Will & Grace: Season Eight

Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes, Megan Mullally. The sitcom famous for its Emmy-worthy wit and outrageous antics comes to a close in Season 8. Karen gets a shocking revelation, Jack makes a career move and Will and Grace brace for major life changes. Guest stars include Alec Baldwin and Britney Spears. 23 episodes on 4 DVDs. 2005-06/color/8 hrs., 35 min/NR/fullscreen.

The eighth and final season of Will & Grace begins with a live episode and ends with a bittersweet finale that gives the disgruntled characters some hard-earned closure. At its heart, the sitcom isn't about a gay man and his best friend. It's about two friends who need each other as much as they think they do, who are unable to break away from each other--even if that means putting their relationships with others at risk. As selfish as the characters on Seinfeld and as chatty as the ones on Friends, Will (Eric McCormack), Grace (Debra Messing), Jack (Sean Hayes), and Karen (Megan Mullaly) are as obnoxious as they are lovable. And the actors who play them share warm chemistry, which makes even the meanest digs come across as acceptable. This final season ends with each of the main characters partnered up with their true loves; and it feels right, even if it's not what viewers may be expecting. Two of the 23 episodes--which originally aired during the 2005-2006 season on NBC--are live. While it's fun to watch the actors occasionally flub their lines or laugh at each other's antics, the episodes are not the strongest of the bunch.

The final season actually gets off to an uneven start before picking up steam about a third of the way in. Featured guest stars include a hilarious Alec Baldwin reprising his role as secret agent Malcolm, who has fallen in love with Karen. He utters sweet nothings to her such as, "When I kill myself, it's going to be for real. And I'm taking you with me." Other high-profile guest stars includes Taye Diggs as a hot romantic interest for Will, Britney Spears as Jack's on-air nemesis, Wanda Sykes as a cosmetic counter girl who Karen convinces to be her baby mama, and Daryl Hall & John Oates as, well, Oates & Hall (as they've renamed themselves). There is a wedding, an annulment, at least two children born to the primary four and the possibility of a happily ever after scenario. The show ended at a good time: not quite at its peak but at least a season or two before you just wouldn't care anymore. But here, there are many moments that tug at your heart or make you laugh out loud. In one vignette, Karen looks on incredulously as Grace allows herself to be bullied into hiring an inept Iranian woman who uses her ethnicity to intimidate all around her. She's also as useless as Karen in getting anything done to help her boss. Tsk-tsking Grace's hiring decision after the new hiree destroys some of Grace's interior designs, Karen says, "I was just sitting there cleaning my gun thinking, 'This is an office!'" It's not the line she says that makes it so funny, but Mullaly's perfect delivery. Like the other cast members, she knows her character so well that she breathes life into even the simplest lines. --Jae-Ha Kim