The Best of Collection

NBC's Will & Grace is a television situational comedy (sitcom) that ran for eight seasons from 1998 to 2006. The show was very popular and won 18 Emmy Awards throughout its course. It was created by Max Mutchnick and David Kohan, and directed by James Burrow. For those unfamiliar with Will & Grace, it is about four friends and their lives: Will Truman (Eric McCormack) is a neurotic gay attorney, Grace Adler (Debra Messing) is an eccentric interior designer, Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) is a flamboyant gay actor without any regard for responsibility, and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally) is a wealthy alcoholic without an understanding of reality. The series focuses on their lives, as they struggle through professional hardships, romantic endeavors, chasing dreams, and just about everything else. For more details about this series please refer to DVD Talk's reviews of season one, season two, season three, season four, season five, season six, season seven, season eight, series finale, and complete series.

This review covers Will & Grace: The Best of Love & Marriage, which is a collection of sixteen episodes from the show's eight seasons. It is oriented to casual viewers who do not own the complete season sets on DVD. The compilation DVD has a low MSRP of $19.99, which is very affordable. For those who enjoy the occasional Will & Grace episode and do not want to invest in complete seasons, then this set is a perfect item to pick up. Of course, if you happen to own complete season sets on DVD, then it is not worth it. This collection does not feature any new content when compared to the season sets on DVD.

As for the collection's content, there are some pretty fun episodes. The episodes have a common theme of relationships -- just as the collection's title implies. The collection begins with the series pilot episode, which is a classic introduction to the show and the hilarious laughs it has to offer. "Yours, Mine or Ours" is another great episode. Will and Grace have a new neighbor, but they cannot tell if he is straight or gay. Nevertheless, they are both attracted to him and compete with each other for his affections. "...And the Horse He Rode In On" is another fun episode. In the close of season four, Will and Grace decided to have a baby together. This episode concludes the cliffhanger with Grace rushing to meet Will to put their plan into action. Unfortunately, her attention is diverted when she meets Leo (Harry Connick, Jr.). While this episode is good, it misses out on some really fun moments that happened prior to it in season four (such as leading up to Will and Grace's decision to have a baby together).

Overall, this collection offers some pretty fun episodes from the show's eight seasons. While these episodes offer lots of laughs, I do not feel they are the show at its best. There are other episodes that I enjoyed a lot more, and several of them happen to appear in the Will & Grace: Best of Friends & Foes DVD set, which was released concurrently with "Love & Marriage". Nevertheless, casual viewers of Will & Grace will definitely appreciate this DVD compilation, albeit you might want to get "Friends & Foes" instead. There are some better episodes with Ellen DeGeneres and Kevin Bacon.

