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Will & Grace was a popular Emmy Award-winning American television situation comedy that focused on Will Truman, a gay lawyer 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 estimated 18.1 million viewers.
Will & Grace was filmed in front of a live studio audience (most episodes), at Stage 17 in CBS Studio Center, a space that totals 14,000 sq. ft.
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Plot
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Will & Graces early relationship
Will and Grace first met at Columbia University, where they became boyfriend and girlfriend. Will met Jack at a party, where Jack accused Will of being in denial about his sexuality. With the counsel of Jack, Will finally came out to Grace after discovering her with her family celebrating their engagement. Once the shock set in, Grace threw him out of the house. They did not speak for a year (Grace moved off campus), but they accidentally ran into each other again on Thanksgiving the following year at D'Agostino's supermarket. This meeting spurs a reconciliation and they became best friends.
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As roommates
When the show debuted, Grace was about to get married to her boyfriend Danny. When Will disapproves, she becomes angry and plans to get married secretly anyway. However, on the way to the wedding, she realizes that Will was right, and she leaves 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 and Karen Walker. Jack is a flamboyantly gay struggling stage actor who, over the course of the show, has a range of jobs including caterwaiter, acting teacher, back-up dancer for Jennifer Lopez and TV producer. Karen is an alcoholic millionaire and works as Grace's assistant, 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.
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Relationships
Grace has had several lovers on the show, portrayed by actors such as Woody Harrelson and Edward Burns. Frequently, her lovers feel frustrated by her relationship with Will, jealous of their closeness, 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. However in the final season, Will was reunited with Vince.
Jack, whose floundering one-person show and acting career has been established as a hopeless dream, eventually finds 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 lesbian woman played by Rosie O'Donnell).
Karen's husband, Stan Walker, 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 who went uncredited). 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 much of everything he owned was on loan, hence her huge settlement was worthless.
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Conflicts
In season five, Will and Grace experience their first big fight since the series began (although there have been many minor arguments as well as a reference later in season five to a major fight back in 1991; the two also did not speak for a year after Will came out to Grace when they were dating in college). Will and Grace decided to have a child together via artificial insemination. However she meets and falls in love with Dr. Leo Marcus and becomes unsure about continuing with the plan. Will and Grace argue about if she still wants to have the baby and she decided against the idea. Will then accuses Grace of being a flake. The two argue heatedly, deciding to end their friendship. Karen and Jack scheme to make Will and Grace friends again, eventually succeeding.
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Series finale and conclusion
Grace becomes pregnant with ex-husband Leo's baby, the result of a one-night stand on an airplane, but Leo currently lives in Rome and is about to marry someone else, unaware of Grace's pregnancy. Will reconcilates, but then breaks up with his boyfriend, Vince, who wasn't prepared to raise Grace's baby with her and Will, so that he can be with Grace to raise the baby. Suddenly, Leo surprises Grace by returning from Rome and declaring his love for her. She goes to live with Leo in Rome, and they get married again. Will and Grace don't speak for two years; during this time, Will gets back together with Vince, and the two move in together and have a baby, Ben, thanks to Will's sperm and a young lady who "sold her eggs for rent money." Grace, meanwhile, gives birth to a girl, Lila, 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 make up and try to rekindle their friendship, but they are unable to return to their previous level of closeness.
Their friendship remains distant (at best) for another 20 years until they reunite when their children move in to the same college dormitory. 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. Will and Vince's son, Ben, eventually marries Grace and Leo's daughter, Lila.
Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) meets Jack at a restaurant, and it is revealed that Beverley's long-time gay lover, Benjy, who was always referred to as a "business associate," had parted ways with Leslie. Beverly makes 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 poor after her second divorce from Stan, forces Jack to get into a relationship with Beverley, stating that she has been supporting Jack for all these years and that it was only fitting for him to support her now. After Rosario insists that Jack is unhappy in his relationship with Beverley, Karen goes to visit him and tells him that she doesn't want to force him to keep the relationship up. Jack, after telling Karen that Beverley had just made him his sole heir, leaves a note, and then he leaves with Karen. Beverley then enters the room looking for Jack and decides to check the balcony. However, he's whisked off by a sudden gust of wind and apparently dies, leaving Jack incredibly wealthy.
