Will & Grace
Classic
Comedy
Crowd-Pleaser
Feel-Good
Long Commitment
AdultThe review
Will & Grace is a landmark American sitcom about a gay lawyer, his straight interior-designer best friend, and their two wildly inappropriate sidekicks — a premise that in 1998 was genuinely novel: a network comedy centered on a man and woman with no sexual interest in each other. At its peak it was a joke-delivery machine of enormous craft, anchored by four performances that critics nearly unanimously adored. Eric McCormack's straight-man Will grounded the chaos with real warmth, Debra Messing threw herself into physical comedy without losing the character's neurotic heart, and Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally became two of the great comic creations of the era — Jack's oblivious flamboyance and Karen's boozy, moneyed cruelty remain the show's most quoted weapons. James Burrows' multi-camera direction is the quiet star, choreographing slapstick and farce with an economy that made vulgar jokes feel witty. The show was rewarded accordingly: it won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, all four leads won acting Emmys, and it anchored NBC's Must See TV Thursday lineup for years.
The show's weaknesses are just as much a part of its critical record as its strengths. Critics have long noted that Will's gayness is frequently reduced to punchline fodder, and that the show's dependence on traditional sitcom formulas blunted whatever subversive edge its premise promised; Jack in particular drew fire as a stereotype the show leaned on rather than complicated, and Karen's sharpest barbs have aged poorly. The original run's final seasons saw sentiment curdle into something critics found strained and unearned, and both series finales — the 2006 original and the 2020 revival capper — were broadly judged as misfires, with the second one widely written off as tired, guest-star-dependent rehashing. The revival's first season was the exception: critics agreed the cast slipped back into its old chemistry immediately, and the Trump-era political jokes gave the show a fresh relevance, even if some felt the humor overestimated its own edginess.
The deepest critical conversation about Will & Grace is what it actually did for queer representation, and it's a genuine split rather than a settled verdict. One camp sees a trailblazer — a show that put two gay men at the center of a mainstream hit, treated Will's sexuality as a simple fact of life rather than a crisis, and was credited by a sitting vice president with shifting public opinion on same-sex marriage more than any political campaign. The other camp sees a show that bought visibility at the price of caricature, keeping its gay characters safely palatable by making the driving relationship a heterosexual friendship. Both readings are well-supported, and both attach to the same episodes. That disagreement — between the show's historic importance and its representational compromises — is the central tension in its legacy, and critics' disputes about the later seasons mostly concern whether the show's warmth curdled into something meaner or merely ran out of gas.
Seasons
- Season 1
Season 1 (1998–99): The premise itself was the story — critics noted nothing like a gay-man/straight-woman roommate comedy had been tried on network TV. Reviews were split: some praised the sophisticated jokes and inspired supporting turns, others found the scripts thin and the sidekicks annoying. Ratings started shaky on Mondays before NBC's move to Thursday turned it into a hit.
- Season 2
Season 2 (1999–2000): The creative breakthrough — the show won the Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series and the writing sharpened into its signature rapid-fire, pop-culture-soaked style. Celebrity guest spots became events (a Cher appearance drew the show's second-highest ratings ever), and the four-character chemistry gelled completely.
- Season 3
Season 3 (2000–01): Continued peak: Eric McCormack won the lead-actor Emmy, the show refined its blend of romantic farce and physical comedy, and ratings stayed among the strongest in comedy. This era is the consensus high-water mark for the original run.
- Season 4
Season 4 (2001–02): Still firing on all cylinders, with the Emmy nominations continuing. Grace's romance with Leo (Harry Connick Jr.) gave Messing meatier material, and the show balanced its broad set pieces against genuine character warmth.
- Season 5
Season 5 (2002–03): Awards kept coming (Messing won the lead-actress Emmy), but critics began noticing the formula settling in — the jokes remained reliable, the invention slightly less so. Grace's wedding anchored an emotionally bigger season.
- Season 6
Season 6 (2003–04): Will's first serious boyfriend (Bobby Cannavale) opened new emotional territory. Quality largely held, with the show balancing sentiment and silliness, though the sitcom machinery was becoming more visible.
- Season 7
Season 7 (2004–05): The first widely noted decline — critics flagged the show straining for significance, with drama that felt unearned and comedy that had gone broader and meaner. A recurring highlight: Leslie Jordan's Beverley Leslie, whose scenes with Karen became instant classics.
- Season 8
Season 8 (2005–06): The final original season opened with a live-episode stunt that critics felt exposed the old tricks wearing thin. The series finale aired to mixed reviews — some praised the friendship theme, others found its flash-forward structure bewildering and self-important. (The revival later retconned it as a drunken fantasy.)
- Season 9
Season 9 (2017–18): The revival, sparked by a surprise 2016 election-themed mini-episode, landed as a genuine critical success — reviewers agreed the four leads snapped back into place instantly and that the passage of time gave the show fresh comic fuel. Political humor and a poignant episode built around Karen's grief over Rosario were standouts.
- Season 10
Season 10 (2018–19): Generally positive, if less eventful — the show settled into its revived groove, Emmy voters responded with nominations including another for Mullally, and the core foursome's dynamic remained the draw.
- Season 11
Season 11 (2019–20): The weakest revival season, met with mixed-to-negative reviews. Critics called it over-reliant on guest stars and recycled storylines, describing a long slide into irrelevance. The second series finale ("It's Time") — an ending the creators felt was more honest to the characters than the first — fizzled with critics, and the show ended for good in April 2020.
Who it's for
Fans of classic multi-camera network sitcoms — the Friends/Frasier-era NBC comedy sensibility — who value rapid-fire banter, farcical set pieces, and a live-studio-audience energy. Viewers interested in a pivotal piece of LGBTQ+ television history, particularly the mainstream-normalization era of gay representation. Anyone who appreciates virtuoso comic performances, especially Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally's scene-stealing turns. Audiences who like feel-good friendship stories at the center of their comedy, with warmth beneath the snark.
Who it's not for
Viewers who've aged out of multi-camera sitcoms and laugh tracks, or who prefer modern single-camera sensibilities. Those who find stereotype-based humor (the flamboyant gay best friend, the wealthy woman's callous one-liners) actively off-putting rather than merely dated. Anyone seeking sophisticated or realistic queer representation rather than a broadly drawn mainstream version. Viewers allergic to topical political humor in the revival seasons, or those who bounced off the original run's later, more sentimental seasons. — Sexual humor and innuendo · Alcohol abuse played for comedy · Drug references played for comedy · Crude humor and adult situations