for a comeback series, with Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally all reprising their roles.

The show’s long-anticipated revival was originally commissioned for just 10 episodes, but in a show of confidence, NBC has extended the order to 12.

When it was originally on the air, the show was frequently criticized for its poor portrayal of lesbians and bisexuals while focusing on gay men.

But speaking to Huffington Post, Debra Messing revealed that the show will have a broader LGBTQ focus in the new season, and will tackle transgender and queer issues.

She said: “It’s a whole new world now where being gay and lesbian is not something that people are hiding like they did when we started almost 20 years ago. I think that there’s an opportunity to now celebrate all the other initials of LGBTQ. It will be great to come out of this next round and feel like we’re normalizing an even larger segment of underrepresented people on prime-time television.”

The show will also address the Trump administration, after an election-themed episode that aired last year.

Messing added: “‘Will & Grace’ has always been political. It’s always dealt with what is happening in our culture and in our country. It’s absolutely going to be addressing in real time what’s happening. That’s what we always did. That was never the agenda but that’s just part of the DNA as a TV show. That’s not gonna change.”

She added: “I feel proud that we were able to finally represent the gay and lesbian community in mainstream media and change minds and hearts. Of course, we couldn’t do everything all at once, but I think we pushed the ball very, very far down the field. Now, the goal post is in a different place and I think that there’s obviously more to go.”