Karen's and Jack's story arc ends with them growing old and rich, living happily together in Jack's luxurious apartment, with Karen taking care of a wheelchair-bound Rosario.
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Awards and nominations
Will & Grace had been nominated for 83 and won 16 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 as Folk, 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 received many of its 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 Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, won by Bobby Cannavale for his role as Vince, Will's boyfriend.
In the summer of 2006, Will & Grace was nominated for 10 Emmys for its 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. Mullally won the award for her category (her second win out of seven nominations), and Leslie Jordan won the award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his recurring role as Beverley Leslie.
Will & Grace is one of only three sitcoms in which all actors playing the main characters (McCormack, Messing, Hayes, and Mullally) have each won at least one acting Emmy. The other two are All in the Family and The Golden Girls.
Each with three awards, both Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally hold the record of winning the most Screen Actors Guild Awards for the categories Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series and Best Performance by an Actress in a Comedy Series, respectively, for their roles in Will & Grace.
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Regular characters
Harlin Polk - a client of Will's, played by Gary Grubbs. Although initially a main cast member, Grubbs appeared in only half the episodes of season one, and then returned in one episode in season two. Although a minor character, he makes a key observation early in the series: after watching Will and Grace exchange catty remarks, he asks Will, "Are you sure you're gay? You and Grace act just like me and the Mrs." Gary also appeared in two episodes of Angel, the hit US Sci-Fi series, posing as one of the main character's (Fred's) father.
Elliot - Jack's biological son (from a donation to a sperm bank), played by Michael Angarano (season four, guest star in seasons three, five, six, and eight)
In the opening credits, McCormack and Messing are billed together, with the name that goes on top alternating between episodes.
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Recurring characters
Mason Walker (unseen character) - Karen's stepson, whom she calls "the fat one"
Lois Whitley (Suzanne Pleshette) - Karen's mother; her deep voice (Pleshette's natural voice) contrasts sharply with Karen's exceptionally high range (Mullally's fake voice)
Val Bassett (Molly Shannon) - a slightly crazy, alcoholic, divorced woman who lives in the same building as Will, Grace, and Jack; Val tends to get into fights with Grace, and has been known to stalk Jack
Joe (Jerry Levine) and Larry (Tim Bagley) - two of Will and Grace's close friends, a gay married couple with an adopted daughter
Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) - a closeted, staunchly Republican, very short and very wealthy socialite whose relationship with Karen changes rapidly from friend to enemy and back
Nathan (Woody Harrelson) - Grace's neighbor and boyfriend (seasons three and four)
Barry (Dan Futterman) - Karen's gay cousin, who Jack and Will help transform from a slobbish man just out of the closet into a more confident and refined gay man, and then both fall for him
Lyle Finster (John Cleese) - the father of Stan's mistress (Lorraine), briefly engaged and married to Karen (season six)
Dr. Marvin "Leo" Markus (Harry Connick Jr.) - Grace's boyfriend (starting in season five) and eventual husband; their marriage ended (season seven) after he cheated on her. He is also the father of her child (season eight) and in the series finale they have remarried and are raising their daughter, Laila.
Vince D'Angelo (Bobby Cannavale) - Will's first long-term boyfriend in the show's run, whom he eventually marries and raises his son, Ben, with (seasons six through eight)
Stuart Lamarck (Dave Foley) - a client of Will's and boyfriend of Jack's (season six)
Ben Doucette (Gregory Hines) - Will's boss at Doucette & Stein and occasional love interest of Grace (seasons two to three); occasionally showcased Hines' real-life tap-dancing skills
Zandra (Eileen Brennan) - Jack's acting coach, who later kicked him out of her class and eventually was retired to an Actor's Nursing Home
Lorraine Finster (Minnie Driver) - Stan's mistress (and therefore one of Karen's many rivals), a cafeteria worker at the prison, and Lyle's daughter. According to the sixth-season episode "The Accidental Tsuris," she was raised as a girl despite being genetically male or perhaps hermaphroditic.
