What I’m Watching: Will and Grace

Will and Grace: Season 9, Episode 2 “Who’s Your Daddy?” (B+)

Okay, I think this show is going to work. It’s not going to be the most consistently hilarious or inventive comedy out there, but it does manage to be uproariously funny in moments and it knows exactly what it wants to be. Its first strong point is that it used celebrity casting tremendously well, employing Tony Award winner Ben Platt from “Dear Evan Hansen,” a show I was fortunate enough to first see when it was first showing at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. I imagine that Platt got cast without regard to the character he would play, and making him a millennial whose coming out story was a mere logistical inconvenience was a fantastic choice. I love that he gave Will a platform to stand there and lecture him about the importance of the battles his generation fought so that he could have freedoms and how easily those could be taken away, and the only thing Platt’s Blake digested was Will’s sarcastic comment about gay dinosaurs. Though the bit went on a little long, I think that the first scene with Jack wearing those magnets was some of the best physical comedy I’ve seen in a while, and Sean Hayes hasn’t lost his touch. I was curious about how old these actors all actually are, remembering that the show premiering nineteen years ago. It turns out that Hayes is the youngest at 47, Messing is next at 49, McCormack is 54, and Mullally is 58. No wonder Rosario didn’t appear in this episode – actress Shelley Morrison is now 80! Watching Karen and Grace try to survive the escalating water levels in the fancy shower was fun even if its conclusion was known from the start, and it’s clear that more entertaining antics are soon to follow. This episode’s best line was Karen’s promise that one of her anti-aging contraptions could “take the Mitch McConnell out of your neck.” I also enjoyed Grace’s Camp Ramah reference in an episode featuring Ramah alum Platt.

Take Three: Significant Mother

Significant Mother: Season 1, Episode 3 “Who’s Your Daddy” (C+)

This installment was disappointingly formulaic, and featured the kind of plotline I would have expected to be saved for much further down the road. I’m glad to see, however, that this show still has a fun rhythm, with all of its characters getting far too excited and jumpy about every little thing that happens. It seems that in the television world there can never be any possible reason for throwing up other than pregnancy, and therefore that was the logical assumption here when Lydia was having trouble holding down her lunch. There’s no denying that Nate is horrendously awful at keeping secrets, wearing multiple pairs of sunglasses and a headband to keep his eyebrows from raising themselves a la Jack Nicholson, a trait apparently shared by his mother. Jimmy and Harrison dueling to impress Lydia and build themselves up as the proper father was entertaining, and their rivalry has not gotten old. Harrison’s snide nature and Jimmy’s goodness mesh well together, especially since Lydia usually yells at both of them for reacting inappropriately. I’m glad that there wasn’t actually a real pregnancy, since that’s not something this show needs, just a well-meaning early proposal and an unexpected comment from Lydia about how she wouldn’t mind having another kid. On the guest star front, I was pleased to see Robert Picardo, who played the Emergency Medical Hologram on “Star Trek: Voyager” and has been mostly absent since, as another doctor here, one who dropped dead before he could announce whether Lydia was truly pregnant.

What I’m Watching: Royal Pains

Royal Pains: Season 4, Episode 10 “Who’s Your Daddy?” (B+)

It was never going to be a smooth first meeting between Eddie and the General. Yet, despite all of Evan’s obsessing and worrying, it actually turned out much better than expected. The Lawson family’s Judaism wasn’t a problem as related to celebrating Christmas together as an extended family, and the ice was truly broken when the General revealed that he already knew that Eddie had been in prison. The news about the leaked photo came at a very inopportune time, and after much selfishness on Evan’s part, things finally started to take shape. The truth, however, was far more surprising, and Paige discovering that she was adopted is sure to affect her relationship both with her parents and with Evan as they prepare for their wedding and what’s sure to come next. Most importantly, Eddie earned his stripes by managing to cheer Paige up while she was miserable (before the adoption news). It was fun to see two great guest stars at the polo tournament, with Gary Cole of “The West Wing” and “The Good Wife,” among other work, portraying the older player suffering from an unknown ailment and Miriam Shor from “Swingtown” and “GCB” as the businesswoman determined to get the younger player into her underwear. After spending the episode avoiding David, Divya found some romance of her own with that particularly alluring polo player, something that’s likely to be a one-time thing but a sure sign for Divya that not all hope is lost and she may still have a shot at happiness.