Rumor mill

Did this on-set feud lead to ‘Will & Grace’ reboot’s early end?

As the 11th and final season of the Will & Grace reboot marches on, speculation over why the series is ending (again) has officially ventured into gossip territory.

Rumors of a feud between Debra Messing (Grace) and Megan Mullally (Karen) have made their way up to NBC’s top brass, entertainment chairman Paul Telegdy, who unsurprisingly implied they’re totally unfounded.

When asked about the conflict by TV Line, Telegdy said: “Some things come to a natural end. [Series creators] Max [Mutchnick] and David [Kohan] told the story they wanted to tell. Just wait for the finale. It’s epic; it ties together so many threads.”

The comment echoes what Eric McCormack (Will) told US Weekly last year about the “feud” and the show’s end: “It seems crazy. It is crazy! I think people worried about that entirely too much. The four of us get along like a house on fire, we always have.”

Related: Brian Jordan Alvarez on landing his wondrous role on ‘Will & Grace’

“We want to make sure that it ends up properly, that we go out on top, that it never gets sort of lost in the shuffle. So it’s going to go big. It’s going to go out in a way that I’m really going to be proud of.”

The rumors started last year when fans noticed Mullally and Messing had unfollowed one another on social media. Then it was announced that Mullally was taking a leave of absence from the show and would not appear in two episodes.

Whatever the reason, the 11th and final season premiered on October 24 and will run for 18 episodes, welcoming guest stars like Gus Kenworthy, Matt Bomer, Patton Oswalt, Chris Parnell, Joel McHale, Ryan Phillippe, Billie Lourd, Vanessa Bayer, Aileen Quinn and Demi Lovato.

Will & Grace airs Thursday nights on NBC.

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