Michael (Chris Potter) - Will's first long-term boyfriend, whom he dated for 7 years and is often referred to (unseen) in Season 1. He appears in one episode of Season 2.
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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:
Alan Arkin (as Martin Adler, Grace's father, not featured in the series until its seventh season)
Alec Baldwin (as Malcolm Widmark, a man hired by Stan to return Will to the legal profession; he also dates Karen for a short period of time)
Jack Black (uncredited) (as Dr. Isaac Hershberg, who examines Karen; he is also the brother of the occasionally-seen nurse Sheila, played by show writer Laura Kightlinger )
Edward Burns (as Nick, Grace's first serious boyfriend since her divorce from Leo)
Richard Chamberlain (as Clyde, an elderly man whom Will brings to game night, much to Grace's chagrin)
John Cleese (as Lyle Finster, father of Lorraine, who marries (and is then divorced by), Karen in the season six finale)
Joan Collins (as Helena Barnes, a designer with whom Grace competes for a job)
Macaulay Culkin (as Jason Towne, the lawyer representing Karen in the case of her divorce from Stan)
Matt Damon (as Owen, Jack's heterosexual rival, pretending to be gay to vie for a spot in the Manhattan Gay Men's Chorus)
Geena Davis (as Janet Adler, Grace's screwed-up, elder sister)
Ellen DeGeneres (as Sister Louise, a nun to whom Will sells Grace's (now deceased) Uncle's old car)
Patrick Dempsey (as Matt, a sportscaster who becomes Will's boyfriend until he refuses to come out to his boss)
Michael Douglas (as Gavin Hatch, a somewhat closeted gay cop who becomes attracted to Will and has issues with seeing food stuck in people's teeth)
Victor Garber (as Peter Bovington, a former actor now working as a doorman)
Andy Garcia (as Milo, a restaurateur and lover of Karen's)
Seth Green (as Randall Finn, a gay former child star)
Stacy Keach (as Wendell Schacter, a former colleague of Jack's who usurps his acting class)
Hal Linden (as Alan Mills, an elderly gay man who briefly becomes Will's "sugar daddy")
Madonna (as Liz, Karen's roommate and lesbian lover for a brief period of time)
Lee Majors (as Burt Wolfe, a friend of Grace's father)
Dylan McDermott (as Tom, a boyfriend of Will's who is very closely attached to his elderly mother)
Bernadette Peters (as Gin, short for Virginia, who is Karen's sister with one leg shorter than the other)
Luke Perry (as Aaron, a "hot gay nerd" bird-watcher on whom Jack develops a crush)
Jeremy Piven (as Nicholas, Grace's ex, who asks Grace if she wants to join him in a threesome with his current lover)
Brandon Routh (as Sebastian in the episode A Gay/December Romance)
Molly Shannon (as the loony Val Bassett, who lives in Will and Grace's building)
Mira Sorvino (as Diane, an ex-girlfriend of Leo and one night stand of Will's, and is the one woman Will has ever slept with)
Eric Stoltz (as Tom Cassidy, a college boyfriend of Grace's)
Sharon Stone (as Georgia Keller, Will and Grace's therapist)
Lily Tomlin (as Margo, Will's boss who makes him partner)
Rip Torn (as Lionel Banks, a man with whom Karen almost cheats on Stan during his incarceration)
Stuart Townsend (as Edward, Karen's "pansexual" pastry chef, who ends up "sexing" Will, Karen, and Rosario)
Tracey Ullman (as Anne, the instructor of a cooking class that Will and Jack attend)
Gene Wilder (as the mentally unstable Stein of Will's law firm, Doucette and Stein)
Guest stars playing themselves:
Cher (Episode 'Gypsies, Tramps and Weed' and 'A.I.: Artificial Insemination')
Elton John (claiming himself to be the leader of the "Gay Mafia")
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Crew
James Burrows - Executive Producer and Director -- Burrows directed all 194 episodes of the series, which has since become a directing record.
