Will & Grace (season 1)

Will & Grace (season 1)
US DVD Cover
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	22
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	September 21, 1998 – May 13, 1999

The first season of Will & Grace premiered on September 21, 1998, and concluded on May 13, 1999. It consisted of 22 episodes.

Cast and characters

Main cast

• Eric McCormack as Will Truman
• Debra Messing as Grace Adler
• Megan Mullally as Karen Walker
• Sean Hayes as Jack McFarland
• Gary Grubbs as Harlin Polk (episodes 1–11)

Recurring cast

• Tom Gallop as Rob
• Leigh-Allyn Baker as Ellen
• John Slattery as Sam Truman

Guest stars

• Shelley Morrison as Rosario Salazar
• Debbie Reynolds as Bobbi Adler
• Molly Shannon as Val Bassett
• Tom Verica as Danny
• Rudy Galindo as himself
• Wendie Jo Sperber as April
• David Sutcliffe as Campbell
• Julian McMahon as Guy in Elevator

Episodes

No. in series	No. in season	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Pilot" "Love and Marriage"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	September 21, 1998
Grace gets an unexpected marriage proposal and her best friend Will deals with his own feelings about her proposal. Will advises Grace against marrying Danny and she freaks out.
2	2	"A New Lease on Life"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	September 21, 1998
With nowhere to stay, Grace turns to Will for shelter. First he dismisses her idea of living together, but later agrees. Will's friend Jack meets Grace's assistant Karen.
3	3	"Head Case"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	October 5, 1998
Will and Grace find difficulty living together, when Grace decides to merge their bathrooms. Jack and Karen have to deal with Will and Grace's displaced anger.
4	4	"Between a Rock and Harlin's Place"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	October 12, 1998
Grace designs a room for Will's boss, Harlin, which Will dislikes. Jack begins his singing career with his first show of Just Jack.
5	5	"Boo! Humbug"	James Burrows	Jon Kinnally & Tracy Poust	October 26, 1998
On Halloween, Will and Grace plan to ignore the holiday-but they are forced to baby-sit Harlin's two children. Jack and Karen dress up and spend a night on the town, and Karen becomes very popular with some drag queens.
6	6	"William, Tell"	James Burrows	William Lucas Walker	November 9, 1998
Karen goes on vacation so Grace hires Jack to be her assistant. Jack tells her about an affair that Will had last summer that Grace didn't know about. Grace starts worrying that Will is hiding things from her, and stalks him when he goes out to dinner with a client. It turns out that the client is Karen who is considering leaving her husband, although Will manages to talk her out of it before Grace barges in. It turns out that Grace is scared that he is going to give her some big life-changing announcement like he did in college when he came out of the closet.
7	7	"Where There's a Will, There's No Way"	James Burrows	Jhoni Marchinko	November 16, 1998
Grace fears that Will is the reason that she has no interest in dating men. Jack faces trouble when the IRS catches up to him regarding his tax evasion.
8	8	"The Buying Game"	James Burrows	Dava Savel	November 30, 1998
Grace asks for Will's help in buying the studio that serves as her office space. They end up competing to see who can get the lowest price from the owner. Jack begins a career in massage therapy, taking on Karen as his first client.
9	9	"The Truth About Will and Dogs"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	December 15, 1998
Against Will's wishes, Grace gets a dog. Will soon becomes obsessed with the dog, and Grace thinks it is a manifestation of his attachment issues.
10	10	"The Big Vent"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	January 5, 1999
Will and Grace find entertainment in listening to the conversations through their heating vent. Jack writes and performs a play that expresses his dismay over the fact that Will and Grace are ignoring him.
11	11	"Will on Ice"	James Burrows	Michael Patrick King	January 12, 1999
It's Will's birthday, and everyone goes Champions on Ice-even though he doesn't want to (but pretends that he is okay). Grace and Jack find a mutual interest in figure skating.
12	12	"My Fair Maid-y"	James Burrows	Adam Barr	February 2, 1999
Will hires a cleaning lady and Grace becomes dependent on her for support while preparing for an upcoming designers' contest. Jack dates a guy he met in a bookstore, but when he lies that he's a successful lawyer, he drives the young graduate student away.
13	13	"The Unsinkable Mommy Adler"	James Burrows	Alex Herschlag	February 9, 1999
Grace's mother Bobbi visits Will and Grace and drives Grace crazy by suggesting that she should marry Will. Karen is horrified when she thinks she might be pregnant, but is actually sort of sad when she realizes she isn't.
14	14	"Big Brother is Coming: Part I"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	February 16, 1999
Will refuses to reconnect with his estranged brother, Sam. Grace and Sam have a fling.
15	15	"Big Brother is Coming: Part II"	James Burrows	David Kohan & Max Mutchnick	February 23, 1999
Will finds out about Grace sleeping with his brother, and although he's initially upset, he comes to terms with the fact that he really has not right to tell her who she can and can't sleep with.
16	16	"Yours, Mine or Ours"	James Burrows	Ellen Idelson & Rob Lotterstein	March 2, 1999
Will and Grace invite the same man over for a dinner date, and struggle while determining if he is straight or gay. Karen has to fire her driver.
17	17	"Secrets and Lays"	James Burrows	Dava Savel	March 23, 1999
Jack, Grace, and Karen take Will to Vermont for the weekend to get his mind off his anniversary with his ex-boyfriend. While they're there, Grace romances an old flame and tries to hide the fling from Will. Will tries not to be jealous.
18	18	"Grace, Replaced"	James Burrows	Katie Palmer	April 8, 1999
While Grace is consumed by work, Will befriends another woman in the building, Val Bassett (Molly Shannon). Jack is sentenced to community service for slapping a meter maid.
19	19	"Will Works Out"	James Burrows	Michael Patrick King & Jon Kinnally & Tracy Poust	April 22, 1999
Much to Will's embarrassment, Jack joins his gym, a place where he often conducts business with clients. He tries to tone down Jack's outrageous behavior, and when he complains to Grace that Jack is such a fag, Jack overhears him. Jack is upset, and Will realizes that he's rejecting Jack for his being different just as so many other people in his life have. When Karen has a fight with her husband, Grace suggests she go out with a girlfriend and have a good time. They both realize that Karen doesn't really have any girlfriend, so Karen comes over to Grace's place to hang out and they get drunk on tequila and bond.
20	20	"Saving Grace"	James Burrows	Jhoni Marchinko	April 29, 1999
Grace is hired by an arrogant publicist (Miguel Ferrer) under the condition that he gets a date with Will.
21	21	"Alley Cats"	James Burrows	Jhoni Marchinko & Alex Herschlag	May 6, 1999
Will accuses Grace of having too much competitiveness at their game night. Grace tries losing, but proves that Will is just as competitive. Jack teaches Karen CPR, which she reluctantly uses to save a man's life.
22	22	"Object of My Rejection"	James Burrows	Adam Barr	May 13, 1999
After Grace temporarily gets back together with her ex-fiance, Grace and Will realize that their living together may be preventing them from finding mates. Jack marries Karen's maid Rosario so that she can stay in the country.

References