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Will & Grace

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Will & Grace was a popular American television situation comedy that focused on Will Truman, a gay attorney and his best friend Grace Adler, a straight Jewish woman who runs her own interior design firm, as well as Karen Walker, a very rich socialite and Jack McFarland, an effeminate gay struggling actor. The show took place in New York City.

The show debuted on the NBC network on September 21, 1998, and steadily gained in popularity, culminating when it moved to Thursday night as part of NBC's Must See TV lineup. Since the sixth season, however, the show's ratings gradually declined before stabilizing in the eighth and final season.

The eighth season premiere was broadcast live on September 29, 2005. The (hour-long) final episode aired May 18, 2006, preceded by a one-hour retrospective. The final broadcast drew in an average of 18.1 million viewers.

Will & Grace was filmed at Stage 17 in CBS Studio Center, a space that totals 14,000 sq. ft.

Contents

Plot

[Spoiler warningSpoiler warning]: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Will & Grace's early relationship

Back in college at Columbia University, Will and Grace were actually boyfriend and girlfriend, with Will in denial about his sexuality. Jack, whom Will met at a party, accused him of being gay and continued to force Will to evaluate this possibility. With Rob, Will's roommate, telling him how on his upcoming trip to Grace's parents house they would definitely have sex, Will began to doubt his sexual orientation. Grace, on the other hand, had been told by her friend Ellen that if she and Will didn't 'do it' soon, she would miss her window and they would become just friends. Determined not to let this happen, Grace continued to pressure Will to have sex. After Thanksgiving diner, Will returns to his room to find Grace in his bed waiting for him. In a desperate attempt to delay intercourse Will proposed to Grace, and asked her wait until marriage for sex. After agreeing, Will fled to the bathroom to debate whether or not he was in fact gay. With the counsel of Jack, Will finally came out to Grace after discovering her with her family celebrating the engagement. Once the shock set in, Grace threw him out of the house. They did not speak for a year, but ran into each other again on Thanksgiving the following year in Balduce's. They have been friends ever since.

As roommates

When the show debuted, Grace was about to get married to her long-term boyfriend Danny. When Will told her that he thought Danny wasn't the right man for her, she became angry and planned to get married secretly anyway. However, on the way to the wedding, she realized that Will was right, and she left Danny. Needing an apartment, she moved in with Will, in his apartment on the Upper West Side in New York City. Will and Grace spend a lot of time with one another as well as with friends Jack McFarland, a flamboyantly gay struggling stage actor whose careers over the course of the show range from a Barneys New York and Banana Republic salesman, to acting teacher, to student nurse, to back-up dancer for Jennifer Lopez, to producer at a gay television network; and Karen Walker, an alcoholic millionairess and Grace's secretary, a job she took to have time away from the home she shares with her husband Stan and his kids, Mason and Olivia. Another character who factored into the early episodes of Will & Grace, was Will's client Harlin Polk, played by Gary Grubbs. At first he was given billing in the opening credits with the other four cast members, but interest in his storyline waned, and he was written out of the show early in the second season (Harlin, rather reluctantly, fired Will and hired another lawyer).

The show follows both Will and Grace's attempts to establish romantic relationships without sacrificing their often co-dependent reliance on one another for emotional support. A common joke finds Jack and Karen referring to Will and Grace as married, "non-sexual life partners" or "sexless lovers." At the beginning of the second season, Grace moved into her own apartment (across the hall from Will's) in an attempt to put some distance between herself and Will, but then ended up moving back at the beginning of the third season. She moved out again after getting married early in the fifth season, but she moved back in with Will after getting divorced at the start of the seventh season.

Relationships

Grace has had several lovers on the show, portrayed by actors such as Woody Harrelson and Gregory Hines. Frequently, her lovers feel frustrated by the closeness of her relationship with Will, jealous of their personal jokes and ability to finish each other's sentences. Eventually she married Leo, played by musician and actor Harry Connick, Jr.. Leo was unusual in that Grace's friendship with Will seemed not to bother him; at one point, when Grace was extremely upset about Leo's upcoming six-month absence, she asked if Will could sleep (platonically) with them, and Leo responded with good humor, saying, "I knew this was going to happen one day." They split in the finale of the show's sixth season after Grace discovered Leo had had an adulterous affair while working with Doctors Without Borders in Cambodia.

Will has been less successful romantically, a fact lamented by many fans who long to see a gay man portrayed on television in a happy relationship. In the show's early seasons, Will did not have any long-term love interests, but this changed in the spring of 2004, when the character of Vince, an Italian-American New York Police Department officer played by Bobby Cannavale, was introduced. Their relationship lasted until the spring of 2005, when Vince lost his job and the two decided to "take a break." Will met James, supposedly by fate, at a Sound of Music sing-along and again in Los Angeles. He was played by Rent star Taye Diggs. To prevent James, a Canadian citizen, from being deported, Grace agreed to marry him, although she learned she's pregnant with Leo's child the morning after the wedding. Grace called Leo to meet her so that she could tell him about the pregnancy, but Leo surprised her with news of his engagement to another woman, and so Grace decided not to tell him that she was pregnant. Meanwhile, upon realizing that James is heartless, Will dumps him and had Grace and James' wedding annulled. Shortly afterwards, Will met Vince again and they later got back together.

