I Love L. Gay

I Love L. Gay is the 14th episode of the eighth season and 184th overall.

Jack and his friends travel with Elliot for his college tour in Los Angeles. Will runs into James again, who has bad news.

Synopsis[]

You're not Dad. You're Jack.[]

Elliot goes to Los Angeles to tour the UCLA campus with his father Jack, and friends Karen, Will and Grace. After the tour, Elliot stays out late partying with the people he met, leaving Jack worried. Karen advises Jack to have a firm hand in dealing with Elliot to help him make the right choices when he goes off to college. When Jack confronts Elliot about his careless behavior, Elliot bushes it off, dismissing him simply as a sperm donor rather than a father.

Later, Elliot gets left behind by his new friends who also took his money. With no other option, he calls Karen for help but Jack shows up to save him. Elliot apologizes about his behavior and expresses to Jack that maybe he still needs him to be his dad even when he goes off to college.

Mismatch![]

While visiting LA with his friends, Will runs into James, the guy he spent a rather sweet time a few weeks back but lost contact with. James, who is Canadian reveals that he is about to marry a friend in a green card wedding. However, they soon learn that James' friend has abandoned their plans and he will be deported as his VISA expires in four days.

Disappointed at how things turned out, Will decides to leave LA as James sulks at the hotel lobby. Grace realizes that Will and James' connection is more than a fling and that their relationship is worth pursuing. Before Will could check out, Grace suggests that James marries her, instead.

Cast[]

Main[]

Guest[]

Taye Diggs (James Hanson)
Michael Angarano (Elliot)
Christopher Shea (Waiter)
Steve Hasley (Clerk)
Joan Poust (Woman)

Notes[]

All scenes are set in Los Angeles, which is where Will & Grace is actually filmed. Title is a play on "I Love L.A."
Grace asks James to marry her so that he can stay in the U.S. In addition to being Canadian, we learn that he is a photographer and his last name is Hanson.
While in LA, Grace is mistaken for comedian Kathy Griffin who also had red hair. Jack previously mentioned Griffin during Grace's appearance on Jack Talk when he quips "Hey, Kathy Griffin, you're not the only funny red-head over 40".
Elliot's last appearance in the original series. When he reappears in the revival series, he is married with one child and has lost touch with Jack.
Jack's ring tone is the 1979 disco song Ring My Bell by Anita Ward.
Show producer and writer Tracy Poust's mother Joan appears as the woman who mistakes Grace for Kathy Griffin.
Steve Hasley who appears as the hotel clerk has previously appeared in the episode Field of Queens, which incidentally also features Elliot.

Cultural references[]

Will mentions a photograph James took of British supermodel Kate Moss. Though this photo is fiction, Moss was the center of a recent scandal involving drug use during the height of her career in the 2000s.
At the hotel, Grace mentions that actress Tara Reid "dropped her martini in the pool and now she's drinking the water". Reid has then gained a reputation as a regular in the Hollywood party scene.
Jack compares Elliot's haircut to that of British actress Kiera Knightley's, who at the time was growing her pixie cut hairstyle.
Will mentions that Grace did not read Dan Brown's 2003 best selling thriller The Da Vinci Code, which at the time of release piqued public interest by suggesting religious theories denounced by many Christian groups.

Media[]

Quotes[]

You're gonna love our room. I requested a view of the Hollywood hills. So if it rains, we can watch all the houses slide down the hill. — Jack

Elliot:	It's so cool of you and Will to come check out UCLA with us.
Will:	Of course, Elliot. I mean, we wouldn't miss it. You're family.
Elliot:	You wanna come next month when we check out University of Kansas?
Will:	Oh, God no. What celebrities live there?

—in L.A

Well, it's hard. It's a very complicated relationship between a sperm donor dad and the child of a lesbian who shows up on his door thirteen years later. There's really only one book about it. And not a lot of stores carry Yank, Squirt, Doink, Dyke, Baby. — Jack

Will:	I just realized I do know your work. You took that photograph, that amazing shot of Kate Moss in the dumpster with the lettuce leaf on her head. That was genius.
James:	I can't take credit. I found her like that.

Those Canadians are so smug, with their health care and their gay rights. It's easy to be like that when you're not a real country. — Grace

I got lost and had to stop at a bar for directions. I couldn't understand one thing anybody said. The gay accent is so thick here. — Jack, in LA

James:	Will told me you were funny.
Grace:	Oh, that's sweet.
James:	That's why I didn't think it was you.

James:	What are you doing?
Will:	Checking out. I was gonna come say goodbye after I finished making the bed.
James:	You make your hotel bed, too? So do I.
Will:	It just got harder to leave you.