You kids out there may not know this, but gays weren’t always on television.  These days, every show eventually trots out a gay character – usually a persnickety type often portrayed by Wilson Cruz, Alec Mapa, Jai Rodriguez, or Rex Lee.  If I didn’t know them personally, I’d swear they were the same person.  The roles they play are so alarmingly similar, surely one of these talented gents could handle them all – and still have time to occasionally fill in for Rachel Maddow!  Anyway, my point is that in the long history of television, gays are a relatively new addition.

And much of the credit for that visibility must go to Will & Grace.  This was really the first TV show with gay leading characters that was a hit.  Sure, it wasn’t perfect.  And some of the characters perpetuated some stereotypes.  But the show also reflected a number of issues that were going on in the real world.  It also helped people who thought they never met a gay person be a whole less scared when they did.  In fact, many straight women went out looking for a Will to help them be a better woman.  Or for a Jack to help him be a better woman!  It took so much of the mystery out of what it is gay people do – which is ultimately the same as straight people, but in better-appointed apartments and wearing nicer clothes.  That mystery is now gone.

So, who better to help inspire people to vote than Will and Grace and Jack and Karen (with a little help from Rosario).  The cast reunited to film a mini-episode, and they slipped back into their roles seamlessly – with the exception of Mullally‘s now-red hair.  While it is unlikely that the characters and the apartment would not have changed in the decade since the show went off the air, the episode picks up where the series left off – save for Jack opening the refrigerator and exclaiming, “Why does everything in there look 10 years old?”  Although it sounds like they are using a really horrible laugh track, that won’t keep me from posting the full video on BillyMasters.com.  While the thrust of the episode appears to be pro-Hillary Clinton, it is actually called #VoteHoney.  Debra Messing clarified that message in a Tweet.  “No/ it was for #VoteHoney.  [Jack] wasn’t going to vote.  Karen was for Trump, W&G were for HRC.  Msg was you HAVE to vote.  Sitting out is not OK.”  OK.