WILL & GRACE: PILOT {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
The pilot episode in this comedy series about the friendship between Will Truman, a gay lawyer, and Grace Adler, a straight interior decorator.
In this episode, Will and Grace chat on the phone about their favorite show, “ER.” Later, Will plays cards with his friends, including the idiosyncratic and flamboyant Jack McFarland, who is temporarily moving in with Will, although they are not a couple. Grace enters, having had a fight with her boyfriend Danny. Will privately ponders that Grace should have dumped him long ago. Needing comfort, Grace stays overnight at Will’s apartment, and Will is forced to postpone Jack’s arrival, which annoys Jack profoundly. The next day, at work, Will deals with his wealthy Texan client, Harlin Polk, and Grace calls from her job to ask if she can stay overnight again. Will agrees, adding that Grace should fire her useless assistant, Karen Walker, a wealthy and self-absorbed flake; Grace maintains that she needs Karen’s business connections. When Grace vents about her problems with Danny, Karen says that he is a good catch and Grace should “close the deal already” by marrying him.
Later, Will and Grace’s friends Rob and Ellen visit, and they briefly discuss Will’s ex Michael. After sending an exasperated Jack away yet again, the four friends play the word-guessing game “Pyramid,” at which Will and Grace are known champs. Grace abruptly states that she has decided to break up with Danny, but she later calls Will and reveals that he proposed. Will talks the matter over with Jack, who says that Will should be honest and tell Grace that marrying Danny would be a mistake. Will explains that he caused a rift between himself and his brother by giving a too-honest opinion about his brother’s wife and cannot risk doing so with Grace. Grace arrives and tells Will that she said yes; while he attempts to be supportive at first, he eventually tells her not to marry Danny and lists his many flaws, causing Grace to leave in anger. Will arrives at Grace’s office the next day and Karen reveals that Grace is having a quickie wedding at City Hall. She soon appears in her rather terrible dress, saying she could not go through with it because of Will’s words. She angrily says that he wants her to be alone, like he is. Later, however, she arrives at Will’s office and apologizes. He tells her that Danny was a mere “plot point” in the story of her life. They go to a bar together, where they are mistaken for a newly-married couple. She gives a sweet toast about her love for him. At the crowd’s behest, they share a kiss, although he is forced to admit that it does nothing for him. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: NBC
- DATE: September 21, 1998 9:30 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:23:08
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:65376
- GENRE: Comedy
- SUBJECT HEADING: Comedy; LGBT Collection - Comedy; Women's Collection - Comedy
- SERIES RUN: NBC - TV series, 1998-2006; 2017-2020
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Kohan … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Max Mutchnick … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Suzy Mamann Greenberg … Producer
- Bruce Alden … Associate Producer
- James Burrows … Director
- Jonathan Wolff … Music by
- Debra Messing … Cast, Grace Adler
- Eric McCormack … Cast, Will Truman
- Megan Mullally … Cast, Karen Walker
- Sean Hayes … Cast, Jack McFarland
- Gary Grubbs … Cast, Harlin Polk
- Tom Gallop … Cast, Rob
- Leigh-Allyn Baker … Cast, Ellen
- Todd Eckert … Cast, Jurgen Franzblau
- Jimm Giannini … Cast, Gino
- Will Radford … Cast, Patron