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| "Homojo" | |
|---|---|
| Will & Grace episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 15 |
| Directed by | James Burrows |
| Written by | Bill Wrubel |
| Production code | 107 |
| Original air date | February 6, 2003 |
| Guest appearances | |
| |
"Homojo" is the fifteenth episode of the fifth season of the American television series Will & Grace. It was written by Bill Wrubel and directed by series producer James Burrows. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in the United States on February 6, 2003. Actors Minnie Driver, Tom Gallop, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Jerry Levine, and Tim Bagley guest starred in "Homojo".
In the episode, Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) suffers Karen Walker's (Megan Mullally) wrath when he is seduced into friendship with her manipulative British romantic rival (Driver), who has set up house with Karen's ex-husband. Meanwhile, Will Truman (Eric McCormack) and Grace Adler (Debra Messing) try to re-connect their lagging friendship with a competitive night of board games with their friends (Gallop, Baker, Levine, and Bagley).
Plot
[edit]Production
[edit]"Homojo" was written by Bill Wrubel and directed by series producer James Burrows. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on February 6, 2003. In January 2003, it was announced that English actress Minnie Driver would guest star on an episode of Will & Grace as the mistress of Karen Walker's husband, and who befriends Karen's friend, Jack McFarland.[1][2]
During that time, NBC began developing a television series with Driver, and they believed that Driver appearing on an episode of Will & Grace would be the way to go. "We met with her and knew she loved the show [Will & Grace]," said Marc Hirschfeld, executive vice president of casting at NBC. "We took that information to the producers, and they were inspired to find something for her."[3] Driver, who has starred in many television series in England, said Will & Grace was "the best show" on television. In discussion of her character, Lorraine Finster, Driver noted, "I don't think people would let me – and they haven't so far – play a character like I do on Will & Grace in movies. Here was an opportunity to just be a big old tramp. What's not to love about that?"[4]
The development of Driver's character Lorraine began with a conversation Driver had with the show's executive producers Jeff Greenstein and Jhoni Marchinko about the types of characters she would like to play. "They took me at my word and came up with this character that was just hilarious. I knew the kind of thing I wanted to do and told them about it, and I guess they came up with (a character) that kind of fit what we were talking about."[4] Driver said she had "explored the parameters" of playing a "good girl." She believed it was time to "shake it up a bit" with her Will & Grace character.[5]
A rerun of the episode that aired on April 10, 2003,[6] featured pop-up annotations that had tidbits, facts, and trivia of the episode. According to contributor Neal Justin of the Star Tribune, "Several readers found last week's rerun ['Homojo'] ... a real trial because of the anecdotes and trivia nuggets that kept cluttering the screen."[7] Justin reported that executive producer Jeff Greenstein got the idea of the pop-ups after the AMC network took a similar approach to a broadcast of the 1987 film Moonstruck. Greenstein picked "Homojo" because the first broadcast aired at the same time as ABC's special on singer Michael Jackson. The feedback towards the annotations were "positive" from the viewers, said Greeinstein. Though, confessed that NBC received e-mail complaints stating they were "distracting", but stated that they were from individuals who did not see the February 6 airing.[7]
Reception
[edit]According to the Nielsen ratings system, "Homojo" was watched by 11.4 million households in its original American broadcast. It received a 10.8 rating among viewers in the 18–49 demographic.[8] The episode finished in 15th place in the weekly ratings for the week of February 3–9, 2003.[9]
Amy Amatangelo of Zap2it enjoyed Minnie Driver's appearance, writing "Driver proved that she had some not-so-minnie comic flair." Amatangelo gave "Homojo" four stars.[10] Amarillo Globe-News writer Chip Chandler noted that Driver was "one of the best-ever celebrity guests" in the show's history.[11] DVD Talk's Jeffrey Robinson was complimentary towards Driver's appearance in "Homojo", citing that she "makes for a good character for Karen to face." Robinson further went on to add, "Overall, season five has some fun episodes" with one of the story lines being Driver as the mistress.[12] Writing for The Times publication, Lisa Verrico noted that Will & Grace was becoming the "new" Friends opining with all the guest stars in season five—Demi Moore, Minnie Driver, and Madonna—that have been featured on the show.[13] In preview of the episode, Phil Rosenthal for the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "It's a Minnie Driver episode, and not the kind with which Ben Affleck once contended."[14]
References
[edit]- ^ "Today's people". Charleston Daily Mail: 7B. 2003-01-18.
In another February [Will & Grace] episode, [Minnie] Driver plays a woman who romances Karen's former husband and then really makes Karen (Megan Mullally) angry by befriending pal Jack
- ^ "Movie Star-Struck: Hollywood Biggies Don't Just Watch Their Favorite TV Shows, They Wangle Walk-On Roles". New York Post: 053. 2003-02-01.
- ^ Brownfield, Paul (2003-02-01). "Networks bet on star power during sweeps - Big-name stars give network series added sparkle". Los Angeles Times. Charleston Daily Mail: 6A.
{{cite journal}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ a b "TV role drives Minnie". The Age. 2003-02-07. Archived from the original on 2010-02-23. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ Mason, Dave (2003-02-09). "Stay tuned for love - Viewers watchTV and films for crazy pursuits of romance". Ventura County Star: K03.
- ^ "4-10: TVHI". The Intelligencer: 6D. 2003-04-10.
- ^ a b Justin, Neil (2003-04-18). "Viewer mailbag - You've got questions; we've got the answers". Star Tribune: 21E.
- ^ Associated Press (2003-02-21). "Nielsen Ratings - 20/20 takes top spot". Telegraph Herald: d1.
- ^ Associated Press (2003-02-14). "Nielsen Ratings". St. Louis Post-Dispatch: D8.
- ^ Amatangelo, Amy (2003-02-17). "TV Gal plays critic for movie stars on TV". Zap2it. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ Chandler, Chip (2003-05-03). "TV Picks". Amarillo Globe-News.
- ^ Robinson, Jeffrey (2006-08-26). "Will & Grace - Season Five". DVD Talk. Retrieved 2010-02-23.
- ^ Verrico, Lisa (2003-04-19). "Television choice — Friday 25 April". The Times: Play 59.
- ^ Rosenthal, Phil (2003-02-06). "What Are You Looking At?". Chicago Sun-Times: 49.