S09.E08: Friends And Lover

[Tara Ariano]

Quote

Will and Grace try to convince themselves they are okay with dating the same man, the charismatic "Bad Boy of Bread." Jack and Karen get an annoying commercial jingle stuck in their heads and must seek medical attention.

[Tanichka]

I'm hopeful because Nick Offerman is on.  Karen is really starting to press my nerve, however.

[Primetimer]

Will love flour?

View the full article

[backformore]

I loved the bit about the annoying commercial with kids singing the jingle.

Trucks for tykes= cars for kids. One of the most annoying commercials ever.

Edited January 5, 2018 by backformore

[MyAimIsTrue]

That was hysterical, classic Will & Grace.

[SparklesBitch]

I loved this one, and laughed out loud several times. This only confirms my opinion that Nick Offerman is a comedic genius. 

Not going to lie, though. I had to look up Eskimo Sisters. 

This episode had a lot of great lines, from “my challah makes the boys hollah” to “well squirt me into a donut because I’m officially jelly”.....but I also loved the wisdom of Jackson:

- “like the bread, we rise” and “like candles we are meant to burn all night” 

lol! 

Karen singing the jingle in the Starbucks cracked me up and loved her “so not my type” at the end. 

Also. I really want Grace’s pj pants with the elephants on them! 

Edited January 5, 2018 by SparklesBitch
Typo

[Annber03]

If I get that truck jingle in my head, I'm blaming Karen and Jack. 

The whole thing with Will, Grace, and Jackson reminded me of that one episode where they weren't sure which one of them the one guy was interested in. And when they were at the cooking class I kept thinking about the whole "master bakers" thing :p. I did like the story overall, though. Grace chugging her wine when Jackson proposed all three of them sleeping together made me laugh. 

[Tanichka]

21 minutes ago, SparklesBitch said:

This only confirms my opinion that Nick Offerman is a comedic genius. 

Isn't he, though?  Good episode, but I didn't care for the nudge, nudge, wink, wink at the end.  We KNOW he's her husband.

[WhosThatGirl]

Oh my god, “it doesn’t have to be realistic, we’re watching the revival of Will & Grace” is my favorite line from tonight’s podcast. Kevin let’s be friends, I hope you read these comments please say you do!

[Zazoo]

For what it's worth, when I was watching I didn't think the line about sexual fluidity was meant to describe Jackson's sexuality- I thought it was about whatever Will and Grace thought they were doing with Jackson. But then I thought it was weird that Jackson would think that Will would be cool with a threesome with Grace, since it has never been suggested that Will is bisexual- and it was Jackson's suggestion that Will and Grace "get started" that sent them running, so it wasn't like he didn't expect the experience to be fully interactive. This was a failure of writing, as usual, I think.

[giovannif7]

I could have sworn Nick Offerman had already done a Will & Grace, playing a handyman that Karen took out her sexual frustration on during a holiday episode, and I thought he'd be playing the same character. This was fun - a mashup of the "which of us is he dating?" and "Karen's Pastry Chef" episodes, with a bit of the "Grace gets drawn into a threeway" scene thrown in. I felt kinda bad for Jack - he's the only one Jackson Boudreaux didn't hit on.

[bichonblitz]

5 hours ago, Tanichka said:

Isn't he, though?  Good episode, but I didn't care for the nudge, nudge, wink, wink at the end.  We KNOW he's her husband.

What? Whose husband? I'm out of the loop on this one. 

[Blakeston]

6 hours ago, giovannif7 said:

I could have sworn Nick Offerman had already done a Will & Grace, playing a handyman that Karen took out her sexual frustration on during a holiday episode, and I thought he'd be playing the same character. 

That was him. I don't think the makers of the show give a rat's ass about continuity with the old series at this point.

3 hours ago, bichonblitz said:

What? Whose husband? I'm out of the loop on this one. 

Nick Offerman, who played Jackson Boudreaux (sp?), is married to Megan Mullally in real life.

[MyAimIsTrue]

9 hours ago, Tanichka said:

Good episode, but I didn't care for the nudge, nudge, wink, wink at the end.  We KNOW he's her husband.

I didn't realize it was Nick Offerman (I know, I know) until reading your comment and that actually makes me like the ending.

[Tanichka]

Oops!   Hope I didn't spoil it.  lol  I didn't see the Thanksgiving episode, so didn't know he'd been on before.