After discovering that Grace is pregnant, she and Will decided to raise the baby together. Shortly before this, Will had a fight with his father George which ended with George stating that he wished Will wasn't gay. They didn't have the time to reconcile before George died of a heart attack. Grace then decided to name her future baby George if it's a boy (however, it ended up being a girl). Shortly afterwards, Vince suggested to Will that they move in together. However, it is now that Will reveals that he's decided to be Grace's baby's father and that he wants them all to live together. Not wanting this, Vince breaks up with Will. Meanwhile, Leo had broken up his engagement with his fiancée and Grace decided she'd go to Rome, where Leo was currently residing, to tell him she was carrying his child and that she still loved him. Will arrived and yelled at her for being so selfish after he's sacrificed so much for the baby and the two end up agreeing on raising the baby together like they had planned. However, when Will left, Leo arrived and declared his love for Grace.

The two got back together and moved to Rome, leaving Will bitter. It would be two years until he and Grace would talk again. During this time, Will got back together with Vince and the two moved in together and had a baby, Ben, thanks to Will's sperm and a young lady who "sold her eggs for rent money". Grace, meanwhile, bore a girl, Laila, and she and Leo eventually moved back to New York City. Jack and Karen plot to reconcile Will and Grace and use lies and manipulation to get them to meet up. They made up and decided to become friends again, though still keeping their distance. However, they both told their husbands that they always thought and felt that them finding each other was fate. Not only did they meet on the first day of college, they lived in rooms facing each other and their friendship spanned two decades. But they both concluded that fate is for young people. Leo asked Laila if she believes in fate and Vince asked Ben if he believes in fate.

Over a decade later, two young people are shown moving into college dorm rooms facing each other. They meet each other while moving their stuff in and share an awkward moment. However, once they close their doors, they both instantly open them to catch a glimpse of each other. It is revealed that it's in fact Ben and Laila and the two go out for some cafeteria ice cream. Meanwhile, Will and Grace arrive at the scene facing away from each other, both carrying boxes of their children's stuff. Recognizing his voice, Grace demands to know if Will still has his hair (which he does) before turning around. Grace remarks that Will looks good and Will remarks that Grace looks nothing like her mother. The two decide to go out for cafeteria ice cream.

Later on, the two of them reunite with Karen and Jack for a drink and they remark that even though a lot of things have happened, they are still pretty much the same.

Supporting characters

Meanwhile, the supporting characters Jack and Karen have grown cattier and more spiteful, providing acerbic commentary on the neurotic behavior of the title characters. Jack, whose floundering one-man show and acting career has been established as a hopeless dream, found work in retail sales and married (and later divorced) Karen's maid and long-time friend Rosario Salazar in order to help her establish U.S. citizenship. It was also revealed that he had fathered a son many years prior (through artificial insemination with a woman played by Rosie O'Donnell). Karen is played as a woman who has made hard choices in life in order to live the carefree and very wealthy way she chooses. She sometimes reluctantly reveals intense emotion about rough situations (such as the death of her husband), although she usually prefers to put on a face of cruel indifference and obliviousness.

Karen's husband, Stan Walker, has remained an unseen character over the course of the show. He is described as an extremely wealthy and overweight man with some unusual sexual tastes, who gives a lot of business to Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Jailed during season four for tax fraud, Stan was released in season five, but Karen soon caught him sleeping with his British mistress Lorraine Finster (played by Minnie Driver), whom he met when she worked in the prison cafeteria. During Stan and Karen's divorce proceedings at the end of season five, Stan dropped dead, and season six saw Karen explore other avenues of dating, culminating in her 20-minute-long marriage to Lorraine's father, Lyle (played by John Cleese). At the end of the seventh season, it was revealed that Stan faked his death and, in season eight, he and Karen reconciled after she had a brief affair with a government agent (played by Alec Baldwin). However, by the end of the show, Karen leaves Stan for good, at which point it is revealed that everything he owned was on loan, hence her huge settlement was worthless.

