Will Have a Gay Old Time (Will and Grace)

Member Name: friendsnut

Product:	Will and Grace
Date:	18/06/03 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Funny, Good Writing

Disadvantages: None

Is there anything that will replace Friends once Season Ten comes and goes? Well the answer is probably already on our screens and it's called Will & Grace. This US sitcom is quite popular over there and Channel 4 seem to think it'll be welcomed over here because they haven't given it a mickey mouse time slot.

Will is a New York lawyer plaved by Eric McCormack. Grace is an interior designer who lives across the hall. They have two friends, Jack is a flamboyant part-time actor and Karen is the wise-sniping, alcohol drinking socialite who sort of works part time for Grace. The male pair of the four stars are gay characters. One the stereotypical homosexual, the other a bit repressed. Grace is the straight character in the show both in sexuality and performance. Karen meanwhile is just the glue that holds things together. It follows all the normal sitcom rules where each episode revolves around two separate plot threads and pairs the characters up in different variations each week. Naturally recurring themes involve relationships and love lives but more often than not we get some exploration of gay themes. This is one of the main reasons I think the show is succesful in the states as it's one of the few primetime shows that acknowledges homosexuality and has it as one of it's main themes.

But of course is it funny? The answer to that would be yes but most of the laughs will come from the pairings of Jack and Karen. You see Grace and Will although being the names in the shows title don't really get the rich pickings of the writing. They're more for the normal side while Jack and Karen will go for the more far fetched plot's. I think the writing and the sharpness of it is what has pulled in an impressive list of guest stars from the likes of Cher and Woody Harrelson through to Madonna, Elton John and Micheal Douglas. All of them seem perfectly happy to make fun of themselves in the show, that's something you'd rar
ely see on other sitcoms. Mine you with lines like this gem you don't blame them for taking the opportunity.

Dr. Osher: Mrs. Walker? I have some news about your husband.

Karen: Give it to me straight, Doc. Am I looking at a future filled with loneliness and memories of better days, or is Stan gonna die?

Dr. Osher: Mrs. Walker, the test results came back, and it seems your husband didn't have a heart attack at all--

Karen: Oh, thank God.

Dr. Osher: But rather, acute angina.

Karen: Heh. You've got a lot of nerve, coming on to me while my husband is dying. Wow.


You can find Will & Grace on Channel 4 every Friday normally in the hour between 9PM and 10PM. They also show it on some weekday lunchtimes, alternatively you can find it every weekend on digital channel Living TV who get the new episodes first. The first and second series are also available on VHS and DVD in the UK at a reasonable price so give it a look, I think you'll like it

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