Besides Parks & Rec, I remember him from the King of Queens (also) Thanksgiving episode where he pretends his car has broken down & then robs them.  He was good in that one, also.

[MyAimIsTrue]

No, you didn't spoil anything!  I knew the voice was familiar but it just didn't occur to me that it was Nick Offerman while I was watching.  At the time I thought the ending was just the ending but now knowing who it was I think the nudge, nudge, wink, wink was cute.

[luna1122]

It's amazing how much younger Nick Offerman looks when he's not Ron Swanson...he looked good. Also, amazing, tho, is that Will/Eric McCormack has 7 years on him but looks ten years younger than him.

Funny episode.

[bichonblitz]

2 hours ago, Blakeston said:

Nick Offerman, who played Jackson Boudreaux (sp?), is married to Megan Mullally in real life.

Thank you! I didn't realize that.

 

46 minutes ago, luna1122 said:

It's amazing how much younger Nick Offerman looks when he's not Ron Swanson...he looked good. Also, amazing, tho, is that Will/Eric McCormack has 7 years on him but looks ten years younger than him.

Eric McCormack doesn't age. So handsome.

[festivus]

This one was pretty funny. I always love Nick Offerman. This was the first time I thought that Debra Messing actually had the character of Grace right since the reboot. Hope that continues.

[TaxNerd]

Will and Grace slowly raising their hands at "Who's feeling horny...", then adding "for bread" and Grace's hand shoots up cracked me up.  I also loved them in their sexy/unsexy pjs on alternating nights.  This one felt like classic W &G and was much more in character for Grace.  Debra Messing is a talented actress and this was written perfectly for her.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I could have sworn Nick Offerman had already done a Will & Grace, playing a handyman that Karen took out her sexual frustration on during a holiday episode, and I thought he'd be playing the same character. This was fun - a mashup of the "which of us is he dating?" and "Karen's Pastry Chef" episodes, with a bit of the "Grace gets drawn into a threeway" scene thrown in. I felt kinda bad for Jack - he's the only one Jackson Boudreaux didn't hit on.

See, that's the thing - why did they even bother to revive this show if they are just going to recycle old plots? Aside from $$$, of course. I mean, it was nice seeing Nick Offerman again, and how different he looks now from his Ron Swanson look. (And I did not know he was married to Megan Mullally in real life so that little inside joke went right over my head.) But I just spent the whole episode thinking "they've done this before."

[Jillybean]

This was the first episode of the reboot that I really liked. I actually laughed out loud multiple times.  DM seemed like Grace again.

I had no idea that "Jackson Boudreau" was MM's husband.

There is a cable channel that shows W&G reruns nightly, so I'm staying refreshed on the classic eps.

[mccartygirl]

5 hours ago, luna1122 said:

It's amazing how much younger Nick Offerman looks when he's not Ron Swanson...he looked good. Also, amazing, tho, is that Will/Eric McCormack has 7 years on him but looks ten years younger than him.

Funny episode.

I turned to my hubby and said, "Ron Swanson!" He looks way younger and I thought pretty hot with the new hairdo. I loved him on Parks& Recs, but never thought of him as hot til now...

[txhorns79]

Quote

I could have sworn Nick Offerman had already done a Will & Grace, playing a handyman that Karen took out her sexual frustration on during a holiday episode, and I thought he'd be playing the same character. 

That was him. I don't think the makers of the show give a rat's ass about continuity with the old series at this point.

Eh, Law and Order and it's variations repeatedly have had actors show up at various times as different characters without it being a big deal.  Heck, Jerry Orbach played a defense attorney before he was cast as a police detective.  My point being I'm not really going to fault W&G for having Nick Offerman play a different character nearly 17 years after he did a one off guest spot on the original show. 

[Tanichka]

Sitcoms have all sorts of story line inconsistencies.  Doesn't really bother me.  If it's funny, I'm OK.

[April Bloodgate]

Re: the podcast
Thank you so much for talking about bi erasure. I don't know why this show couldn't take 2 seconds to acknowlege that he's bi. It would have been especially great, since almost all the bi characters we see on TV are women. (Captain Jack Barrowman being a notable exception.)
I live in Denver and I hear that Cars for Kids jingle all the time on either Pandora or Spotify (can't remember which). So I wouldn't call that a New York specific thing.

