'Will & Grace' Revival News: Molly Shannon Slated to Return

By Sheanne Aguila, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, December 07, 2017

Crazy Val is making her way back to "Will & Grace."

Molly Shannon has been tapped to return to the NBC revival, according to reports. The actress will be reprising her role as Val Bassett on "Will & Grace."

First introduced as Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace's (Debra Messing) neighbor, Val became a close friend to Will and a stalker to Jack (Sean Hayes). She also had some friction with Grace, who considers her a rival. Val appeared in a total of five episodes all throughout the original series, starting from 1999 until 2004.

Shannon is just one of the several guest stars from the original sitcom to return for the reboot. Other familiar faces who have been showing up this season include Minnie Driver, Bobby Cannavale, Harry Connick Jr. and Leslie Jordan.

Not much is known about Val's new storyline and how she will come back into the series. Since there will be an episode titled "There's Something About Larry," it is possible that she will be setting her eyes on their other longtime friend Larry (Tim Bagley). Based on the first look photo for Shannon's episode, Val is still wacky all these years later as she reunites with the gang.

"2018 promises to be a year marked by unmoored insanity, and it's in that spirit we've asked the divine Molly Shannon to be part of the second half of our first season back," co-creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan told TVLine earlier this week.

"Will & Grace" currently has an average of 2.1 rating in adults aged 18 to 49, alongside 7.5 million viewers per episode. This makes it the second highest-rated show on NBC, just behind the sophomore drama "This is Us." Due to its huge success, the show has already been picked up for a 13-episode second season.

"Will & Grace" returns with new episodes starting Thursday, Jan. 4, at 9 p.m. EST on NBC.