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Friends move out for Will & Grace

TEN replaces one 1990s sitcom with another from next Monday.

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TEN has now sent through details of its plans to replace Friends with Will and Grace from 7pm next Monday.

It will begin with Series Two, episode one “Guess Who’s Not Coming to Dinner.”

Formerly a Seven Network sitcom, and currently airing on Pay TV, this is the first time the comedy will air on TEN.

The comedy starring Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally ran from 1998 – 2006. As a “millennial Odd Couple” it began as something of a response to the political and social climate of Clinton’s ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy. While Will was open with his sexuality, many noted he was unable to sustain a relationship for many years while barely managing as much as a smooch. That helped win over viewers, who were still coming to terms with Ellen’s outing.

But the show clearly connected with audiences on a purely comic level and was one of several “classic” studio / multicam sitcoms that ended in the mid 2000’s (apologies to Charlie Sheen).

Of particular note was the fact that ever single episode was directed by James Burrows.

It airs on TEN from 7pm Monday Oct 27.

50 Responses

  7. Well Friends is rating pretty poorly, so I’m sure W&G will do better. Problem being (as DanR points out) pay TV has rammed the nuts out of the show… so that audience won’t be tuning in.

  9. To those worried about not seeing Will & Grace from the start, they needn’t be. The first season was rather dull with a few exceptions. It has a better chance of succeding if they do indeed start from Season 2. i don’t think it’ll interfere with the enjoyment of the show.

    Its good to see that the 3 camera sitcom is not dead, as we thought it might be with the end of Friends, Fraiser, Raymond, etc. I think we have Charle and the other one and half men to thank for that.

  11. Was incredibly excited when I saw the commercial… here’s one just again… can’t wait!

    Brilliant programming choice on Ten’s part.

    I’m not sure it will rate as well as Friends was for them but I hope they’re smart enough to keep Will & Grace on.

  13. OK cool thanks. Lol yeh thats what i thought they were doing did at first. I thought ten wanted to try n get real good ratings with friends (coz it used to rate so good first run) so they begged nine for it, sayin we’ll give u Seinfeld and Just shoot me for it! come oonn, whadaya say?? But its not how its done i see. thanks

  14. I second this plan for The Office five nights a week. Sadly, it would crash and burn, because I’ve noticed that Aussies blanket boycott remakes (even though the US Office is pretty much its own beast now).

  15. this is a great comedy from the few eps i’ve seen throughout its seasons, hope it makes a dint in 2.5 men

    after all the mistakes ch10 have made this year i think rereunning 90’s sitcoms is not a bad idea. always a good alternative is if there is nothing on.

  18. So, Ten thinks that yet more repeats in the critical 6:00pm to 7:30pm period is going to help them out.

    Their programs later in the evening suffer badly from the poor lead-ins. They really need to get some original content into these slots if they want to be competitive.

    Please, energise the viewers, do not bore them.

  19. Once the rights are not renewed by a network another might opt to pick them up, as Seinfeld has been late on Nine….it’s done via distributors not 9 picking up the phone to 10 and saying “wanna swap Seinfeld for Friends?” heheh…

  20. hey david, i’ve noticed a lot of 90s sitcoms movin around the joint this past year, like the nanny, just shoot me, seinfeld previously on 10 all on nine now at late times or on an occasional saturday morning. Friends move from nine to ten, now will n Grace from 7 etc. Do u know what exactly goes on in this process? Like, why would a network want to give up these shows for another, Do the networks ask to buy them from eachother, or do networks with them offer the shows. And howw much roughly would be paid??

  21. bindi summed up my thoughts. I was going to watch it too (never have, so I figured I’d check it out) but if it’s not starting from the beginning… I understand that Seven might still own the rights to the first season or something, but jeez =/ Seems a bit ripped off for us viewers.

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