It’s still a few months away before NBC regales TV audiences again with the hotly anticipated revival of sitcomWill and Grace,” but the hype has already started to accumulate and build up. The zany yet heartwarming daily lives of two roomies, gay lawyer Will (Eric McCormack) and straight interior decorator Grace (Debra Messing,) have been well loved by audiences for an original run that spanned near to eight years and nine seasons. It was also commended for helping to improve public opinion on LGBT community issues and pioneering the appearance of such characters in other shows.

Now NBC has just released a special teaser for the show, full of meta-observations and a musical number.

Self-aware trailer

The teaser released by NBC runs five minutes long and dips into the meta-concept wherein the line between show characters and their respective portrayers is blurred. It begins with Eric McCormack and Debra Messing exiting the offices of NBC Entertainment Chairman, Bob Greenblatt. Will’s actor is all too eager to get right down to shooting the revival season (and making a sort of gay joke about the network logo), but Messing is a tad hesitant. McCormack is rather put off that his costar may not be up to reprising her role after all and decides to work up her enthusiasm by taking her with him to what looks like the old “Will & Grace” apartment set.

Here’s where the narrative takes a surreal turn. While McCormack is removing the sheets from the set furniture, Grace’s assistant Karen Walker suddenly pops out from the sofa. At least it’s Karen herself since actress Megan Mullally doesn’t break character. Then the fourth main character of the series Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) walks in the “front door” and the set quickly reverts to how it has always looked in every old episode of the sitcom.

Musical fun

The interaction between McCormack and Messing with Karen and Jack (again, no breaking of character for the latter two) seems to set the tone for the return engagement of “Will & Grace.” While 10 years have passed in the real world, for the world of the show nothing seems to have changed much. Abruptly Debra Messing breaks into song about her reservations for a role reprisal, with all her costars joining in – everyone’s in character at this point.

What follows is an epic ensemble that hammers home the point that, with the show coming back for a ninth season, it was like they never said goodbye at all.

NBC has ordered a 12-episode run for season 9 of “Will & Grace,” which will be part of a general reboot of the network’s “Must See TV” lineup.