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DVD releases
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Running gags
Before a short argument starts, both Will & Grace will simultaneously say the same words.
In early episodes, Grace would often get herself stuck in something and then be pulled back by it. For example, in the first episode, she got her veil stuck in the door of Will's office.
Grace would claim that she has a striking resemblance to certain red-haired celebrities, such as Julia Roberts, Rita Hayworth and Nicole Kidman. In the episode Flip-Flop, Grace smiled in a flatteringly way when Zandra, Jack's acting coach, told her that she reminds the latter of Lucille Ball only to find out that Zandra hated Lucille Ball.
In early episodes, Karen is able to accurately guess with whom Grace has had sex as well as how many times.
Karen continually makes jokes about what Grace is wearing and her hairstyle, stating; "Honey, what's that, what's this, what's going on here?" very quickly, or "That blouse hurts like a hangover."
Aside from Jack and Karen, Will and Grace's friends such as Joe, Larry, Ellen, and Rob would make jokes about the lead characters' being a married couple.
Grace can't sing well. Often if someone plays a piano, she will begin singing. If Will is playing, he might stop, claiming, "I forget the rest." Sandra Bernhard once said to her on the Season 3 episode Swimming Pools...Movie Stars, "If I wanted your sound in the show, I'd strangle a couple of cats."
Jack constantly makes jokes about Will's hair loss and obesity (even though Will is clearly not fat or losing his hair).
Ever since Will kissed Jack on the season-two episode Acting Out, Jack makes jokes about Will's making a move on him, despite the fact that Jack showed that he had feelings for him in a flashback of when they were younger, and the two of them once made out in a hot tub while they were drunk at Joe & Larry's party as mentioned in the Season 3 episode Husbands & Trophy Wives.
Grace professes a deep love of food. In early seasons, she showed an amazing skill where she could detect when food would be done cooking or how much longer milk had left before it went sour. ("It's got 12 more hours.") She will eat anything, anywhere ("She wont stop eating the rotten shrimp.", "Well why don't you just throw it away?", "I did.") and is always on the lookout for food. Stuart once said to her, "Do you ever stop eating?"
Karen's constant run-ins and close calls with the law are often used as topics for clever jokes.
Karen and Rosario always get into short, heated arguments, with one talking over the other. The argument always ends with both compromising and hugging while confessing their love for each other. Karen also makes jokes of Rosario's being a man or being something/somebody scary (i.e., the Chupacabra or the face of death).
Grace's small breasts are mentioned and made fun of throughout the series, in contrast to Karen's ample bosom. In one episode, Grace wore a light blouse with a "neckline" that plunged to almost her navel, but it attracted no attention whatsoever.
Karen is an alcoholic (often holding her drink and speaking lovingly to it; once while in a book store with Will, she began searching for her drink saying "I know I left it here somewhere," and finding it in the self-help section; in the series finale, she famously left saying "You're out of vodka." "Karen there's a full bottle right there," she then goes on to drink the entire contents of the bottle without stopping later saying "Nope, empty") and addicted to prescription pills ("It's party mix; uppers, downers, and candy corn.")
Jack is obsessed with Cher, usually doing impressions of her, and in episode 4.14, Grace in the Hole, it is revealed that he has seen Cher in concert 27 times. (The one time he actually met Cher he mistook her for a drag-queen and claimed he did a better Cher than she herself). Other idols of his include Patti Lupone ("Shut up Patti Lupone, shut your brassy magnificent trap, I don't want to hear you sing, I don't want to cut your hair, and I definitely don't want to hear you sing while I cut your hair," said to her while trying to prove his support for Will but running into her at a restaurant) and the cast of The Golden Girls, having made a wig by cutting locks of their hair off and gluing them together, also doing this with Chita Rivera, Patti Lupone, Angela Lansbury, etc...).
