Buy Buy Baby is the 18th episode of the eighth season and the 188th overall. Britney Spears makes a guest appearance alongside Star Trek actor George Takei and comedian Wanda Sykes.
On his talk show, Jack gets a co-host with a hidden agenda. Karen hires another woman to have her baby.
Synopsis[]
Quicket crit[]
"You made me look so slutty! Nice job."
While at the mall, a pregnant Grace shares with Karen how cool it is to have someone to love and take care of for the rest of her life. Karen then decides to have a baby of her own and hires a make up lady at the mall, Cricket, to be the surrogate. After Cricket settles in the Walker Mansion to prepare for her pregnancy, she realizes that Karen has no idea how to take care of a baby when she learns that Karen's plan is to "put it in a Pringles can and store it in the cupboard" until her husband Stanley opens it.
Later, Grace asks Karen why she badly wants to have a baby and Karen admits that her marriage is in trouble and thought a baby as a quick fix. She shares that the passion between her and Stanley is gone and that she is thinking of leaving him.
Republican Magenta[]
Jack learns from his boss the network has been bought by a large corporation and that changes will be made on Jack Talk. She introduces a conservative Southern woman named Amber-Louise as Jack's new co-host. During their first show together, it is heavily implied that Amber-Louise is a mouthpiece to push right-wing agenda on the network's gay audience. When Jack confront Amber-Louise, she confesses that she is a "hard core lesbian" and that Jack must also compromise to succeed like her.
As the show is pressed by the network to be more conservative, including with openly gay George Takei who is to make a guest appearance, Will urges Jack to be true to himself and do the right thing. As Amber-Louise begins to introduce George Takei as a "legendary ladies' man and pro-life activist", Jack announces that he will never compromise himself and quits on-air.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Eric McCormack (Will Truman)
- Debra Messing (Grace Adler)
- Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland)
- Megan Mullally (Karen Walker)
- Shelley Morrison (Rosario)
Guest[]
- Britney Spears (Amber-Louise)
- George Takei (Himself)
- Wanda Sykes (Cricket)
- John Ducey (Jamie)
- Mathew Botuchis (Dave "Elizabeth")
- Matt Crabtree (Stage Manager)
Notes[]
- Title is a reference to the Four Seasons song Bye, Bye, Baby (Baby Goodbye) (1965).
- Before the episode was aired, a press release from NBC revealed that the episode would include a scene in which Spears hosted a Christian cooking segment called "Cruci-fixins". The name of the segment was met with protest from Christian groups, who accused it of mocking Jesus' crucifixion. The network canceled the segment after criticism from the American Family Association (AFA).
- Spears' first acting performance on prime-time television,[1][2] and her first television appearance since giving birth to a child in September 2005.[3][4]
- Spears and Amber-Louise are both from the South (Spears is from Louisiana, Amber-Louise is from Alabama) and Spears does have a Southern accent, though not as pronounced as Amber-Louise's.
- Jack's final appearance on OutTV.
- Kirk J. Rudell's final writing credit.
Cultural references[]
- Jack quips that if he wanted to look at Matthew McConaughey with his shirt on, he would look at Josh Lucas, as the two actors have striking resemblance to one another. Lucas would later appear as himself in the episode Whatever Happened to Baby Gin? where he also mentions being mistaken for McConaughey.
- The episode makes multiple references to the Star Trek franchise because of Takei's role as Hikaru Sulu in the cult series.
- Jack and Will's conversation with Jamie is riddled with double-entendres including Amber Louise and Jack being mouthpieces of their bosses, the term "ramifications" and "rolling over and taking it".
- Will points out that Jack's studio audience is changing, mentioning there were people with mullets who "weren't even lesbians". The mullet haircut became popular in the lesbian community during the early 1980s, but Will implies that the people with mullets are the conservative Southern people who stereotypically sport the same haircut.
Media[]
Quotes[]
| Jamie: | There he is. The queen of late night, Jack McFormand. That's not right, is it? Anyway big celeb, huh? George Hasato Takei, TV's Hikaru Sulu. |
| Will: | You can get all that, but you can't get "McFarland"? |
| Grace: | I'm not going to be buying any make-up today. I don't really need it. I'm pregnant, so I have a natural glow. |
| Cricket: | Wow. It took a lot of balls to say that. |
George Takei is a prancing, giggling queen! And I will not slander his good name by implying he's straight! — Jack
We're ready to bring out George Takei. Fun Fact: What he's wearing today is ugly. — Jack, introducing his guest
There were people out there with mullets! And they weren't even lesbians! — Will
| Will: | Jamie, exactly who bought OutTV? |
| Jamie: | Nimbus Television Networks. Which is owned by Digicity Global Worldwide. Which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security. Which I believe is owned by Nabisco. |
| Will: | Cookies and the Bush administration. The gay community's two worst enemies have joined forces to bring us down. |
| Jack: | I'm not changing my show! I'm not gonna let it be some platform for spewing left-wing— |
| Will: | Right-wing. |
| Jack: | Right-wing garbage that pushes the Democratic— |
| Will: | Republican. |
| Jack: | Republican magenta. |
| Will: | Agenda. |
References[]
- ↑ "Britney's 'Grace'". Chicago Tribune. RedEye. February 1, 2006. p. 56.
- ↑ "Britney Spears To Appear On 'Grace'". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. February 1, 2006. p. C-8.
- ↑ "Entertainment Briefs: Boy George to fight drug charges". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. February 1, 2006.
- ↑ "Spears And Loathing On 'Will'". New York Post. February 1, 2006. p. 077.