Will and Gracing Oprah's Couch

The cast of Will & Grace kicked off their week-long farewell tour on this morning's Oprah, offering up interviews, favorite clips, and a host of banter and secret sharing that isn't nearly as revealing as some people might wish.

The most awkward moment is absolutely Oprah's question to Eric McCormack about being a straight man playing a gay character, as the crickets chirp and the camera pans to a Sean Hayes who has no intention of touching the topic with a stolen Cher wig.

Instead we're treated to thoughts on defecation and other assorted things. While Will & Grace broke many barriers when it originally aired, I admit to have gone off the show as soon as the idea of Grace having a baby took over the running plot. The introduction of Leo and the increased pseudo-seriousness eroded the show's humor, tenor, and characters until I began to forget it was even on. Over the past four years, I might have seen three full episodes.

Still, it is worth remembering what the television climate was like when Will & Grace premiered. Ellen had gone off the air because of the concentration on her sexuality. We were living in the age before Queer As Folk and the L-Word.

If Will & Grace is stale and has run its course, the cast and crew still deserve to take their bows. When people are looking back at the age of the gay rights movement and how open gay culture finally entered the mainstream of American society, this is a show that will rightly belong on our little pink wall of fame.

Video clips deleted at demand of Jeffrey Friedman, attorney for Oprah Winfrey

Comments

[michelle]

is sean hayes gay or not?

[GOD]

sean hayes never revealed whether he is or not....

if he reveals that he is straight, gay people would be mad at him for playing an outrageous gay character with stereotypicic qualities.

if he reveals that he is gay, then critics will say that he is just being himself and that he isnt really acting.

so sean hayes keeps his orientation a secret...

but of course, i know whether he is or not, i just wont tell u!

[Aatom]

the breeders can have him.

[Tommy]

I don't think he's ever kept it a secret. Yes, he is.

[PatrickP]

Yes, he is a Mo. My best friend's cousin's gardener's mistress saw him at a party in the Hollywood Hills, aka, the Swish Alps.

[yesheis]

Yes he's gay. he used to sing in the gay chorus in california. Please.

[freak]

i dotn know whether he keeps it a secret or not,
but all i know is that he rarely talks about his sexuality in public apperances

[sarah]

who cares whether he is gay or not? he is an awesome actor. truly funny and if he doesnt want to say whether or not he is gay then why should it matter so much to everyone ?

[Jake]

If you have to ask...(you'll never know).

Sean's gayness is the worst kept secret since Britney's latest white-trash pregnancy.

I agree, Sarah, it doesn't matter if someone is gay or not. BUT I think his constant dancing around the issue is just dumb. He is actually making it a bigger deal by not saying anything. Does he actually think he'll never work again if people know he's gay? What-ev.

[Craig Ranapia]

Jake:

I actually kinda agree with you. Sean Hayes would get a lot of kudos in my book if he just said, "You know what, Miss Oprah, I'll answer any question you want to ask about my work. Who I fuck in the privacy of my own bedroom is not the world's business. You of all people, should understand that."

Hey, it's nice to know there's one actor in Hollyweird who doesn't feel the need to be a couch vaulting, placenta gobbling exhibitionist...

[muluno black girl]

what i dont understand about some gays is that they think that gay-closeted celebrites should come out. While i think that if celebrities came out would be great for the gay movement, on the other hand, it their choice whether to come out or not.
First of all, its already hard enough to be gay in this society. If you are gay, you would know how hard it was to come out and all the issues surrounding it. And even worse, if you have people pressuring you to do it. It is the right of people (and celebrities are no exception) to chose whether to come out or not, it is none of our business.
And coming out -do have consequences in Hollywood. Just because you are not an actor and not aware of them, doesnt mean it doesnt exist. u dont have the right to judge celebrities on their sexuality..try to be a bit more understanding

Love,
Muluno

[Tom Clark]

Sean Hayes shouts his gayness from the rooftops by refusing to talk about it. Maybe he took his cue from Ricky Martin?

[carlos]

i didn't saw the oprah show and just have seen it now here
but i's only necessary to see a few minutes to undersatand what he is
liked also when oprah asked who was most capable to hold a secret and from the left side of the couch there was just simply a void, like nobody was there, and the rest of the cew (bless them) just make a noisy confusion without saying anything about it, and speaking like only the three of them were there