[Miles]

I always thought Nick Offerman couldn't get any hotter. I was wrong. Huh mama.

 

I'm glad this show is back from christmas breakI don't care what other people say, nothing makes me laugh like this show. For a while I even wondered if I was being influenced by the laugh track. But I watch the big bang theroy from time to time and that doesn't even get a chuckle. So I'm sure that's not it. These jokes just hit the absolute right spot for me.

Only downside is that now my cheeks hurt and that is not hyperbole, they literally do.

[Miles]

19 hours ago, Tanichka said:

Isn't he, though?  Good episode, but I didn't care for the nudge, nudge, wink, wink at the end.  We KNOW he's her husband.

I thought that was a funny little wink. It's not like they dragged it out. It was 5 seconds and done.

19 hours ago, Zazoo said:

For what it's worth, when I was watching I didn't think the line about sexual fluidity was meant to describe Jackson's sexuality- I thought it was about whatever Will and Grace thought they were doing with Jackson. But then I thought it was weird that Jackson would think that Will would be cool with a threesome with Grace, since it has never been suggested that Will is bisexual- and it was Jackson's suggestion that Will and Grace "get started" that sent them running, so it wasn't like he didn't expect the experience to be fully interactive. This was a failure of writing, as usual, I think.

You don't have to be bisexual to have a threesome, as long as you are into one of the people there. I really don't think Will's problem was that a woman was there, although that is probably not his ideal situation, but that it was Grace. You really don't want to have your super platonic best friend in the same room when your are trying to have sex.

The getting started line, I'd attribute to Jackson being absolutely clueless about Will and Grace's dynamic. Which is understandable, since they never told him and instead pretended to be all sexually fluid and shit. Not everything is bad writing.

7 hours ago, TaxNerd said:

Will and Grace slowly raising their hands at "Who's feeling horny...", then adding "for bread" and Grace's hand shoots up cracked me up.

Also Will's hand going down at rapid speed.

[trivianerd]

Kars for Kids must be national. I've heard it in San Francisco on local radio.

[FormerMod-a1]

2 hours ago, April Bloodgate said:

Re: the podcast
Thank you so much for talking about bi erasure. I don't know why this show couldn't take 2 seconds to acknowlege that he's bi. It would have been especially great, since almost all the bi characters we see on TV are women. (Captain Jack Barrowman being a notable exception.)
I live in Denver and I hear that Cars for Kids jingle all the time on either Pandora or Spotify (can't remember which). So I wouldn't call that a New York specific thing.

 

1 minute ago, trivianerd said:

Kars for Kids must be national. I've heard it in San Francisco on local radio.

It is.  I've heard plenty of times here in Mpls.  Not so much recently, but I still can't get that jingle out of my head now. Thanks, show.  :-P

[janie jones]

9 hours ago, festivus said:

This one was pretty funny. I always love Nick Offerman. This was the first time I thought that Debra Messing actually had the character of Grace right since the reboot. Hope that continues.

I've been watching reruns on whatever channel is showing them, and this is the first time in weeks Grace didn't annoy the crap out of me.  I don't remember being bothered by her back in the day, but she's typically my least favorite character.  Here, I actually enjoyed her.

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 1/4/2018 at 9:40 PM, backformore said:

I loved the bit about the annoying commercial with kids singing the jingle.

Trucks for tykes= cars for kids. One of the most annoying commercials ever.

Word. Could relate to the issue with earworms. XD

Liked the episode overall.  This season has been really good so far.

 

On 1/4/2018 at 10:04 PM, Tanichka said:

Isn't he, though?  Good episode, but I didn't care for the nudge, nudge, wink, wink at the end.  We KNOW he's her husband.

Actually I didn't. So it made me laugh.

Edited January 6, 2018 by AntiBeeSpray

[eXiled]

14 hours ago, April Bloodgate said:

*SNIPPED*
I live in Denver and I hear that Cars for Kids jingle all the time on either Pandora or Spotify (can't remember which). So I wouldn't call that a New York specific thing.

That jingle is real?

[SmithW6079]

1 hour ago, eXiled said:

That jingle is real?

Yes.

[Princess Lucky]

23 hours ago, festivus said:

This one was pretty funny. I always love Nick Offerman. This was the first time I thought that Debra Messing actually had the character of Grace right since the reboot. Hope that continues.

