Mad About You type TV Show network NBC genre Sitcom

Mad About You just took a major step toward being revived with its original series stars.

Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt have just closed deals with Sony Pictures Television to reprise their Mad About You roles, EW has learned exclusively. Co-creator Danny Jacobson is also on board to return. The deals follow months of negotiations to try to bring back the 1990s series, which aired on NBC from 1992 to 1999.

The next step is shopping Mad About You to a network. Given the rather spectacular ratings success of ABC’s reboot of Roseanne, as well as the solid performance of NBC’s revived Will & Grace, there are likely to be multiple potential suitors. NBC would be an obvious landing place for the series given its history on the network. But since the comedy wasn’t owned or produced by NBC, it’s not yet clear if it will end up there.

Mad About You told the story of a documentary filmmaker (Reiser) and a PR specialist (Hunt) as they navigated life’s daily struggles. The show received five Emmy nominations for outstanding comedy, and Hunt won the Emmy for outstanding comedy lead actress for four years in a row.

Last year, when asked about a reboot, Reiser worried the comedy two-part finale’s time jump already answered the question of what the couple would be doing today. “One of the things we did deliberately in the finale was that we jumped ahead in the future. We saw where they went,” Reiser told Variety. “Part of why we did that was to avoid the temptation of going back…When you watch a reunion (show), all you do is say ‘Wow do they look older.’”

But Will & Grace and Roseanne opted to ignore their respective original series finales, and their fans didn’t seem to mind (in the case of Roseanne, the series even pretended the death of John Goodman’s character never happened).

Ever since rumors broke that Mad About You might be in the works for returning, the stars have been regularly asked about their participation and have merely said they’re hopeful it might work out.

“The dream is to get to do it,” Hunt told People in last week’s issue. “I’ve been watching Will & Grace and laughing so hard out loud. They’re just crushing it. I have remained very, very close friends with Paul. Reboot or no reboot, we have lunch once a month. We really enjoy and care for each other. It was a very loving piece of work. We loved it. It would be fun to work on something that’s really about love.” Hunt also noted the show will look rather different given the passage of time — she’s now 54, and Reiser is 62. “We’ll be older though,” she added. “I hope people are prepared for that. I’m not prepared for it!”

Sony Pictures Television had no comment.