Alive and Schticking
Encyclopedia
"Alive and Schticking" is the season premiere of the American television series Will & Grace
s eight season. It was written by Bill Wrubel and directed by series producer James Burrows
. The episode was broadcast live on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) in the United States on September 29, 2005, and was performed twice by the actors that evening for the East
and West
coasts. Alec Baldwin
guest starred in "Alive and Schticking" and received an Emmy Award
nomination for his performance.
In the episode, Grace
(Debra Messing
) contemplates having an affair with a married man, while Jack
(Sean Hayes
) begins a new career as the host of his new talk show Jack Talk. Meanwhile, Will
(Eric McCormack
) tries to hide from Karen (Megan Mullally
) the fact that her husband, Stan, is alive and faked his death due to troubles with the mob
. Will also tries to stop his former boss, Malcolm (Baldwin), from dating Karen.
Will & Grace creators and executive producers David Kohan
and Max Mutchnick
were in favor of doing a live episode, and Kevin Reilly, who at the time served as NBC Entertainment President, thought it would be a good way to inaugurate the final season of the show. Since airing, "Alive and Schticking" has received mostly positive reviews from television critics, who enjoyed watching the mistakes made by the actors and their attempts to hide their laughter during the live broadcast. The episode acquired a Nielsen rating
of 9.81 and garnered the series' highest rating in the 18–49 demographic since February 17, 2005, and biggest overall viewer total since February 24, 2005.
(Eric McCormack
) reveals to his friend Grace
(Debra Messing
) that Karen's (Megan Mullally
) husband Stan is still alive. He learned this from his former boss, Malcolm (Alec Baldwin
), a secret agent, who told him that Stan is now living under seclusion and faked his death because of troubles with the mob. Will makes Grace promise that she keep this information to herself, but she breaks the promise and tells Jack
(Sean Hayes
). When Malcolm later visits Will at his apartment and warns him to not to tell people about Stan's predicament, Karen and her maid, Rosario
(Shelley Morrison
), also arrive. At meeting Karen, Malcolm becomes fond of her, as does Karen of him, even asking him out on a date, to which he accepts. Will, however, tells Malcolm that he cannot date Karen because Malcolm is still protecting Stan from the mob.
Meanwhile, Grace and Jack are discussing their own problems. Grace uses Jack's promiscuous history with married men as a legitimate reason to have an affair with a married man, but Jack tells her to forget about it as both of them are the moral role models to their friends. After being honest with her, Jack confesses that the reason he is wearing an eye patch is not because he got glitter in his eye, as he told his friends. When he refused to stop his singing performance during the debut of his new talk show, Jack Talk, even though the entire set had accidentally been set on fire, his eyebrow was burnt off. Later, Will, Grace, and Jack all decide that it would be for the best to let Karen know the truth about Stan. Will breaks the news to her, but Karen believes he is joking. Rosario tells Karen that Stan is not dead, as she has been giving him reports on Karen. At the admission, Karen fires Rosario and leaves Will's apartment with Malcolm, explaining that Stan may be alive, but that he is still dead to her.
"Alive and Schticking" was written by Bill Wrubel and directed by series producer James Burrows
. In July 2005, it was announced by the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) that Will & Grace' s season premiere for season eight would be performed live. It was also confirmed that actor Alec Baldwin
would appear in the episode. This was Baldwin's third appearance, as he guest starred in two episodes from season seven, playing Will's boss. His initial decision to do the show was to work with Megan Mullally, who plays Karen; "I just love Megan. And so I said, 'Well, if you let me do it with Megan.' And they said 'You got it.' So I went and did that with them for four [episodes]. It was fun. For me now, it's about who I work with."
Will & Grace creators and executive producers David Kohan
and Max Mutchnick
were in favor of doing a live episode; "We love the idea of a live episode because we get to show the audience of Will & Grace what we've known from day one — we work with the best cast in network television," said Mutchnick. He noted that the live element would allow the writers to make changes in the script right up until the airing of the episode. Kevin Reilly, who at the time served as NBC Entertainment President, said the "challenging live platform launch" for Will & Grace would be a good way for the show to inaugurate its final season. In discussion of the episode, Burrows, the director of all Will & Grace episodes, commented: "This will be like the classic golden era of television that I was weaned on, where the audience sees everything. Directing a live broadcast will be a first for me, and as long as I have been in the business, there are very few firsts."
Upon learning about the live telecast, the cast had mixed emotions. Sean Hayes, who plays Jack, was nervous about the episode and hoped there would be cue card
s. Debra Messing (Grace) "gasped loudly" when it was revealed that the technical demands of live television would mean that Burrows would not be directing on the stage floor, but would be up in a booth instead. Messing noted that she had never done live television, but in regards to the live broadcast, said, "It starts out our final season in a real special way." Eric McCormack (Will) was intrigued about the idea and seemed to be ready for whatever happened; "It keeps it interesting for us. It stirs it up. It gives us a new way to do it."
