The Seventh Season

In 1998 prime time television was hit with a remarkable new series, Will & Grace. After a very successful first season, the show became very popular and gained an enormous fan base. The success was due to the unique comedy that the show provided. Will & Grace tells the tale of two best friends, a gay attorney and an interior designer, along with their friends Jack, an extremely flamboyant homosexual, and Karen, an overly wealthy alcoholic. 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, and series finale.

Will & Grace's seventh season has a lot on the horizon for the crazy foursome. In the past season, there were a lot of dramatic developments in the gang's relationships and professional careers. This season is the series' second to last and has even bigger developments: Grace comes to terms with the end of her marriage, Will and Vince jump through some hurdles, Jack gets a real job, and Karen's past comes to haunt her. Of course, there is plenty more! Joining them are several big name guest stars like Jennifer Lopez, Edward Burns, Janet Jackson, Molly Shannon, Kristin Davis, Victor Garber, Jeff Goldblum, Lily Tomlin, Luke Perry, Sharon Stone, Alec Baldwin, and Seth Green.

The season picks up where season six left off. Grace's marriage is in shambles after finding out about Leo's indiscretion. In "FYI: I Hurt, Too", she comes to terms with her marriage-less life and decides it is best to forget about Leo. Will supports her in the decision, and even neglects his boyfriend Vince in the process. Afterwards, the Grace-Leo relationship goes on the backburner, it does not resurface until the two-part episode "Saving Grace, Again". In it, Will and Grace contemplate if they were wrong about Leo.

On that note, Will and Vince get pretty serious this season. In "Key Party", Will celebrates his fortieth birthday and Vince decides to do something really special. That is until Grace gets him to change his mind. It is a kooky dynamic that provides some solid laughs. Will, Vince, and Grace also have a fun episode in "Will & Grace & Vince & Nadine". Will and Grace get a taste of Vince's best girlfriend Nadine (Kristin Davis). She is to Vince as Grace is to Will. However, Nadine has not given up on the hope of turning Vince into a straight man. It is an awkward, yet fun episode.

"Queens For A Day" is another great episode with Will and Vince at the fore. Will tries to make the perfect Thanksgiving meal for Vince's picky mom. Of course, everything goes wrong, like Grace and Karen making out with Vince's underage cousin and Vince's sister coming out of the closet. Throughout the season the relationship has some other really fun episodes and dramatic developments towards the end of the season.

Jack's professional career really starts to move forward this season. In "One Gay At A Time", Will takes Jack to a focus group for a new television network called OutTV. OutTV is a "gay" network and is developing programming geared towards the gay community. Jack's perspective turns out to be such a hit that he is hired as an executive for the company. Throughout the season, his new job on OutTV is a key plot detail, which includes Jack trying to fit in a professional work setting, hiring Karen as his assistant, and getting his own talk show "Jack Talk".

Karen's life is business as usual. For the most part, she's doped up on something and is just as eccentric as before. Her biggest development involves an old face from her high school days. When she was in grade school, she competed against Scott Woolley (Jeff Goldblum) for class president. Karen used her physical attributes to win and left Scott feeling shamed. He has since dedicated his life to taking Karen down. He first appears in "Board Games" to usurp Walker, Inc. He makes a second attempt in "Bully Woolley" and then falls in love with Karen. Goldblum's character is pretty over the top, but has a fun chemistry with the cast.

Throughout the season, there are a lot of other developments, which include Grace's new hunky love interest Nick (Edward Burns), Grace considering an affair with an old flame from college who is very much married, Jack and Will buying a vacation house in the wrong part of town, Will being considered for partner at his law firm, and more.

Overall, I enjoyed season seven a lot. It was much better than season six with lots of nonstop over the top drama and happenings. While some of it seemed to get pushed to the envelope (especially when Karen was involved), the laughs were hearty and plentiful. Fans of the show will want to take a look at this season, as it does have some good moments and finishes with a big cliffhanger, albeit a little too dramatic of a cliffhanger.