Will is borderline obsessive compulsive, often being referred to as something clever like "anal annie" or mocked for the fact that he often follows people around his apartment with a mini-vac. Other times, it's just referred to him as being overly gay: Grace: "God, you're more gay before nine o'clock than most people are all day!"
Grace passes gas very often, but it is hardly ever heard by the viewer.
Whenever he realizes something shocking or amazing, instead of saying "Oh, my God" or "Heavens Above" or other religious exclamations, Jack would often utter the name of a famous celebrity with three names, e.g., Farrah Fawcett-Majors, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Haley Joel Osment and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Sometimes, when the realization is of a homosexual nature, Jack would mention a woman famous either for being or alleged to be lesbian, such as k.d. Lang, Billie Jean King and Anne Heche (after finding out that his rival for the Gay Men's Chorus, played by Matt Damon, is actually straight, he utters her married name, Anne Heche-Laffoon).
Whenever Karen is at a bar and in need of advice, the bartender "Smitty" (as Karen calls him) would always reply with a sad story of loss in his own life. When he finishes his stories, Karen always laughs heartily and tells Smitty that he's always there to cheer her up.
Karen has a "secret" alias along with a pseudonym (similar to Art Vandelay or Regina Phalange). It is Anastasia Beaverhousen ("Anastasia as in Russian royalty, beaverhousen as in where the beaver live."); she often uses the alias when "slumming" in a place where she'd prefer not to be identified, such as Banana Republic, a bowling alley or a cheap restaurant.
Since the season-three episode Husbands and Trophy Wives, Karen develops a lasting suspicion that Grace is a lesbian ("Back off, Lezzie Borden", or "Everyone always said you were but I just said no, that's just the way she walks", and the famous "Oh my God, you're a BIG LEZ!") and is smitten with her, claiming the latter is obsessed with the former's breasts and "Would do anything to get into Karen's pants." Sometimes, when Grace makes a completely harmless statement, Karen interprets it as Grace trying to come on to her. In reality, though, it is Karen who seems to have bisexual tendencies, like when she kept making sexual references about an all girls night with Grace and Ellen (after being told "It's not that kind of girls night", she replies with a sensual "We'll see") or trying to seduce a high school cheerleader ("How old are you?", "16", "Ever been in a limo?"), describing Grace as a tigress in bed and asking Diane (Leo's ex-girlfriend and Will's one-time female sex partner, played by Mira Sorvino) to make out with her.
Jack and/or Karen will often utter what is usually considered a very heartfelt statement to one another, such as respecting the rights of others (in the season-one episode Grace, Replaced), the value of life (in the season-one episode Alley Cats), love underneath Jack and Rosario's marriage (in the season-two episode He's Come Undone), Karen having moral standards to uphold (in the season-five episode ...And the Horse He Rode in On), or helping people (in the season-six episode Speechless), and then seconds later both crack up, neither able to keep a straight face. They also have a tendency to use proverbs and stop in mid-sentence; for instance: Karen: "Look on the bright side, honey." Grace: "What bright side?" Karen (puzzled): "Honey it's just an expression!" or Jack saying "Women. You can't live with them... end of sentence".
Karen has humorous nicknames for Will and Jack. She often refers to Will as "Wilma" and Jack as "Poodle." She also calls almost anyone she meets "honey."
Jack would giggle if he or somebody else utters a word homophonic to a filthy word (i.e. bone, heinous, cometh, walnuts, pianist, ball).
Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) marks his entrances by saying "Well, well, well".
Much visual humour would be derived from having the female characters physically stronger than the male ones. Will himself once told Grace that she has "oddly powerful upper body strength" and that while she might think that her "girlie hits" are cute, they actually cause him a lot of pain.
A reference to something small or feminine or involving gay men is always said before Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) enters a room.
Karen is known to have had many husbands and partners (male and female) and experiments with many drugs, usually supplied by her loyal pharmacist.
In early series Karen often refers to her stepson, Mason, as 'the fat one'.
