short people eating cake

This week's episode of Will and Grace was remarkably similar to last week's, the opener of the two-part story. The beginning of each episode was lighthearted, and throughout the half hour tension built up until the argument finale. In both episodes, Jack and Karen provided more and more laughs while Will and Grace's bickering turned to fighting, and both times the comic relief disappeared for the final scene where the argument played out.

Perhaps this structure is one the audience will find relatively easy to watch when a comedy series includes a dramatic conflict. It should be enough to keep the audience watching until the end, since until that point viewers will have seen nothing unexpected. Even during the argument scenes, a single joke was placed conspicuously in each set of dialogue. (What if real people argued like that? It's apparently easier to shrug off insult in a sit-com.) Considering that comedies normally lack uncomfortable drama, this series is unusual in its current choice of plot lines. And the broader topic of Will and Grace having a baby is somewhat controversial for television. Even though the themes are not as controversial as they were in the past, maybe this show is groundbreaking after all.

 

 

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