Agreed! Finally, we got Grace. It took a while, but she was worth the wait. DM was hilarious, and I love that a food-related episode did it (how appropriate), I loved her bigger moments (chugging the wine, sitting on the pillows awkwardly, etc) but even the smaller one-liners were perfect (I loved "I eat his bread all the time!). She felt so natural and vibrant, and she was a joy to watch.

23 hours ago, TaxNerd said:

Will and Grace slowly raising their hands at "Who's feeling horny...", then adding "for bread" and Grace's hand shoots up cracked me up.

That was amazing.

This was the funniest episode of the season so far, for me. I laughed out loud many times, and I even liked the Jack/Karen subplot which was thin on paper but very well acted (those two are fantastic at physical comedy). And I agree that the last bit between Megan Mullaly and Nick Offerman was a cute little addition, they didn't dwell but it was fun to see them together, even for a few seconds.

Also, Eric McCormack truly is ageless. And gorgeous. And on point. He "had" Will from the start, and now it seems all of his co-stars have caught up to him, so I hope the remaining episodes this season are all as entertaining as this week's episode.

Update: I have been humming "trucks for tykes" for the past 20 minutes. Send help.

Edited January 6, 2018 by Princess Lucky

[AmeliaBedelia]

I liked this episode a lot. I definitely laughed out loud a few times. Nick Offerman barely looked like himself so I don't think casual viewers or older viewers would remember his first cameo. The podcast Tara does about this show leans toward the negative a lot (too much I think), but Will and Grace has been the most seamless tv revival of the last few years imo. 

[iMonrey]

Quote

Kars for Kids must be national. I've heard it in San Francisco on local radio.

Curiosity got the better of me so I had to go look this up on YouTube. Good grief, I would be lunging for that remote just like Will and Grace if that thing aired in my area. It's not so much that the jingle would get stuck in my head, but it's the creepy kids playing instruments and vocals that are clearly not their own. Yeesh.

Here, again, it seems like this subplot would have gone over better if I'd ever heard of Kars 4 Kids. The same way I'd have gotten the "not my type" joke if I  knew Nick Offerman was Megan Mullally's husband. 

[SparklesBitch]

20 hours ago, trivianerd said:

Kars for Kids must be national. I've heard it in San Francisco on local radio.

I had no idea this jingle was real. It cracked me up, but now I’m really glad it doesn’t play in my area, at least to the best of my knowledge, because I’d never be able to get it out of my head. I’m in Philadelphia and never heard it before. 

On 1/5/2018 at 10:48 AM, TaxNerd said:

Will and Grace slowly raising their hands at "Who's feeling horny...", then adding "for bread" and Grace's hand shoots up cracked me up. 

Yes! And Will’s hand going down. Hilarious and perfectly acted. 

[snarktini]

5 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Curiosity got the better of me so I had to go look this up on YouTube. Good grief, I would be lunging for that remote just like Will and Grace if that thing aired in my area. It's not so much that the jingle would get stuck in my head, but it's the creepy kids playing instruments and vocals that are clearly not their own. Yeesh.

 

It plays here on the radio (SF Bay Area) and my hand can't reach the buttons fast enough. It should count as a driving hazard. It really does creep me out. 

I turned off the last ep halfway through, I thought it was so bad. But I liked this one! Yay!

[Blissfool]

I've never heard that jingle here in Texas, but I could relate.

Nick Offerman was unrecognizable, until I heard him speak.

[sinkwriter]

I wonder if the writers didn't bother to put a label on Nick's character because they were afraid of getting backlash? Jackson wasn't necessarily just bi, he was kind of a dog. He was seeing two people at once, which isn't necessarily a big deal, but... I got the feeling he could have been seeing Will, Grace and pretty much anyone else from that baking class, all at the same time, and that it's all no big deal to him. He seemed in love with flirting and hooking up with anyone who caught his fancy. (And he certainly had a routine down pat for seducing, dates, etc.) 

So I could see that maybe the writers didn't want to call him bi because that might put forth the notion that bisexuals are indiscriminate with their affections. People seem to make a lot of assumptions about what it means to be bisexual, and labeling Jackson as bi might feed those stereotypes even further. Instead, they could use Jackson for the laughs in this episode, and in another episode present a much more well-rounded character who is bisexual.

That jingle has been in my head for about 10 minutes now. It better go away soon. (LOL.) 

