Will & Grace – CliqueClack Flashback

Remember the good old days, when Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally, and Sean Hayes knew where their next paychecks were coming from? Yeah … I bet they do, too. Fondly.

It’s the fate of many successful sitcom ensemble casts: good together, struggling apart. Where have our friends been recently? McCormack crashed and burned with Trust Me; Messing did the same with The Starter Wife, once the network took the training-wheels off; Mullally watched In the Motherhood die a painful death, while The Megan Mullally Show isn’t remembered for much; and Hayes hasn’t sacred up much more than a small part in The Bucket List — enjoyable, but, still.

But in their heyday? Thems were some good times.

Even though I absolutely could not stand Grace. I just couldn’t get over how needy and whiny she was, or how comfortable she was adversely affecting Will’s life. He gave her everything, and I don’t think she gave nearly enough in return. And certainly not when there was a love interest in the picture… nope, then you could just forget it.

So, what was so much fun about it? Well, Jack, for starters. Even with all of the criticism he had for Will (and Grace, but that was funny), I found him to be a better friend to Will in the long run. And Karen? Mullally is one of the funniest comedians on the planet, and so its kind of sad that she hasn’t gotten her stuff together for another successful run at a sitcom.

And when you got Jack and Karen together, the comedy just oozed from their pores. Yeah, Karen was just as cruel to Grace (and Will) as Jack was, but besides most of it coming during a state of inebriation, she was also the most fragile of the bunch.

And, how about her little Rosie (Shelley Morrison)? Whether she was giving it back good to Karen, or playing lovey-dovey with “husband” Jack, Rosario was one of the best parts of an already extremely funny show. Stereotypes abounded with her character, but she was comedy, through and through.

The most enjoyable life the show followed was Jack’s. I say “life” instead of “evolution,” because Jack never really grew. He bounced around careers, men, passions, one-man shows, and weight jokes, but, at the end of the day, he was always the same Jack. Or, “Just Jack.”

And, I found it brilliant that Karen was employed as the assistant at “Grace Adler Designs”, because it opened up a world of comedy that logically should have never existed on the show. The laughs were so smooth that I never stopped to wonder what Karen was doing with a job. Certainly not cashing those paychecks!

Will & Grace employed an army of guest actors, something that a lot of people find disagreeable. On the contrary — the only difference between this and a show like Seinfeld, in that respect, is that Seinfeld came earlier, and so caught the actors before we knew who they were. Which is to say, every good show uses a lot of famous faces… it just depends if you caught them pre or post.

One of the ones that stands out the most for me is Will’s dad, George (Sydney Pollack). What a huge coup to land an artist like Pollack in such a subtle and small role. Plus, Will had a rather difficult relationship with his father, neither of them realizing that Will’s sexual orientation didn’t matter between them. The fact that Will lost his dad while still sorting himself out was sad. And Lesley Ann Warren, George’s mistress Tina, is of note for her current role, as Brandi on In Plain Sight. She hasn’t traveled far from the mold.

I love that Jack had a sperm-donor baby, and with Rosie O’Donnell, of all people. Elliot (Michael Angarano) was an extremely funny kid, struggling to learn how to be a man from his gay father. It was the traditional things that tripped them up (sports, girls), but both played the relationship with a lot of heart.

Lorraine Finster (Minnie Driver), Karen’s husband’s other woman, was a shockingly shallow role for an actress fresh off of a Good Will Hunting high, while Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) was a hilarious little peanut of a man, who never fully realized that the joke was actually on him.

I think Grace lucked out a whole bunch with her boyfriends, but her biggest mistake was letting Nathan (Woody Harrelson) go; he was the one for her. Not because Leo (Harry Connick Jr.) was bad for her, but rather because she was bad for him. I just think that Nathan was a lot more the type of guy who was prepared to deal with her nonsense, and adequately dish it back.

And, speaking of significant others, Vince (Bobby Cannavale) was the worst decision that Will ever made. If I remember correctly he was a real sicko, but James (Taye Diggs) was much more Will’s speed. Or, at least they looked good together. Same for Will and Matthew (Patrick Dempsey).

Small spots featured a ton of greats, too: Glenn Close, as a psycho photographer; Macaulay Culkin as a baby-faced shark of an attorney; Matt Damon playing gay to land a role in a gay men’s chorus; Michael Douglas, an aggressive, closeted homosexual cop; Andy Garcia as Karen’s former lover; the legen … wait for it … dary Neil Patrick Harris as a reformer of homosexuals; Dylan McDermott, momma’s boy; Demi Moore, babysitter to adults; Luke Perry, gay birdwatcher; Jeremy Piven, still (or, already) a pervert; Britney Spears, who I generally dislike, pulling Jack’s show out from under him; Wanda Sykes, interviewing to be Karen’s surrogate, and countless others.

Which is not to forget the great “starring as self” actors, either, like Kevin Bacon, Candice Bergen, Cher, Sandra Bernhard, Elton John, James Earl Jones, Matt Lauer, Jennifer Lopez, Barry Manilow, Martina Navratilova, Bebe Neuwirth, Al Roker, George Takei… Are you really going to tell me they were all mistakes?

I actually just reminded myself of two great Jack eras: Jack as a TV executive and talk show host, and Jack as an acting class teacher. He was so out there, that anything and everything made sense. And made me laugh. Sean Hayes could voice a fish and be funny… hey!

The strength of a show like Will & Grace, and the strength of Will & Grace itself, is the ability of the writers to weave together so many different pieces of funny into one flowing tapestry. That includes guests, and outrageous plotlines, and even a little of the physical humor. It was a job well done, and while I realize that they couldn’t go any further with things, I still regret that it had to end.

As Rosario said, in response to Karen’s “Why you ingrate – when I met you, you were boxing donkeys for money.”… “You pulled me outta Business School, you tipsy witch!”

Clacked by Aryeh S.
on Aug 12, 2009 @ 12:00 EST5EDT