Will & Grace: The Complete Second Season

In Season Two of Will and Grace our favorite unconventional couples are at their comedic best. The characters, groundbreaking when the show first aired in 1998, are now pretty much household names. There's Will Truman (Eric McCormack) the gay New York City lawyer, and Grace Adler (Debra Messing) the straight interior designer. Both share an unexplainable bond and a freakishly close friendship, and this season fleshes out more of their quirky character traits. Both share two over-the-top pals, flamboyant and conceited Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) and irresponsibly wealthy lush Karen Walker (Megan Mullally), who consistently provide the show with its funniest stories and most quotable lines.

The second season of the acclaimed sitcom"”which ended its eight-season run just this spring"”finds our characters in different living arrangements. Will and Grace have made the decision to live apart so Grace moves"¦across the hall. Her move is a natural next step for the show and her new apartment becomes a hilarious source of entertainment all on its own. Obviously the two couldn't stay roommates forever, but there still needed to be a way for them to keep up their familiar rapport and this works brilliantly. I also find it humorously ironic that Grace is an interior designer yet she never unpacks her boxes and her apartment is always a disorganized mess.

But Grace isn't the only one with a change of address. Jack moves into Karen's mansion to live with Rosario (Shelley Morrison), Karen's beloved El Salvadoran maid whom he married last season so she could get her green card. In order to make the sham marriage more believable for the INS, Jack shacks up with his new bride in her maid quarters. The materialistic Jack has no qualms about it, though. He loves being lavished with expensive gifts from Karen.

Family issues abound this season for the fabulous foursome. In the episode "Whose Mom Is It Anyway?" Grace is fed up with her mother's (guest star Debbie Reynolds) attempts to fix her up, but then becomes jealous when her mom plays matchmaker with Will instead. Meanwhile, later in the season Will finds out his father (guest star Syndey Pollack) has not told his colleagues that Will is gay and begins to suspect that his father is ashamed of him. But Will's father isn't the only one keeping secrets. In the episode "Homo For the Holidays," Jack finally comes out to his mother only to be hit with the bombshell that the man he thought was his father is actually not. And the never-emotional Karen shows a glimpse of her softer side when dealing with her husband Stan's health scare in "The Hospital Show."

Some of the best episodes this season involve the antics of Jack and Karen, the supporting players who frequently outshine the leads. The episode "Terms of Employment" has both Jack

and Karen taking part in a sexual harassment video. In "Girls Interrupted," one of my favorites, they attend a meeting of Welcome Back Home, a group that encourages gay people to live straight lives. Jack is determined to score a date with one of the group's members (watching him pretending to be a reformed straight man is priceless) while Karen is just dying to pretend she's a lesbian! That episode also marks the return of lunatic neighbor Val (Molly Shannon), Grace's nemesis from Season One who, once again, tries to give Grace the smack-down.

Another stand-out episode is "Acting Out," a nice little tough-in-cheek jab at network television censorship. Jack becomes outraged when his favorite sitcom fails to show its two gay characters kiss. He gets Will involved in his crusade and the two end up righting the injustice live on the Today show.

And who can forget the classic Grace episode "Das Boob," where Grace buys a water bra to impress a crush? One of the funniest moments of the season occurs when Grace "springs a leak."

This satisfying season ends with Grace dating Will's new boss Ben (Gregory Hines) and Will taking off on a spontaneous trip to a remote island when his life starts to get him down. Ben tracks him down though, and offers him a surprising new client.

The DVD set is chock full of double-entendres, risky dialogue, original characters and a truly perfect ensemble cast. And it's the show's brand of flaming gay humor which sets this sassy sitcom apart from all the rest. Too bad the extra features are barely there. A handful of themed featurettes is all we get. Featurettes include a montage of this season's best dancing moments, best singing moments, funniest gay jokes, and perhaps the most worthwhile featurette, a showcase of all the funny fashion quips.

The quips, made mostly by Karen to Grace, are funny because they're always true. When it comes to style, Grace is in a world of her own and Karen is never afraid to point that out in the bluntest, rudest way possible. When Grace shows up for work wearing a cow-print skirt Karen reacts, "Whoa. Got skirt?" When Grace welcomes Karen into her new apartment wearing a bright red 50's style dress Karen inquires, "Where are Fred and Ethel?" Karen by far has the best one-liners on the show and anytime they can be compiled to watch over and over again is a sinfully delicious treat. But where are the blooper reels and cast commentary?

Not to mention the episode listings on the box inaccurately match up with the discs and the listings on the actual DVD appear out of order. Talk about sloppy packaging! This top-rate show deserves a whole lot more.

Show Grade: A

DVD Grade: C-

Overall Grade: A-