Dear Will and Grace

The cast of Will & Grace with its
episode 2 guest star, l-r:
Eric McCormack, Megan Mullally,
Ben Platt, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes
Photo by Chris Haston, NBC

Amid the excitement about not just the reboot of Will & Grace, but the announcement -- before an episode had even been shot -- that the show has been picked up for a 13-episode second season, now comes word that the show has booked the star of Broadway's Dear Evan Hansen, Ben Platt, fresh off his Tony win for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical.

Will & Grace taped its first episode this past Wednesday night, and on Thursday morning, the cast convened for a "table read" of episode two.  That's when the cast took a beaming photo with guest star Platt, and tweeted out the news to fans.

NBC sent out the following press release as well, with news about the show and episode, which will air Thursday, October 5 at 9PM Eastern/Pacific.:

The cast of “Will & Grace” announced Ben Platt’s guest starring appearance below:

Will & Grace: https://instagram.com/p/BXoF_cKldtb/Eric McCormack: https://twitter.com/ericmccormack/status/895742083704561664Sean Hayes: https://instagram.com/p/BXoGNE8Au3e/ 

ABOUT BEN PLATTPlatt won a Tony Award earlier this year for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role in “Dear Evan Hansen,” which captured the Tony for Best Musical.  “Dear Evan Hansen” was a huge winner at the Tonys and won six awards in all.  In addition to taking home the Tony, Ben also won the Drama League Award for distinguished Performance making him the youngest actor to have won the coveted award.  Ben was awarded an Obie and Lucille Lortel Award as well as  nominations for Outer Critics Circle and Drama League awards for his performance in the Off Broadway run.  Prior to his award winning turn as Evan Hansen, Platt made his Broadway debut in  the musical, “The Book of Mormon.” On the big screen, Platt has co-starred in both “Pitch Perfect” and “Pitch Perfect 2” as well as “Ricki and the Flash”, “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk” and the soon to be released “Drunk Parents.”

ABOUT “WILL & GRACE”A decade after their unforgettable eight-season run, Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally reprise their infamous roles in “Will & Grace” in a 16-episode event. In addition, at NBC’s recent Television Critics Assn. day, the network also ordered a 13-episode second season.  The legendary James Burrows, director of every original “Will & Grace” episode, returns along with a slew of razor-sharp jabs and dirty martinis. Behold once again, from the minds of Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, TV’s wittiest ensemble ever.  Max Mutchnick and David Kohan will write and executive produce. Tim Kaiser, Alex Herschlag, Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally also executive produce. James Burrows will direct and executive produce. “Will & Grace” is produced by Universal Television.

RIP Ken Howard, 1944-2016

I was saddened today to hear about the death of Ken Howard, who began his career in 1968 with a role in Broadway's Promises, Promises, and the following year, created the role of Thomas Jefferson in the Tony-winning musical 1776.  Ken himself received a Tony for his role of a young gym coach at a Catholic boys' school in the 1970 stage drama Child's Play; interestingly, it would later be the 6'6" actor's starring role as a former NBA pro-turned-inner city basketball coach in CBS' The White Shadow (1978-81) that would make him a household name for TV audiences.  In 1974-75, Ken had his first TV starring role as bounty hunter Dave Barrett on CBS' The Manhunter, and he would continue to pop up in later years in recurring roles on such shows as Dynasty and its spinoff The Colbys, Fame, Murder, She Wrote, Melrose Place, Crossing Jordan and, most recently, in the hilarious recurring role of Kabletown CEO Hank Hooper on NBC's 30 Rock.  Elected president of the Screen Actors' Guild in 2009, Ken continued to juggle his SAG-AFTRA duties with performing, such as in HBO's adaptation of Grey Gardens, for which he received his second Emmy Award in 2009.

And apart from all that, Golden Girls fans will of course forever remember Ken as Jerry, the gentlemanly gentleman caller of Blanche's who preferred old-fashioned romance to bed-hopping, and who ultimately left Blanche speechless with their first kiss, which made her feel "like a lady."



A few years ago, I happened to have been seated next to Ken's lovely wife Linda at the taping of the pilot for CBS' sitcom The McCarthys, in which he was appearing, and soon thereafter in February of 2014, I had the pleasure of interviewing them both by phone, as they drove up the coast, about Ken's work on The Golden Girls.  A shorter version of that interview is included in my book Golden Girls Forever, which hits stores on April 5.  But in light of the news today of Ken's passing, I'd like to share his full recollection about working on the show, with its brief glimpse into the life of this beloved actor.

The opportunity to guest star on The Golden Girls came out of the blue, in December of 1991, as my then-fiancée Linda and I were planning our upcoming wedding in February. It was a busy time, but I was excited to do the show because I was a fan. I knew Bea Arthur a little through Broadway circles, and Betty White a bit, too – and now that Linda and I are on the board of directors for the animal charity the Onyx and Breezy Foundation, we’ve gotten to know Betty much more dearly. And I’d just worked with Rue McClanahan on a TV movie, The Man in the Brown Suit, which had filmed on location in Spain in the summer of 1988. We’d had a lot of opportunity on the set to chat, and so when I heard I’d be working with Rue again, I knew it would be great to see her again. 

Working on The Golden Girls was a wonderful experience, although it goes by so fast. I had a few loving scenes with Rue, which is what I remember most. But I also remember how I enjoyed watching those women work, as they rehearsed their scenes together. That week, I even developed the impression to imitate Bea Arthur -- the trick was to let all the air out of my lungs before I would talk.

When the week was over, Linda had the idea to send each of the ladies flowers. So we sent each a bouquet, a dozen roses. And they were all so touched – but the way Bea Arthur expressed how touched she was, she got mad at me. She said, “You mustn’t spend your money that way, and don’t you ever do that again. Do you hear me?!” And she read me out, which was so her. Her way of saying “Thank you” was to say, “That’s excessive, and don’t ever do it again!” --Ken Howard

That Guy! Denis O'Hare

TV Squad's fun interview with a friend, an amazing actor who already has a Tony for Take Me Out and who's now really about to get his due in terms of name recognition starting tonight, with the debut of season 3 of True Blood. Click here: That Guy! Denis O'Hare