A Gay/December Romance is the twelfth episode of the sixth season and 134th overall.
Will catches the eye of an rich older gentleman. Grace takes a stand about noodles.
Synopsis[]
Hot plate! Hot plate![]
Stay perfectly still.
Grace is delighted to discover a new noodle restaurant, Happy Noodles across her office. The experience is spoiled, however when she accidentally drops a plate of hot takeout noodles. She blames the restaurant owner for not warning and asks for another plate. Grace becomes upset that the restauranteur asks her to pay for the new order so Grace decides to boycott and campaign against Happy Noodle.
While handing out her flyers, Grace sees Karen and Jack enjoying noodles inside the restaurant and learns that they had been eating there everyday for the past week. Grace feels betrayed and storms off. Later, Grace shares her frustrations to Karen about taking the stand had been hard on her. While describing her cravings, Grace ultimately could no longer resist and gives up the boycott to eat noodles.
A hug... with friction?[]
Attending a local gallery opening, Will catches the eye of a wealthy older man named Alan, who buys Will one of the artworks on display. Jack, who is actively looking for a sugar daddy, is having a harder time when the older man he meets proves to be stingy. Later, Alan takes an enthusiastic Will on a shopping spree, still oblivious of his and Alan's relationship. He buys Will a cowboy hat, and joins him in the dressing room as he tries on swimsuits. When Grace points out that Will has got himself a sugar daddy, Will is shocked, as he is not interested in a romantic relationship with Alan.
Will tries to let Alan down easy, but Alan is instead offended. He reaffirms that he only sees Will as a friend, and that he is generous to all his friends. Will is embarrassed and he apologizes. Later at the same gallery, Will sees Alan with a new companion, Sebastian wearing a cowboy hat, implying that he has replaced Will as Alan's sugar baby.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Eric McCormack (Will Truman)
- Debra Messing (Grace Adler)
- Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland)
- Megan Mullally (Karen Walker)
Guest[]
- Hal Linden (Alan Mills)
- Keone Young (Happy Noodles Owner)
- Don Perry (Bertram)
- John O'Brien (Man)
- Paul Witten (Gallery Owner)
- Brandon Routh (Sebastian)
Notes[]
- Title of the episode is a play on the phrase "May-December romance", which refers to a romantic relationship with a significant age gap.
- The two galleries, the Zelman and Offerman, are named for Debra and Megan's husbands (Daniel Zelman and Nick Offerman).
- The noodle incident actually happened to series writer/producer Bill Wrubel. They wanted to charge him for new noodles after they dropped on the floor and he and his friends boycotted the restaurant; he saw his friends eating there two days later.
- Features future Superman Returns actor Brandon Routh in one of his early TV acting credits. He would later star as one of the leads in Partners, another David Kohan and Max Mutchnick sitcom.
Cultural references[]
- Jack and Karen tries to recreate the iconic spaghetti scene from Lady and the Tramp (1955), with Jack exclaiming "I'll be lady and you be the tramp."
Media[]
Quotes[]
You know, with all the ugliness in the world, a good noodle shop just seems to be God's way of saying "everything's gonna be okay". — Grace
Honey, these noodles are terrif'. And that's a big compliment coming from me. I'm Asian. — Karen
| Will: | It says his influences are Dali, Cezanne, and Monet. Yikes! Look at the price. Hello, "Dali." That's a lot of "Monet." |
| Jack: | Yeah, why don't you type that up and send it in to Smarty's Digest? |
Those two are meant for each other. Alan's got a fortune, and Will's got four chins. — Jack
| Will: | How did this happen? When did I get too old to be a boy toy? |
| Jack: | Oh, Will.... About ten years ago? |