Top Ten Will & Grace Episodes

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Top Ten Will & Grace Episodes

Will & Grace is a sitcom that ran for eleven seasons containing in total 246 episodes. Thus, it’s difficult to rank the episodes, but there are some clear favorites emerging from each season. My only criteria making this list was diversity, meaning that I tried to include as many different seasons as possible and both comedic and more dramatic episodes, so here we go.

10. Whose Mom is it Anyway?

Whose Mom is it Anyway? is a terrific second season episode in both subplots. Jack trying to fool the IRS that he is straight so he can marry Rosario is such a great, funny part, but even better is Grace’s mother hooking Will up with a guy. The mother-daughter relationship is very well explored here and actually quite moving.

9. A Chorus Lie

Coming from the excellent fourth season, this is a rare episode that is so incredibly casual in storylines and humor that it really worked out splendidly. Karen telling her female friends that Will’s a whore produced expectedly amusing results, but even better was a terrific guest turn from Matt Damon himself. This show is really good at cameos and guest roles.

8. Will Works Out

The rare representative of the decidedly less interesting and less comedic first season, Will Works Out is nonetheless a highly important episode that came at a time when Will was still somewhat closeted. The conflict between closeted Will and out and flamboyant Jack is put to the moving forefront here.

7. The Kid Stays Out of the Picture

This very dramatic episode from the fifth season is certainly not as hilarious as others on this list, but it needed to be included for its very important drama. It’s a rare episode that saw the two titular characters fight viciously. Grace accusing Will of wanting her to be miserable to accompany his misery was very much true.

6. The Blonde Leading the Blind

Will and Grace both go to a therapist in this amazing Season 7 episode. I wish that we got to see more of this woman later on, but here she was hilarious. She put both of them to their places in an amusing, but highly accurate fashion. I liked their competitive nature here, and simply the therapist scenes are uniformly so funny.

5. Fanilow

Fanilow is a Season 6 episode that isn’t for everyone, but for those of us who actually enjoy Barry Manilow’s music, this was both a scathing, yet a lovely tribute to him. His guest turn was so great, but the entire concept of the episode in terms of one setting in particular was really well executed and quite interesting.

4. Partners

Karen has trouble admitting that she cares deeply for Rosario while she’s in hospital. This is where we truly see how special the relationship between the two is. The other subplot sees Will and Vince break up, and that was a very sad development. Will never again will get a better, more interesting boyfriend, that goes without saying.

3. ‘Staking Care of Business

Stakin’ Care of Business is fantastic in Grace/Karen subplot where she traps Karen in an elevator and asking her to admit her reasoning for wanting to keep her business small. It ends sweetly, but the entire conflict in the elevator was so much fun. I have always found the relationship between the two highly entertaining, and this was a great example of their playful dynamic.

2. Bathroom Humor

The first two picks both belong to the eighth season, which just goes to show how fantastic that entire season is. Bathroom Humor gets the second spot. It is a hilarious slapstick episode which is immature in humor, but that I loved as it was a different kind of flair for the show and seeing them all fight over Karen was so funny. That entire sequence was iconic and hilarious.

1. Cowboys and Iranians

Cowboys and Iranians is not only the best episode of its season, but of the entire show. It is hilarious in Beverley Leslie’s appearance, moving in Jack and Will’s friendship moments and particularly relevant today for tackling the stupidities of politically correct behavior so well exemplified by Grace having white guilt and employing a terrible Iranian worker. It has aged like fine wine and it’s both insightful and very funny. A perfect episode that deserves the first spot.

You can get the entire Will & Grace show with all seasons on Amazon.