Episode Guide

1. FYI: I Hurt, Too: Leo attempts to reconcile with Grace but she realizes he's untrustworthy and breaks up for good. When Karen talks Jack into pitching her song, "FYI: I Hurt, Too" to his boss, he picks exactly the wrong time to do it and she fires him -- but then she gets him a job dancing with Janet Jackson.
2. Back Up, Dancer: With her marriage over, Grace's neediness causes Will to neglect Vince, leading to a confrontation between Vince and Grace over her behavior. When Janet Jackson needs to fire one dancer, Jack's new job is in jeopardy -- he not only must compete in a dance-off with Karen's ex-lover, he is asked by Karen to let his opponent win.
3. One Gay at a Time: When Grace can't find a therapist, she goes to AA, but Karen intervenes and forces Grace to admit in a meeting that she's not an alcoholic. Will takes Jack to a focus group for a new gay TV network and finds his own suggestions dissed while Jack's are liked. After venting in an e-mail, Will is invited to discuss his ideas by an executive on the show -- who turns out to be Jack.
4. Company: Will and Grace invite their new neighbor over, but discover he is a complete bore who has an interest in stuffed animals. Jack is feeling inadequate at work and when Karen brings his Cher doll to cheer him up, the whole office makes fun of him.
5. Key Party: When Will decides to throw himself a birthday party, Grace is mortified when she discovers Vince is giving Will the key to his apartment as a present. But it turns out that was exactly the right gift, not the wallet Grace made him buy. Karen adds to Will's disappointment by complaining endlessly about Stan and leaves the party without Jack.
6. The Newlydreads: Grace and Karen expect their new client to be a single woman, but she turns out to be newlyweds who are pregnant. Grace bolts, leaving Karen to decorate and then takes all the credit for her work. Meanwhile, Jack and Will try to keep a gay bookstore from closing by hosting a fundraiser until Will learns it would turn into a conveniently located gym.
7. Will & Grace & Vince & Nadine: When Vince brings Nadine to dinner at Will and Grace's, Nadine admits that she hates Will. Grace saves Vince and Will's relationship by convincing Nadine that she will never get Vince. After Karen becomes Jack's assistant and lets Jack do all the work, he bribes her with her own money to go back to Grace.
8. Saving Grace, Again. Part 1: Grace lets Will set her up on a blind date that goes well, but she tells him it didn't workout after deciding an unintelligible phone message from her ex was an expression of love. Jack and Karen then set each other up on a blind double date, but argue over the quality of their choices for each other.
9. Saving Grace, Again. Part 2: Will takes Grace out of town on what would have been her anniversary with Leo. But when he becomes convinced this was a mistake, he sneaks off to the Peninsula to see if Leo is waiting for her. Meanwhile, Jack hires an actor for a TV Promo who backs out when he learns he was chosen because of a coca commercial he did years earlier.
10. Queens For a Day: When Vince invites everyone for Thanksgiving, Will tries to win over Vince's mom by taking her shoe shopping, but she breaks her toe. At the dinner, Will attempts to keep Karen, Jack and Grace from making him look bad, but it backfires. In the end, all that matters is whether Vince's mom sees that Will really cares for Vince.
11. Christmas Break: After Grace becomes friends with Will's mom, she accidentally breaks her favorite figurine. But Grace is terrified to admit it because Will says his mother is very unforgiving. Meanwhile, Karen pays Jack to keep her stepdaughter over the holidays and then becomes jealous when she sees what a good time they're having without her.
12. Board Games: A former schoolmate who feels Karen ruined his senior year, seeks revenge by setting out to take over her company. His plan seems to be working until she finds a clever way to win the Board over to her side. Meanwhile, Grace and Jack think Vince is cheating on will when they see him with another man at a supermarket.

