The Hole Truth is the 5th episode of the eighth season and 175th overall.
Will arranges a charity auction where dates with celebrities are to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, including Jack and Baby Glenn. Grace helps Karen break up with Malcolm.
Synopsis[]
Baby Glenn[]
"Somebody's jealous they didn't get stuck in a hole."
Jack offers himself to be auctioned off as a $200 date on a charity event Will is organizing for Project Angel Food. During the event, they meet Baby Glenn, a guy who made headlines during the 1980s when he fell in a hole when he was 13 years old. Jack decides to start dating Baby Glenn to "multiply" their fame and asks Will to include him in the auction as well.
During the bidding, Will is delighted that Baby Glenn, whom he considers a mediocre celebrity is able to raise $1100. During Jack's turn, nobody in the audience is interested in bidding and a disappointed Jack starts to walk off the stage. Will then saves his friend from humiliation and acts as if people in the audience are shouting bids on Jack, who remains cluelessly impressed. Later, Will compliments Jack how his career will be reaching new heights because of his passion, and that he bid on him to be able to say "I knew him when..." when the time comes.
Sailboats and sunsets[]
Though Karen has patched things up with her husband Stanley, she still refuses to break up with Malcolm. However, Malcolm guilts Grace into admitting about Karen and Stan. Karen's plan of jumping out of a moving car to escape an argument with Malcolm also fails. Karen eventually chooses Stanley over Malcolm but before she could break up with him, get gets called for "jury duty in New Hampshire" and they say their goodbyes.
Cast[]
Main[]
- Eric McCormack (Will Truman)
- Debra Messing (Grace Adler)
- Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland)
- Megan Mullally (Karen Walker)
- Shelley Morrison (Rosario Salazar)
Cast[]
- Alec Baldwin (Malcolm Widmark)
- Jason Biggs (Baby Glenn)
- Christopher Herzberger (Dan)
- Emil Beheshti (Mike)
Notes[]
- Alec Baldwin's final appearance as Malcolm in the original series. He appears again during the revival series.
- During the opening scene, Jack asks Will "que pasta" when he actually means "que pasa" ("what's up?"). In the episode Forbidden Fruit, Jack invites Rosario to sit down beside him by uttering "hasta mañana", which actually means "see you tomorrow" in Spanish.
- Jack and Baby Glenn's rider list (list of demands) include a chocolate fountain, a pony, and to live forever. In 2017, Debra Messing who plays Grace reportedly has an extensive rider list due to allergies.[1]
Cultural references[]
- At the start of the episode, Will mentions that The Griddle Cafe donated to the charity auction. The New York cafe is famous for its breakfast meals, hence Will's joke that it will "go like hot cakes".
- The auction wins a $200 dinner at the Gotham Bar and Grill, an actual New American restaurant in New York.
- Baby Glenn, who fell in a hole as a young boy, considers himself a rival of Baby Jessica aka Jessica McClure, who fell into a well when she was 18 months old in 1987.
- Malcolm complements the wrap dress Grace is wearing and mentions designer Diane von Furstenberg, who popularized it during the 1970s.
- Karen mentions "the gang" composed of her and Grace, Will, Jack, and "Kenickie, Frenchy, Putzie", members of the Pink Ladies from Grease.
- Jack's ignorance of current events is again displayed when he wonders what he thinks of the "war in Azkaban", pertaining to the ongoing Afghanistan War. Azkaban is the maximum security prison in the Harry Potter novels.
- During the auction, Jack warns Will that he will "rue... McClanahan" the day he doubted Jack's fame, a play on the idiom "rue the day" and the actress Rue McClanahan of the sitcom Golden Girls mentioned earlier in the scene.
- Jack compares his self-proclaimed fame with that of actress Teri Hatcher, who had her commercial success in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993–97) and the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) but was not involved in any lead roles until 2004's Desperate Housewives.
- When Jack storms off at the end of the episode, he tells Will: "do not watch my ass as I leave." This is a similar line to what Sean Hayes actually said to the producers at the end of his audition as he left the room.[2]
Media[]
Quotes[]
A gay cruise to Key West? I want that. Oh, who am I kidding? A boat full of hot gay guys and an open bar... I might as well put on a bathing suit and start crying now. — Grace
| Jack: | I see what you're trying to do. You want me to donate a dinner with Jack McFarland, host of Jack Talk. Nice try. But, yes. |
| Will: | Eh, why not? I've got a $200 dinner at the Gotham Bar and Grill. I'll just make it the Gotham Bar and Girl. |
| Jack: | I host a gay talk show. |
| Baby Glenn: | I fell in a hole. |
| Jack: | Wanna date? |
| Baby Glenn: | Sure. |
| Jack: | Okay. |
You just had to stick your nose job where it didn't belong, didn't you? — Karen
| Karen: | Nice Autumn Carnival. This is a wonderful thing you're doing for charity. |
| Wil: | Yeah, whatever. I'm just hoping to get a boyfriend out of all this. |
| Karen: | Well, if it isn't the bearded lady herself. Don't I need a ticket to gape at you in awe and repulsion? |
| Rosario: | I wouldn't talk, lady. I'm the person who used to pluck your chin hairs. If it weren't for me, you'd look like ZZ Top. |
| Karen: | I wouldn't stand so close to the carnival games if I were you. Someone might take you home thinking they won a giant Shrek doll. |
You are a jealous, bitter queen. You can't stand that I am somebody and you are nobody. I shouldn't even be having this conversation. It is beneath my dignity. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna take my free fan of Fanta and go clean the llama poop off my shoe. — Jack
He's taking me to Cancun for a week. Maybe I'll take some jeans and trade 'em for a new maid. — Karen
Just when I thought I was famous, it got ripped away. I feel like Terri Hatcher six years ago. And Terri Hatcher six years from now. — Jack