NBC sticks with Will & Grace

Will & Grace was rebooted by NBC after being cancelled in 2006

NBC in the US has renewed its rebooted sitcom Will & Grace while adding additional episodes to its next season which starts next month.

Produced by Universal Television and KoMut Entertainment, the show will again star Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally as the friends living in New York.

The new season begins airing on Thursday September 28. NBC has bumped up the number of episodes from 12 to 16 and has also confirmed the show will return for another run.

International broadcasters to have acquired the new episodes include TVNZ in New Zealand, through a deal with NBCUniversal. Also covered by the agreement are Reverie, AP Bio, Seven Types of Ambiguity and Law & Order True Crime: Menendez Murders.

NBC is also  reportedly developing a reboot of Miami Vice with the team behind The Fast and the Furious franchise, including actor Vin Diesel’s prodco One Race Television and Chris Morgan Productions. The original Miami Vice aired on NBC between 1984 and 1990. It was turned into a feature film in 2006.

In related news, NBC has announced an initiative focused on female directors and achieving gender parity among scripted series directors.

The Female Forward programme will take place annually and will give 10 female directors the opportunity to shadow up to three episodes of an NBC series, culminating in an in-season commitment to direct at least one episode of the show.

It is being led by NBC president Jennifer Salke in partnership with director Lesli Linka Glatter (Mad Men, Homeland, Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders).

Female Forward will begin with 10 NBC series during the 2018/19 season, with the intention of expanding the number of directors and shows in subsequent years.

“It has been a collective and urgent goal of ours to identify more female directors. We strongly believe women can and should be at the forefront of telling compelling stories, and I hope the guaranteed directing component will have real impact on our shows as well as the industry,” said Salke.