P.S. It reminds me of the Empire carpet company commercials. They play that jingle A LOT in the Chicagoland area, and I can still recite their phone number because of it. ARGH. 

Edited January 7, 2018 by sinkwriter

[MyAimIsTrue]

17 hours ago, sinkwriter said:

P.S. It reminds me of the Empire carpet company commercials. They play that jingle A LOT in the Chicagoland area, and I can still recite their phone number because of it. ARGH. 

The first time I ever saw the Empire carpet commercial was when I was in the Chicago area circa 1981 and I thought it was a local company only.  Oh, how I was wrong.  800-588-2300...

[MaggieG]

I just kept thinking about Karen's pastry chef during the episode

[iMonrey]

Quote

So I could see that maybe the writers didn't want to call him bi because that might put forth the notion that bisexuals are indiscriminate with their affections. People seem to make a lot of assumptions about what it means to be bisexual, and labeling Jackson as bi might feed those stereotypes even further. Instead, they could use Jackson for the laughs in this episode, and in another episode present a much more well-rounded character who is bisexual.

Agreed. I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing they didn't put a label on him because at the end of the day, he was kind of a horrible person. There's no need to label him bisexual and then imply bisexuals are promiscuous and indiscriminate by nature. 

[AntiBeeSpray]

On 1/7/2018 at 2:53 PM, sinkwriter said:

I wonder if the writers didn't bother to put a label on Nick's character because they were afraid of getting backlash? Jackson wasn't necessarily just bi, he was kind of a dog. He was seeing two people at once, which isn't necessarily a big deal, but... I got the feeling he could have been seeing Will, Grace and pretty much anyone else from that baking class, all at the same time, and that it's all no big deal to him. He seemed in love with flirting and hooking up with anyone who caught his fancy. (And he certainly had a routine down pat for seducing, dates, etc.) 

So I could see that maybe the writers didn't want to call him bi because that might put forth the notion that bisexuals are indiscriminate with their affections. People seem to make a lot of assumptions about what it means to be bisexual, and labeling Jackson as bi might feed those stereotypes even further. Instead, they could use Jackson for the laughs in this episode, and in another episode present a much more well-rounded character who is bisexual.

That jingle has been in my head for about 10 minutes now. It better go away soon. (LOL.) 

P.S. It reminds me of the Empire carpet company commercials. They play that jingle A LOT in the Chicagoland area, and I can still recite their phone number because of it. ARGH. 

I had that jingle in my head for a bit as well.

Annnd now I have the Empire one stuck in my head too. Damn subliminal advertising lol.

[SmithW6079]

On 1/7/2018 at 2:53 PM, sinkwriter said:

P.S. It reminds me of the Empire carpet company commercials. They play that jingle A LOT in the Chicagoland area, and I can still recite their phone number because of it. ARGH. 

 

12 hours ago, MyAimIsTrue said:

The first time I ever saw the Empire carpet commercial was when I was in the Chicago area circa 1981 and I thought it was a local company only.  Oh, how I was wrong.  800-588-2300...

Call Empire. Today!

[MissL]

Haven't seen anyone comment on MY favorite part...Jack's freak out over the Riverdale cancellation. "WHAT?!!!" "Archie is our hottest ginger! What do we do what do we do?!" His reaction was hilarious to me. 

So awesome I rewound and watched it twice. 

[Shaynaa]

I just listened to the podcast and have one correction.  There is one POC in the episode.  She is standing next to Karen at Starbucks and looks at her funny.  I was was waiting to see if she got a line and of course not.  Non white people only exist in this universe as sexual harassment fodder or as poor people Jack has to help.   I'm about to give up on this.  The lack of diversity is pathetic and gross.

[janie jones]

9 hours ago, Shaynaa said:

Non white people only exist in this universe as sexual harassment fodder or as poor people Jack has to help.   I'm about to give up on this.  The lack of diversity is pathetic and gross.

I completely forgot Grace had another assistant until I read this.  Why did they make such a big deal about him if he was just going to disappear?

[Madding crowd]

On 1/8/2018 at 7:23 AM, MyAimIsTrue said:

The first time I ever saw the Empire carpet commercial was when I was in the Chicago area circa 1981 and I thought it was a local company only.  Oh, how I was wrong.  800-588-2300...

My husband is a police officers and arrested a guy once who insisted that was his phone number lol