13. Partners: Trying to select a new partner at the firm, Will's boss invites him and the other candidates to dinner at her home. When she ends up berating her employees throughout the evening, Will stands up to her, earning himself the partnership. When Rosario becomes sick, Karen refuses to believe she is ill until she thinks Rosario is about to die.
14. Bully Woolley: Karen's nemesis returns with a new way to enact revenge - proving to Grace that Karen is incompetent. But the girls foil his plan only to learn the truth about his feelings for Karen. Jack takes Will out after his breakup with Vince but ditches him for a man connected to Patti Lupone, who is the missing link in his Broadway divas wig collection.
15. Dance Cards and Greeting Cards: Karen's blind date at her country club's Valentine's Day Ball turns out to be nemesis Scott whom she finally realizes is in love with her. Will and Jack, appalled at the club's stance against gays, dance with one another and out a pair of lesbians. Grace skips the ball and has a chance encounter with Nick who could mean romance.
16. The Birds and the Bees: Grace asks Will to intervene on her first date with Nick but ignores him when she decides the date is going well, infuriating Will. Elsewhere, Jack falls for a gay bird-watcher he meets through Karen but his advances lead nowhere. When Karen tries to help Jack, she accidentally kills the man's beloved bird.
17. The Fabulous Baker Boy: 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 TV career, but he's offended when neither she nor Jack reads his script.
18. Sour Balls: Will and Jack think they've invested in a hot new gay getaway in Middleborough, only to learn it's the wrong Middleborough -- a blue-collar town. And when Ellen asks Grace to baby-sit her children, Karen offers to help, which causes a huge fight when Grace implies she's irresponsible.
19. The Blond Leading the Blind: After convincing Grace to see his tough new therapist, Dr. Keller, Will is incredulous and jealous when the two females become fast friends. After learning Grace may become part of the doctor's latest book of case studies, Will vows to show the doctor he is crazy, too.
20. It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World: Grace takes Karen to the birthday bash for her estranged father only to have Karen engage in a quickie love affair with her father's friend. And when Jack sets Will up on a truly blind date, Will discovers he is the first victim of Jack's new show on OutTV--"Pink'd," the gay version of "Punk'd".
21. From Queer to Eternity: After a near death experience, Grace decides to draw up a will and visits Will's mother which leads to a difficult discussion about money with Will. After both almost get hit by a bus, Will makes a drastic career move. Meanwhile, Jack accuses an imposter of stealing his MacFarland Method of Acting.
22. Friends with Benefits: Will tries a writing career when a stranger named Malcolm offers him a job. Grace hears from old flame Tom who wants her to design a hotel he and his wife just bought -- except the flame isn't out between Tom and Grace. And Jack hires an angry, spoiled child star to host his latest TV show.
23. Kiss and Tell: After quickly becoming suspicious of his strange new job, Will confronts Malcolm who admits he's working for the government. After meeting tom and his wife, Grace quits the design job, but this leads to Tom stealing away to Grace's office for a make-out session. And Karen and Jack are at odds about Karen becoming his TV co-host.

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:
For special features there are sixteen themed featurettes included and a season seven outtakes reel (7:36). The themed featurettes are montages of segments from the season dealing with a specific subject. They are entitled "Fashion Quips", "Food For Thought", "For Love or Money", "Hugs & Kisses", "Rank & File", "Enter Stage Left", "Everybody Dance", "Pop Goes the Culture", "9 to 5ish", "The Little Voice in My Head", "The Sounds Of Comedy", "Out & About", "Lets Get Physical", "A Rose by Any Other Name", "My Breast Friend", and "With a Song in Our Hearts". The total runtime is 34:59. Overall, the extras are like past seasons. The bloopers reel has some fun moments of goofs captured during filming and the themed featurettes have some of the season's funniest moments. Neither has much replay value.

Final Thoughts:
Will & Grace's seventh season is the series' second to last. It is a much improved season when compared to season six and highlights the fun dynamic amongst the pairs Will & Grace and Jack & Karen. The situations the characters get into are more dramatic, over the top, and sometimes just ridiculous. The result is a lot of good hearty laughs that fans of the show will appreciate. At the same time, there are some moments that come off as pretty generic and dry. However, these moments do not occur nearly as much as they did in season six. It is, as previously mentioned, a much improved season.