Seth Green

As NBC rebuilds, it is leaning on the comedy touch of David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, again.

Their Will & Grace has been big. On Thursday at 7:30 p.m., it’s joined by their new show, Four Kings. It’s a comedy about four pals, played by Josh Cooke, Seth Green, Todd Grinnell and Shane McRae. Like many guys in their 20s, they aren’t taking life too seriously.

"That limbo period between childhood and adulthood seems to just sort of be extending and extending," Kohan says.

The show suggests that childhood friendships are eternal. "David and I have grown up together and have been hanging around since I was 14," Mutchnick says.

Born in the mid-’60s, both men grew up in Los Angeles around show business. Kohan’s father (writer-producer Buz Kohan) has 13 Emmys. Mutchnick’s mother was a Paramount executive.

They met in high school, Mutchnick says. "He was too small to play varsity sports, so he ended up in the drama department and he met me ... we’ve just logged a lot of hours together."

That included the time when Mutchnick found out he was gay. He broke up with his girlfriend. Kohan (who is straight) became an intermediary.

"I was Kissinger in this scenario," Kohan says, "doing shuttle diplomacy. That’s when Max and I sort of solidified our friendship."

They became a comedy team, eventually creating and producing Will & Grace, Boston Commons, Good Morning, Miami and Twins. Then Peter Roth - who heads the Warner Bros. TV division they work for - wanted something about friendship. "(He) really liked the history of our dynamic," Mutchnick says.

The idea expanded to four mismatched guys who have known each other since childhood. Dubbed "the four kings," they are:

# Ben (Cooke), the fortunate one. He’s smart, handsome, likable and lucky. He’s a freelance writer who has just inherited a massive apartment from his grandmother.

# Jason (Grinnell), the serious one. He’s a rising executive in a development firm.

# Bobby (McRae), the goofy one. He’s kind of aimless.

# Barry (Green), the angry one. He’s in the music business.

Barry faces a barrage of jokes about his height. "There’s no pretending that I’m not short, in a group of guys that are all over 6-foot," says Green, who’s 5-foot-4.

That’s part of these friends’ style, he says. "Best friends pick on each other; you find your friend’s most-available weaknesses."

Besides, he’s the biggest in one way: Green has top billing in the show and he’s already been a regular on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and played Scott Evil in the Austin Powers movies.

Two co-stars, Grinnell and McRae, are unknowns. Cooke, however, jumped into the show directly from Committed, a comedy that drew praise.

NBC’s making bigger plans, starting Tuesday:

# Tuesday: Scrubs returns, at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. with new episodes back-to-back.

# Wednesday: The Biggest Loser returns at 9 p.m. with themed hours for the five weeks before the Winter Olympics.

# Thursday: The Kohan-Mutchnick shows air at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; the Tuesday comedies, My Name is Earl and The Office, switch nights and air 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. respectively.

# Friday: The Book of Daniel opens with episodes at 8 p.m. and 9 p.m., before settling into its regular, 9 p.m. slot. It’s a drama-comedy, centering on Aidan Quinn as an Episcopal priest.