Earlier this week, social media got buzzy the way social media often does, this time about a possible reunion for the NBC sitcom Will & Grace. On Sunday, the principal stars Debra Messing, Eric McCormack, Megan Mullally, and Sean Hayes, all started tweeting things from the set of what looked like a W&G reunion. Later on Monday, select outlets confirmed that Will & Grace was “back.” Oh yes, it was BACK! Will & Grace! Back again! If by “back” you meant “reunited for a one-time, 9-minute recreation that served as a get-out-the-vote ad for Hillary Clinton.

Aside from the fact that the special new scene gave plenty of reminders why W&G works better as an artifact of its time and not, say, a Gilmore Girls-style revival, talk of a Will & Grace reunion soon sparked speculation of an impending announcement that the show would soon be coming to a streaming platform near you. This of course would be HUGE news for any Will & Grace fan, since the show is completely unavailable to stream — not for free, not as VOD, nothing — anywhere. It’s a puzzling state of affairs considering the other major comedies of its era on NBC are currently major cornerstones of streaming platforms: Friends, Cheers, and Frasier on Netflix; Seinfeld on Hulu; even Mad About You, a show without nearly as much nostalgia appeal, is available to rent on Amazon Video.

Who who’s the culprit? What is holding up a bright streaming future for every “Just Jack” performance and Karen Walker martini slosh? Let’s look at the possible reasons.

Music Rights

More often than not, if a show that it seems should be on streaming isn’t, the reason is that they haven’t been able to clear all the music used in the episodes for use on a different platform. For shows that use a lot of popular songs, this either means paying up a lot of money or else stripping those songs out of the episodes and replacing them with generic tracks. This is why watching old episodes of Dawson’s Creek or Beverly Hills 90210 (or even the first season of The Real World) is such a strange sensory experience, because the original music, which played a huge part in those shows, is gone. But that shouldn’t be a problem for Will & Grace, a show that very rarely used popular music. I can’t imagine this whole enterprise is being held up by the estates of Donna Summer and Barbra Streisand for the scene where Grace sings “Enough Is Enough.”

Production Companies

Another frequent culprit for streaming difficulties is unresolvable negotiations between production companies. In the case of Will & Grace, it was produced by NBC Studios, with TV syndication handled by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution, and DVD by Lions Gate Films Home Entertainment. NBC Studios merged with Universal Television in 2004. Universal’s shows, which include Law & Order SVU, Chicago Fire, The Carmichael Show, and this fall’s The Good Place all stream on Hulu. However, looking the shows that were produced by NBC studios in the 8 years it existed before the merger — shows like Crossing Jordan, Ed, Providence, and The Pretender — none of them are available to stream anywhere.

Legal Fallout

Speaking of NBC studios, it should be noted that Will & Grace creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan sued NBC in 2004, claiming that NBC Studios and NBC (the network) negotiated in bad faith with each other, essentially colluding negotiate a licensing fee within the company and not place the show on the market to the highest bidder, this costing Mutchnick and Kohan millions of dollars. The lawsuit was settled in 2007, though there is no indication that anything in the settlement would stand in the way of selling streaming rights.

The fact remains, however: something is standing in the way of the gray, drab present and a possible bright, sunny future where Will & Grace streams freely and Jack and Karen exchange slaps on a continuous loop, reverberating out into infinity. I believe in that day. Let’s just make it soon, huh?