In the series finale, Beverly Leslie (Leslie Jordan) meets Jack and it is revealed that Beverly's long-time gay lover Benji, who was always referred to as a "business associate", had parted ways with Leslie. Beverly made advances towards Jack, but was rejected, even though he offered to share his vast fortune with him. However, when Karen heard of this she, now dirt poor after her 2nd divorce from Stan, forced Jack to get into a relationship with Beverly, stating that she had been supporting Jack for all these years and it was only fitting for him to support her now. It is also revealed that Beverly Leslie is deadly afraid of going out onto the balcony of his penthouse out of fear of a strong gust of wind blowing him off to his death. After Rosario insists that Jack is unhappy in his relationship with Beverly, Karen goes to visit him and tells him that she doesn't want to force him to keep the relationship up just when Beverly and Jack are playing hide-and-seek. Jack, after telling Karen that Beverly had just made him his sole heir, leaves a note and then the three leave. Beverly then enters the room looking for Jack and decides to check the balcony out. However, he's whisked off by a sudden gust of wind and dies, leaving Jack filthy rich.

Karen's and Jack's story arc ends with them growing old living together in luxury.

Spoilers end here.

Fights

In season five, Will and Grace experience their first big fight. Will and Grace decided to have a child together, so Grace was to be inseminated. In the taxi that she and Will were taking to get inseminated, Will says, "Nothing can go wrong now." Grace makes the cab stop and gets out saying that Will had put a kena hara on it, and something would go wrong. He stays in the taxi, but she makes a mad dash across the park. After running into a street lamp and getting knocked out, she awakens to find a man on a white horse there to help her. The man is Dr. Leo Marcus, who gives her a ride to the insemination clinic. He continues to find her in places such as the café, and eventually winds up at her apartment after she leaves her wallet at the café. When Will answers the door and informs Leo that they live together, and are having a baby to together, Leo gets intimidated and leaves. After Grace finds out that the insemination had not gotten her pregnant, she looks through her wallet to find Leo's number and a note saying that he cannot stop thinking about her. She calls him back and goes on a date with him. She keeps the date a secret because she and Will had a pact that they wouldnt date until the baby was born. After sharing an amazing kiss with Leo, she goes to Karen for advice. Karen advises Grace to ask Will for more time. To try to make Will more open to the idea, she gets a personal cooling system from The Sharper Image. Will and Jack had been discussing how Will had been putting too much pressure on Grace. To apologize, he gets her an electric foot massager. After they each give their gifts, Grace asks for more time, but omits the reason. Will gives her one month of extra time. The next day he and Jack go the Sharper Image to return the personal cooling system for the turbo nose hair clippers. While he is there, he sees Leo at the counter telling the clerk how he's returning it for his girlfriend who is embarassed by her feet. Realizing that he was talking about Grace, Will rushes home. They begin to argue about if she still wants to have the baby. He says either she does it tomorrow or never. Grace chooses never. Will accuses Grace of being a flake. The two argue heatedly, deciding to end their friendship.

Karen and Jack plot to make Will and Grace friends again, eventually succeeding.

The only other big fight occured in season 8. Grace is pregnant with Leo's baby, and he lives in Rome about to marry someone else. Will breaks up with his boyfriend Vince so that he can be with Grace to raise the baby. Leo suprises Grace by returning from Rome and declaring his love for her. She goes to live with Leo and they get married again. Will and Grace don't speak for two years and their friendship remains distant until they are brought close again 20 years later by their children.

Awards and nominations

By 2005, Will & Grace had been nominated for 49 and won 12 Emmys. From 2001-2005, Will & Grace was the second-highest-rated sitcom among adults 18-49, second only to NBC's own Friends, which usually preceded it on the Thursday-night schedule. It has also been heralded as responsible for opening the door to a string of gay-themed television programs, such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Boy Meets Boy. Will & Grace has won several GLAAD Media Awards for its fair and accurate representation of the gay community. Despite more than two dozen nominations, Will & Grace has never won a Golden Globe award (as of April 2006).

In the summer of 2005, Will & Grace was nominated for 15 Emmys, tied with Desperate Housewives as the series receiving the most nominations. Unlike Housewives, however, Will & Grace mostly received nominations during the 2004-2005 season for its guest actors and actresses. From these nominations, the series won two awards for the season; one of the two awards was for guest actor Bobby Cannavale.

In the summer of 2006, Will & Grace was nominated for 10 Emmys for it's final season, including a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress for Debra Messing, Outstanding Supporting Actor for Sean Hayes, and Outstanding Supporting Actress for Megan Mullally.

Will & Grace is one of only three sitcoms in which all actors playing the main characters (McCormack, Messing, Hayes, and Mullally) have won Emmys. The other two are All in the Family and The Golden Girls.

Cast and crew

Regular characters

In the opening credits, McCormack and Messing are billed together, with the name that goes on top alternating between episodes.

Recurring characters

For a more extensive list, see the article on Supporting characters on Will & Grace.

Notable guest stars

Will & Grace often has high-profile guest stars appearing on the show. This list is by no means complete. Guest stars in character roles: Guest stars playing themselves:

Crew

DVD releases

Running jokes

Will & Grace in pop culture

Broadcasters

NBC broadcast history

All times listed are North American Eastern Standard Time.

See also

References

External links

 

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

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