Stan's face has never been seen by the audience, only his feet or hands have been shown.
Karen's maids often show fear towards her, as they are shown to scurry away when Karen enters a room saying 'I can see you' or 'I'm approaching'. This also may mean Karen doesn't want to see her staff.
Karen is out of touch with reality. She has mistaken a washing machine as an aquarium and a latex glove as "the strangest looking condom (she) has ever seen." She doesn't know what a fax machine or a computer is. When Elliot said to her " Oh, wow, you got an Xbox!", she responded "Hey, hey, hey! Just because my husband's in prison does not mean you can talk dirty to me." She cannot open a soda can as seen in the Season 5 Episode Dolls and Dolls.
Karen usually refers to her employees, including her lawyer, Will, as "the help".
It is shown many times, that when Jack and Karen hold out their arms to hug each other, they change their minds and put their arms down and turn away before they have even hugged.
Most of the humor that involves Grace, who is Jewish, portrays her as a penny pincher. She does not want to spend money in hiring a gym trainer or therapy. In the Season 4 episode Hocus Focus, the photographer, played by Glenn Close, can tell Grace is Jewish because of the "cheap underwear" the latter is wearing.
In early episodes, Jack would usually brag his "celebrity status" and his talents in singing, acting or dancing.
Jack is revolted and disgusted with heterosexuality. He once claimed that "There are no straight men. Only men who haven't met Jack."
Will would say something that contradicts his preceding statement. For example in the episode, Das Boob he told Grace, "I just want to go on record as saying it is wrong to lie. By the way, I told Jack that Cher is going to be here tonight." In the episode He Shoots, They Snore, Will does not want to eat pizza because he's "off carbs this month" but he wants to go to a sweet little bistro downtown."
Each of the four main characters, as well as Rosario, often point out a particular aspect of another's personality by calling them names that are puns on those of famous people or fictional characters, e.g. "Rudeness Guiliani", "Peppermint Petty", "Lezzie Borden", "Chef Boy-Are-You-Lazy", etc. Rosario's puns toward Karen are usually directed at her alcoholism ("Boozo the Clown", "Count Drunkula", etc.).
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Will & Grace in pop culture
At the 2006 Eurovision Song Contest, while delivering the Dutch voting results, Paul de Leeuw made a reference to Will & Grace, saying that the two hosts, Sakis Rouvas and Maria Menounos, looked like the main characters. Before de Leeuw finished, he supposedly gave Rouvas his mobile number, but there is no proof that it was his real mobile number.
In the "The Wandering Juvie" episode of The Simpsons, the Simpsons wanted a lonely prison warden to have dinner with them, but he had his bachelor day plan out, and it included making a tuna sandwich, watching Will & Grace and crying himself to sleep.
Karen Walker was featured as 11 on E!'s "50 Most Wicked Women of Primetime" special.
When Donald Trump hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live, he tried to fire the man who runs NBC, but he said he can't be fired because "He has the Will & Grace to run the network, right, Friends?" When Megan Mullally hosted, she sang a song, and in it was the words, "Forget Will & Grace, call it Jack & Karen!"
Debra Messing is the only main cast member who hasn't hosted Saturday Night Live during the entire run of Will & Grace.
One of the categories in the game show Jeopardy! was "Will & Disgrace".
In the song "The Future Freaks Me Out" by the band Motion City Soundtrack, they ask "What's up with Will & Grace?"
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Broadcasters
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NBC broadcast history
All times listed are North American Eastern Standard Time.
September 1998-November 1998 – Monday 9:30pm
December 1998-March 1999 – Tuesday 9:30pm
April 1999-May 1999 – Thursday 8:30pm
September 1999-May 2000 – Tuesday 9:00pm
October 2000-January 2004 – Thursday 9:00pm
January 2004-April 2004 – Thursday 8:30pm
April 2004-September 2004 – Thursday 9:00pm
September 2004-December 2005 – Thursday 8:30pm
January 2006-May 2006 – Thursday 8:00pm
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See also
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