Episode Guide

1. The Pilot (Season 1): A sitcom about a gay lawyer and a straight interior designer who are best friends. First up: Will asks his friend Jack to move in and share expenses, until Grace has a fight with her beau and needs a place to stay.
2. The Unsinkable Mommy Adler (Season 1): Grace prepares in advance for the arrival of her mother (Debbie Reynolds), a former showgirl who just loves upstaging her daughter.
3. Yours, Mine or Ours (Season 1): When a good-looking but sexually ambiguous new tenant moves in, both Will and Grace vie fiercely for the man's attention.
4. Object of My Rejection (Season 1): Will is stunned when Grace begins dating her ex-fiance, but he decides not to interfere after being accused of being meddlesome.
5. Hey La, Hey La, My Ex-Boyfriend's Back (Season 2): When Grace designs Will's ex-boyfriend's new townhouse, Will is forced to confront his unresolved feelings for him.
6. Ben? Her? (Season 2): Unknown to Will, Grace has a romantic dalliance with his boss Ben (Gregory Hines), but when Will finds out, she makes him promise not to interfere. Rosario informs Jack she wants a divorce so she can marry Karen's gardener; Ben and Jack compete at tap after Jack boasts about his fancy dancing; and the season ends with living arrangements taking an interesting twist for the four Manhattan friends.
7. Love Plus One (Season 3): A Cyrano de Bergerac-style plot has Jack borrowing Will's words to impress a crush (Patrick Dempsey), while an ex (Jeremy Piven) asks an amazed Grace to join him in a threesome with his new lover (Maria Pitillo).
8. Cheaters, Part I (Season 3): Grace learns that Will's father (Sydney Pollack) is having an affair with a colleague (Lesley Ann Warren). Meanwhile, Karen thinks Stan's a cheater too and plots to catch him in the act.
9. Bed, Bath and Beyond (Season 4): While Grace wallows in bed as she grieves over losing her boyfriend Nathan, an enterprising Will tries all his old tricks to spring he r from her mattress and back into the real world.
10. Cheatin' Trouble Blues (Season 4): Will presents his newly reconciled parents (with a romantic cruise on their anniversary, but his idealistic plans are scuttled when he learns that each is hiding a secret.
11. Wedding Balls (Season 4): Will expects two friends to arrive in New York to plan a wedding, but when the bride-to-be falls ill, he asks a willing Grace to work with the clueless groom to work out the details, but she gets a little too involved in the dreamy details and fancies herself a bride instead.
12. ...And the Horse He Rode In On (Season 5): A dazed grace is rescued by a handsome Jewish doctor (Harry Connick, Jr.) who pulls her up ton his horse and delivers her just in time for her insemination with an impatient Will. But their new relationship as expectant parents put a strain on will and Grace's relationship when they agree not to date until their baby is born.
13. Marry Me A Little and Marry Me A Little More (Season 5): After Grace impulsively accepts a marriage proposal from Leo, there seem to be a million roadblocks between her and an actual wedding, not the least of which is her best friend Will's unease about the whole idea. Debbie Reynolds and Katie Couric guest star.
14. May Divorce Be With You (Season 5): Karen needs a lawyer to represent her in her divorce hearing with Stan and is disappointed to find that Will is obligated to remain on Stan's side. She hires JT (Macaulay Culkin), who seems completely clueless and later reveals himself as a shark. Meanwhile, Jack fills in for Karen at Grace Adler Designs, recruiting a new client - his new boyfriend.
15. The Fabulous Baker Boy (Season 7): Karen asks Will to fire her pastry chef, but he can't because he's attracted to him and his pastries. Since Karen is too, they ponder a 3-way until they discover that Rosario is the object of the pastry chef's affections. Grace tries to help launch new boyfriend Nick's (Edward Burns) TV career, but he's offended when neither she nor Jack reads his script.
16. The Definition of Marriage (Season 8): The big day has finally arrived. Grace and James (Taye Diggs) are getting ready for their green card wedding. To Grace's dismay, Karen takes it upon herself to ignore her wish for a low-key wedding ceremony and decides to arrange a huge affair instead, including hiring Hall & Oates to perform "Maneater" at the ceremony.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in its original television aspect ratio, 1.33:1 Full Frame color. Overall, the picture looks very good, with a relatively crisp and clean feel. There are very minor color distortions that are the product of video compression and some traces of edge enhancement. Despite the minor imperfections in the picture, it is substantially better looking than what you would expect to see from broadcast or cable television.

Audio:
The audio track that is included in this DVD release is given in English 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The dialogue throughout the feature is very easily heard, but a little flat which is expected from dialogue driven TV on DVD releases. As for channel separation, there is little distinction between left and right channels.

Extras:

• An Audio Commentary: is included for the pilot episode with Debra Messing and Eric McCormack.

Final Thoughts:
Will & Grace was a very popular television series about an odd mix of individuals. The series focused on their neurotic personalities as they went through the ins and the outs of life. This review covered "Love & Marriage", which is a collection of sixteen episodes from series about relationships. For a DVD compilation, this set is a pretty good representation of the show. It has several hilarious episodes and will make for a solid purchase for casual viewers of the show. At the same time of this set's release, a similar collection was released called "Friends & Foes". Personally, I think "Friends & Foes" has some better episodes and it might be a better investment for casual viewers. Nevertheless, the Will & Grace best of sets are recommended for casual viewers. However, if you own the complete seasons on DVD, then it is not worth you money. There is no new content.