‘Tis the season where we pre-judge the upcoming fall shows based on contextless clips — also known as, the best season for knee-jerk, well, jerks, like me. Sometimes said judgments are spot-on; sometimes a Sleepy Hollow will prove us wrong (albeit only for one glorious season), and sometimes they’re correct but the show somehow succeeds anyway.
But let’s be real: There are only a couple trailers I feel like discussing today, and the big one is for Will & Grace.
It is not a great idea, in my book, to do a sizzle reel for your reboot that harps on whether we’ve all been there and done that and need to move on, nor is it great to then circle back to, “Just kidding, it’s going to be exactly the same.” Because here’s the thing: Will & Grace shouldn’t be exactly the same. It was really important and groundbreaking for its era, and then it went off the air, and the world moved on from that place — crucially; it had to, it was meant to, and W&G was a huge part of that. The world Will and Grace inhabit should also have moved on from there (leaving aside that the finale of the series did, and I have no idea how they’re going to match these up). And yet… as if we never said goodbye, indeed. As soon as Jack and Karen and the canned laughter kick in, as they meander around an apartment my friend correctly snarked would have been redecorated like three times by now, the whole experience feels regressive and stale. I’m concerned we’re all going to cringe. I already am, honestly.
Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders
Until now, I have never in my life thought, “I wish Ryan Murphy had done this first.” But The People vs. O.J. Simpson was exceptional, and whatever the show itself does or doesn’t do, the trailer sure seems only to fetishize the crime.
