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Jack's partner-in-crime, Karen (Megan Mullally), was a drunk, rich lady whose hair and nose were usually held way too high. She was queer, but you may not have realized that, because she married Stan.

And though it's true that many bisexual women marry men in real life (like, for example, Megan Mullally herself), Will & Grace missed an opportunity to play up Karen's attraction to the ladies.

But the bigger problem with Karen's bisexuality was the lack of legitimacy it had: It was treated as part of her kinky side, which was something to laugh at. She was similar to Jack in the sense that she reinforced people's opinions that queers are oversexed.

In addition, Karen shared many of Jack's other bad qualities, including his penchant for revenge, his flightiness, and his occasional stupidity. It was more than a bit disturbing that two out of the three regular queer characters on the show had so many bad traits, while the straight regular character, Grace (Debra Messing), was mostly positive.

Socialite Beverley Leslie (Leslie Jordan) was a semi-regular gay male character who often fought with Karen. Like Jack, Beverley was very feminine. And also like Jack, he married a woman. But Jack married Rosie (Karen's maid) only so she could stay in the country. Beverley married his wife to cover his true sexuality—not exactly empowering to see.

Another problem was that so much of the joking was about being gay. If Will and Jack had just come out, it would be understandable that they would talk a lot about their queerness: When you come out, your sexuality is the main focus of conversation. But Will and Jack had been out for a while, so their banter was unrealistic. It also further convinced straight people that queers only define themselves by their sexuality.

However, Will & Grace did a lot of great things, too.

The show's handling of queer sexuality was not always bad: Will enjoyed a lusty (for NBC) kiss with Taye Diggs. Even though the show often overdid the gay references, the graphic jokes were still (occasionally) affirming to hear.

The sexual attraction between Jack and Karen was particularly refreshing to see. It could have been turned into something awful—an easy excuse for them to get together—but it wasn't. Instead, it was presented as proof that sexuality can be fluid.

And sure, Will & Grace probably could have gotten away with more than it did, but I'd rather have a gay series that plays it somewhat safe, so it can stay on the air, than a series that pushes every envelope in the world and gets axed before it has a chance to really make a difference.

In addition, the show had positive storylines involving gay parenting (Jack had a son, whose lesbian mom was played by out lesbian Rosie O'Donnell) and a civil union between two men (Joe and Larry, who were Will and Grace's friends).

What about Jack? Well, he could have been more three-dimensional, but he wasn't a totally bad character. First of all, men like Jack do exist in the world, and they should be able to see versions of themselves on TV. Second, Jack was as out and proud as a gay man could be. Third, Will & Grace eventually made Jack less superficial by casting the plain-looking Dave Foley (from The Kids in the Hall and NewsRadio) as his boyfriend. Finally, Jack was usually a good person at heart.

The same can be said of Karen—who was hysterically funny—and of Will—who was bright, a hard-worker, level-headed, and non-stereotypical. (Will seemed even straighter than Niles or Frasier.) Aside from the fact that he rarely had sex, Will was a model gay man.

“I get letters [from young gay men] that say, ‘I was able to come out to my parents because when they met Will Truman … they thought there would be hope for me as their son,'” Mutchnick told The Advocate. Newsweek reported on University of Minnesota professor Edward Schiappa, who found that when viewers saw likable gay characters on TV, it was similar to knowing gays in real life. In other words, these characters helped people become more tolerant of gays. Newsweek dubbed this phenomenon “The Will & Grace Effect.”

So even though I didn't always find Will & Grace funny during the eight seasons it was on, I will still feel a little bad when the gang bids their final goodbye. Two things will comfort me, however: Reruns and a hope that the full “Will & Grace Effect” has yet to be seen.

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