One year after Ellen DeGeneres came out on her self-titled sitcom, NBC launched a series with not one, but two gay leads.
Will & Grace was based in part on the real-life experiences of co-creator/co-executive producer Max Mutchnick. Max's analogue in the series is Will Truman (Eric McCormack), who is sharing space with Grace (Debra Messing). The other gay lead is Jack (Sean Hayes), an actor who's having a hard time landing his big break.
Will & Grace's initial run lasted 8 seasons (1998-2006), and garnered a grand total of 16 Emmy awards, including for their four leads (Messing, McCormack, Hayes, & Megan Mullally). It opened the doors wider for the LGBT community in Hollywood.
After the series ended its first run, it became a cable fixture, first on Lifetime, then WE, and currently on Logo. NBC brought the show back this season for a short-flight run, bracketed around the network's coverage of NFL Thursday Night Football.
It's not that the cast hasn't been busy in between. Hayes, in particular, has become a successful producer, whose company helmed NBC's just concluded Grimm and a pair of sitcoms for TV Land, Hot in Cleveland & The Soul Man, both of which have also ended production. Hayes also is responsible for the seasonal series, Hollywood Game Night, which we'll look at another time. His last starring vehicle, Sean Saves The World, did a quick crash & burn about 3-4 years ago due to poor ratings. Messing, of course, was last seen in Greg Berlanti's The Mysteries of Laura, also for NBC.
I've only seen pieces of episodes in cable reruns, just channel surfing, and wasn't really a fan, so no rating. We'll leave you with a super quick intro from the 3rd season.
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