There's also barrels of cash. In a blockbuster deal for NBC's "Must-See" Thursday night comedy, the Peacock network is shelling out as much as $4 million per episode to keep Will & Grace on the tube through its seventh season, May 2005.
All told, the more than $300 million deal makes NBC's Emmy-winning series, starring Eric McCormack and Debra Messing, the network's fourth most-expensive show on the air, behind ER ($8 million), Friends ($6 million) and Frasier ($5.2 million). And the news comes just days after Will & Grace costars Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally took home lead acting honors at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
"Will & Grace has had a tremendous year," NBC Entertainment honcho Jeff Zucker tells the Hollywood Reporter. "It's faced an incredibly powerful show in [CBS'] C.S.I., but it stood its ground."
Both Hollywood trade papers on Thursday figured the actual price for Will & Grace to be between $3.8 million and $4 million per episode. Either way, that's a lot of Just Jack, and a significant jump from its current $1 million-per-episode price tag.
While negotiations might've seemed simple--after all, NBC was dealing with producer NBC Studios--the renewal did take some time to hammer out. That's because Will & Grace executive producers David Kohan, Max Mutchnick and James Burrows all get a cut of the profits, and networks are increasingly aware that any sweetheart deals between sister companies can lead to disputes or even (remember the David Duchovny debacle?) lawsuits.
Now in its fourth season, Will & Grace continues to fare well on Thursday nights, despite getting overtaken at 9 p.m. by CBS' smash hit C.S.I. The comedy, centering on best pals Will and Grace and their respective sidekicks, Jack and Karen, has averaged 17.3 million viewers this season. And perhaps most importantly, the new deal means NBC will at least have Will gracing its Thursday night lineup after Friends bids adieu next season.