[BACK] [MENU]

In a scene not taken from Will And Grace, Sean Hayes (Jack) is sitting cross-legged, pixie-like on Grace's worktable, stabbing indifferently at a plastic tub of salad. Looking up, he asks - of no one in particular - "Why do I have to do a wee? I do a wee every week." A passing Debra Messing (Grace) barely raises her head as she volunteers "Because it's funny?"

This, in essence, is how Will And Grace is made. Yes, the award-laden sitcom benefits from some of the sharpest scripting since Frasier's heyday, but it's here at the 'read-thru' stage that each scene is carefully shaped, each gag meticulously examined and road-tested. And the bulk of the input comes from the cast themselves. Sean's "Wee", it should be explained, refers to what he affectionately calls his 'Happy howler monkey' outburst. And yes, after considerable debate, the wee is removed. As Sean confirms, "If you come up with a good enough storyline, they'll take it. If they don't like it they'll tell you it's terrible. They're very open to ideas always. It's a very give and take affair."

It helps, of course, when your four lead players are naturally funny. Even more handy when they actually get on with each other. And at the risk of furthering the 'We're just one big happy family' cliché, every second on the set does rather indicate that this job is way more fun than any livelihood has any business being. Sean and Megan Mullaly (Karen) are constantly giggling between takes, Eric McCormack (Will) is playing the charming clown for any available audience, and when the crew are required to laugh to fill in the gaps where the real audience will be laughing, there's little effort involved.

"We are really truly friends," says Eric, almost apologetically. "And that's not just something we say for the benefit of the press. I watch the show and I see certain moments that are the result of people getting along really well together." He's right, of course. Watch any episode of Will And Grace closely and the cast interaction is nothing short of astonishing - fewer cut-aways, less editing, it's as impressive an example of cast-chemistry as you could hope to find.

Now, for example, Debra is striding across Will's apartment debating the whys and wherefore's of every step she takes. "Why would I be standing here at this moment?" she frowns. "Surely I should be closer to Will?" It might sound petty, but the details are what make it work. "Well," offers Eric, "we dropped that great fart gag, so your proximity to my ass is no longer crucial."

And so it continues. This read-thru will take some eight hours to get through, the actual filming - complete with live, and very patient audience - will take a further four hours. There's nothing lazy about this show, but then you don't get to threaten Friends' ratings with sloppy work. Will And Grace is a regular fixture in America's top ten TV shows and is now being enjoyed in over a hundred countries. Not bad going for a sitcom with a gay lead that no one thought would get off the ground when it was first announced.

"In the States, the gay side of the show is not so much the talk of the town any more," states Eric. "If it does come up, it's generally concerning the necessity of characters to have a relationship. We've recently managed to get Will out in the dating arena without him having to date a celebrity cameo star for a few episodes. And there are some episodes where the fact that I'm a lawyer is more important than my being gay. By the way," he adds, lowering his voice for a moment, "this is the biggest pimple I have ever had in my life, go easy on the flash photography."

It's a corker, right enough, but we like it when celebrities have bad skin days. Debra, for her part, is looking pretty damn flawless, although seeing her in the flesh (ie without the 10lbs that the camera traditionally adds), she is painfully, could-snap-at-any-moment thin. Part of the job, arguably, and for now she's more interested in the twists and turns of the new series, specifically concerning her own character. "We've just done an episode where Grace breaks up with her boyfriend," she beams, "and she just spends the entire episode in bed, and that was gratifying for me. It's life isn't it. Even the happiest people sometimes don't feel like performing for anyone. You just want to sit in bed, cry and be depressed. It wasn't cutesy or jokey - it was honest."

As she is the first to admit, the characters still have plenty of scope, plenty of mileage, but all that's yet to come. Right now, there are more pressing matters to deal with, and the frown that's just danced across her face indicates that there's another detail to be pored over. Looking over at Eric she asks (in the manner of someone asking you to pass the salt) "You know what? I really think we should have kept the fart bit…"

• NBC
• Living TV
• Red - http://www.emapmagazines.co.uk/