"Will & Grace" (1998)TV series 1998-2006

Creators:

David Kohan
Max Mutchnick

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

Release Date:

21 September 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Where there's a Will there's a Grace

Plot:

Will and Grace live together in an apartment in New York. He's a gay lawyer, she's a straight interior designer.

Plot Keywords:

Thirty Something | Interior Design | Lawyer | Gay Relationship | Gay Straight Relations

Awards:

Nominated for 27 Golden Globes. Another 51 wins & 162 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Aug. 29	11:00 AM	LIFE	New Will City	#3.1
Fri. Aug. 29	11:30 AM	LIFE	Fear and Clothing	#3.2

Cast

Eric McCormack	...	Will Truman (186 episodes, 1998-2006)
Debra Messing	...	Grace Adler (186 episodes, 1998-2006)
Megan Mullally	...	Karen Walker (186 episodes, 1998-2006)
Sean Hayes	...	Jack McFarland (186 episodes, 1998-2006)
Shelley Morrison	...	Rosario Salazar (74 episodes, 1999-2006)

Also Known As:

Will and Grace (USA) (alternative spelling)

Runtime:

23 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Ireland:12 | Australia:M (some episodes) | USA:TV-14 (sexual references/scenes) | Portugal:M/12 | Australia:PG | UK:12 (some episodes) | UK:15 (one episode) | UK:PG (some episodes)

Filming Locations:

155 Riverside Drive, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

KoMut Entertainment

Trivia:

Jack's full name is John Phillip McFarland.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The layout of Will's apartment, specifically his bedroom and the bathroom(s), don't match up with the layout of the hallway outside his door.

Quotes:

Jack: [gasps] That was you taking my breath away!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Megan Mullally/Clay Aiken (#29.11)" (2004)

Classic Sit-Com Who Broke Grounds,but Lost its Touch Along the Way.

Who would have thought that a show with not one, but two gay leads would hit the TVs across America and ensure its place among must-see TV Thursdays (albeit being shown Tuesdays in its first season and eventually displacing FRASIER) while also garnering critical reviews and numerous Emmys? WILL AND GRACE came and un-intentionally filled the void that ELLEN and her gay oriented sitcom left, keeping the sexuality quietly placed in the background while focusing on the quartet's dysfunctional and often crazy antics (except for some truly clever in-jokes that only gay men and women could catch). Fast moving dialogue, truly innovative slapstick and a balanced out cast created one of the best shows in the last five years, one that had an interesting DICK VAN DYKE SHOW feel, and even if the first season was a little bit clunky at times and some of the comedic situations seemed clearly forced for laughs, it worked.

Lately the show has taken something of a dip in quality. Season 5 reached an early peak in November sweeps with Grace's marriage to Leo Markus, and trying to establish a long term relationship with Will and Barry proved fruitless as it was truly unfunny. Season 6 proved dismal in many ways, from the writing which was not delivering good jokes, to Debra Messing's forced absence due to her pregnancy which took the balance out of the story lines, to Jack and Karen's essences being dumbed down to make them look more like morons in search for a quick laugh, to situations which seemed repetitive and even unfocused. Then Season 7's dismal beginning, with episodes featuring Jennifer Lopez and Janet Jackson essentially doing nothing to bring any comedy to the sitcom questioned would the series be canceled sooner than not, but lately it has been getting back on track, putting the mega-guest stars aside for some actual comedy. Characters are a little more defined, less cartoonish, and situations don't seem as tiredly funny as they were during the aforementioned slump, and whether the show goes on for another season or two I hope that it will go back to how it began, with frenzied humor and sharp lines which was how it got its trademark. It is still a great show and one that deserves the best presentation NBC has to offer.