Will & Grace: The Complete Third Season

Review By: Rick Mele
RickMele@TheCinemaSource.com

It always seems like it takes TV shows a couple of seasons to really hit their stride, to find their character’s voices, which plots work and which falter. How long this takes varies from show to show, and some never even get the chance to make it that far. As one of NBC’s new slate of sitcoms charged with picking up the void after Seinfeld signed off for good, Will & Grace didn’t have much time to bring it all together. And, as it turns out, they didn’t need it. By Season Three of the Emmy award-winning show, David Kohan and Max Mutchnick’s show really comes into its own. The characters have coalesced and their limits are tested, the plotlines become more intriguing, and the insults get even sharper and fly even faster.

Will & Grace follows the lives of the titular two best friends living together in New York, gay lawyer Will Truman (Eric McCormack) and straight interior designer Grace Adler (Debra Messing), whose strong bond remains even as boyfriends come and go. Thrown into the mix to spice things up are Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland, Will’s flamboyant and air-headed pal, and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), Grace’s extravagantly wealthy co-worker and notorious lush.

Season Three picks up where the second season left off (which, really, should come as no surprise), with Will returning from the Caribbean, where he worked for Karen and her never-seen but oft-mentioned husband Stan, in “New Will City.” With Will gone, Grace has been forced to find a new confidant in Jack and Will’s return creates friction between the three while raising an important question: can their friendship pick up where it left off? But since the title hasn’t changed to Jack & Grace, it’s safe to assume it can. And, after some initial worries, it does. The producers make a good call in the second episode by moving Grace back in with Will and shipping Jack out to take over Grace’s apartment across the hall. With the two pals back under one roof, and “Fear and Clothing” wrapping up the other loose ends by reuniting Karen and Jack after their still-simmering feud from Season Two, the four friends are back to normal (or as normal as they get), and that’s when things really take off.

Some highlights include “Lows in the Mid-Eighties,” a flashback episode which takes us to 1985 to show how the characters first met, “Love Plus One” where Jack (gasp) actually gets a job, and the show’s almost constant parade of celebrity guests. Fueled by plenty of cameos by A-list (and B-list) celebs, the third season of Will & Grace rolls forward and picks up steam. Stars like Sandra Bernhard and Cher make guest appearances playing themselves, and a slew of others include such notables as Natasha Lyonne as Grace’s intern, Camryn Manheim as an accurate but misleading psychic, Ellen DeGeneres playing a quirky nun, and Jeremy Piven in ...