“Will & Grace” broke barriers on national TV as one of the first shows to center a storyline on LGBTQ men.
However, there was one episode that never made it to air due to its risqué content.
New York City’s Paley Center for Media hosted a “Magic of Will & Grace” retrospective panel on Monday night and star Eric McCormack divulged what went down.
The 60-year-old Canadian actor disclosed that there was an episode in the show’s second season where his role of Will Truman, a homosexual lawyer, meets Sean Hayes’ character, Jack McFarland, at the gym.
“He was being particularly gay,” McCormack said of Jack’s constant flashy persona. “And I called him the F-word. And they didn’t repeat that episode.”
“That’s the one episode that’s never ever been ever aired again,” he added.
The “Perception” alum went on: “But there was such truth to it. And [it’s] the only episode where we lost sponsors. So we did take that issue on.”
“But that issue, particularly, was within the gay community. There are levels and there were feelings, and we dared to sort of show them,” he explained.
One of the producers revealed at the panel that there was another moment in the show that never made the NBC broadcast.
In the series pilot, Grace and Will shared an unscripted smooch. “They kiss at the end of the pilot. And Grace says to Will, ‘Anything? Anything?’ … That would never, ever fly today,” the showrunner said.
The NBC sitcom was part of the network’s ’90s block of “Must See TV” and its initial run aired from 1998 until 2006.
In 2017, the show was revived and ran for three more seasons, finally concluding in 2020.
“Will & Grace” cast member Debra Messing, who portrayed Grace Adler, a straight interior designer, and Will’s best friend, also spoke in the panel.
Messing, 54, detailed how a former NBC president desired that she “have big boobs” while playing Grace.
While executive Warren Littlefield was head of the company at the time, the “Smash” actress didn’t name anyone specifically.
“The very first fitting, they had the chicken cutlets to make me bigger,” she said. “I just wasn’t a fan of like the whole idea of it.”
“I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t need that,” Messing stated. “And they’re like, ‘Well, it’s the president of the network [saying this].’ And I said, ‘If he wants it, then he needs to come here and tell me to my face.'”