The Finale (Will & Grace) - Broadcast and Reception

Broadcast and Reception

The series finale was heavily promoted by NBC, and the main cast members appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, and Live with Regis and Kelly to bid farewell. NBC devoted a two-hour block in its primetime schedule on May 18, 2006, for the Will & Grace send-off. An hour-long series retrospective, "Say Goodnight Gracie", featuring interviews with the cast, crew, and guest stars, preceded the hour-long series finale. The retrospective was viewed by an estimated 12.7 million viewers, while the finale drew 18.43 million viewers and a Nielsen rating of 11.5/18, making it the most watched episode of the final two seasons of Will & Grace.

Since airing, the episode has received mixed reviews from television critics. Richard Keller of TV Squad thought the finale's theme of Will and Grace's connection to each other was well-presented by director James Burrows. Keller added, "While not as satisfying as, say, the Friends finale or as crushing as the Seinfeld finale, the series finale to Will & Grace did have its moments and came back to the original concept of friendship among a close group of people. There were some moments where I did laugh out loud, but they were few." CHUD.com's David Oliver praised the finale for not having characters "go on wild tangents that betray who they were during the entirety of the show's run." He also commented that Messing and McCormack are "affecting in their performances" and the episode "nicely summarizes friendship over the course of the entire show."

Setting the finale in several different time periods was criticized by some critics. Jennifer Armstrong of Entertainment Weekly said "we endure a swirl of confusing, unnecessary sequences, from Grace's dream to current reality to two years later to their kids' first day of college to their kids' impending wedding. By the end, instead of being sad to bid adieu, we're just relieved not to have yet another disbelief-suspending flash-forward thrust upon us." Jim Schembri of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote: "The time-jumping device is overused and a tad awkward but, by and large, it’s a noble finale to one of the better standard three-wall sitcoms from America." Amy Amatangelo of Zap2it commented that Will & Grace "is a show that spent eight seasons predicated on the lasting friendship of Will and Grace, and we're supposed to believe that they spent over 20 years not talking to each other just because their lives went in different directions? That there is no way their friendship could have been sustained once they both found the love of their life?" Amatangelo enjoyed Jack and Karen's performance of "Unforgettable", however, but the rest of the finale she "could have done without."