Mullally revealed that the show's writing team was "notorious for tinkering with the script's laugh lines", even during the actual taping of the episodes. She hoped they would resist that urge for the live episode. Messing, however, was sure that the writers would interfere during the broadcasts; "I have a gut feeling that, like, 10 minutes before we go they'll be like, 'Oh, no, no, you know what? Change this line to this. Now we're locked – go.'" Prior to the live episode, the cast had shot the second, third and fourth episodes of the season. Shortly before this episode, Mullally injured her foot and was unable to walk without crutches. The writers therefore had to put Mullally's character, Karen, in a cast and a motorized scooter, ostensibly because the character was recovering from an operation to correct a webbed toe.
"Alive and Schticking" was performed live twice for viewers in the East
and West
coasts, with different jokes for each broadcast. The first show was broadcast at 8:30 p.m. (ET
) for the East and the second three hours later at 11:30 p.m. ET (8:30pm PT
) for the West. During the two performances, Messing and Hayes had "attacks of the giggles". An audience member who was in attendance commented that Messing and Hayes "were so bad at keeping a straight face" during a dress rehearsal that Burrows had to get on the show's PA
system to yell at them. After both telecasts were aired, Burrows revealed that McCormack, Messing, Hayes, Mullally, and Baldwin "had a ball, but they also dreaded it."
. The episode received a 4.4 rating/11 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic. It also scored the series' highest 18–49 rating since February 17, 2005, and biggest overall viewer total since February 24, 2005. "Alive and Schticking" finished 21st in the weekly ratings for the week of September 26–October 2, 2005. In 2006, Baldwin was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
in the "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" category for this episode.
"Alive and Schticking" received positive reviews. Fort Worth Star-Telegram
contributor Robert Philpot, who gave the episode a B+ rating, thought it was a pleasant surprise and an indication that there "might be some life" left in the show. He added that the episode feels fresher because of the "rapid-fire dialogue, farcical situations and ubiquitous double-entendres. And although this live edition was inarguably a stunt, it did prove that real people — and not mere machines — laugh at the characters and the jokes." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
also noted that the episode showed that Will & Grace still had a bit of life left. He added that McCormack seemed to flourish under the pressure, and that Hayes and Mullally "were given free rein to flex their Jack and Karen [...]". Dana Stevens
of Slate
magazine reported that "Alive and Schticking" offered a chance to punch up the show with some "unusually broad sight gags." She wrote that the real reason to watch the episode were the mistakes made by the actors.
Philpot continued that moments like Will and his boss making out recalled the show's "glory days", and Messing's trouble keeping a straight face "brought back fond memories of Tim Conway
cracking up Harvey Korman
on The Carol Burnett Show
." Knoxville News Sentinel
' s writer Terry Morrow also commented that the episode reminded him of The Carol Burnett Show because of its "goofiness and by-the-seat-of-its-pants style." Morrow added that the episode made him laugh more than any other sitcom on network television. Jeffrey Kauffman of DVD Talk
praised Baldwin for his performance and commented that "Alive and Schticking" helped "jumpstart the series creatively after a couple of seasons" and "It's fun [...] to see the actors momentarily break character, a la The Carol Burnett Show, where the absurdity of certain situations (usually involving Jack and/or Karen) makes giggling all but impossible." Entertainment Weekly
television critic Gary Susman gave "Alive and Schticking" four stars, while Frazier Moore
of the Associated Press
lauded it as a "fun, and attention-grabbing, note." The Hollywood Reporter
' s Ray Richmond
said "In hindsight, this live thing proved a good idea."
"Alive and Schticking" received less positive reviews as well. Gail Pennington of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
wrote that the live episode "proved once and for all that Will & Grace should have been buried before now," and Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk pointed out that its underlying storyline "is a little too over-the-top." Jessica Banov of the The Fayetteville Observer wrote, "The first live show ... was so-so. The lighting was weird, and I'm not sure what was up with Debra Messing's hair. But it was funny to see Messing and Sean Hayes break from their scripts to giggle." Cinquemani commented that Baldwin's "absurd" role as Malcolm "is proving to be one of Will & Grace' s most enduring guest stars." David Blum
of The New York Sun reported that the producers of Will & Grace wasted Baldwin's "prodigious talents on a supporting role this past season, when it's clear he could effortlessly carry his own network series." Kauffman concluded that Grace's joke about George Bush being brain dead "just falls amazingly flat".
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
s eight season. It was written by Bill Wrubel and directed by series producer James Burrows
James Burrows
James Edward Burrows is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.-Biography:...
. The episode was broadcast live on the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(NBC) in the United States on September 29, 2005, and was performed twice by the actors that evening for the East
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
and West
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
coasts. Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
guest starred in "Alive and Schticking" and received an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nomination for his performance.
In the episode, Grace
Grace Adler
Grace Elizabeth Adler-Markus is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Debra Messing. She is a Jewish interior designer , living in New York City with her gay best friend Will Truman...
(Debra Messing
Debra Messing
Debra Lynn Messing is an American actress, voice artist, and comedienne. She is perhaps best known for her role as Grace Adler in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace and as Molly Kagan in the mini-series The Starter Wife....
) contemplates having an affair with a married man, while Jack
Jack McFarland
John Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.-Character personality:...
(Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes (actor)
Sean Patrick Hayes is an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Jack McFarland in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, for which he won an Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, one American Comedy Award, and six Golden Globes nominations.He also portrayed comedian Jerry Lewis in the...
) begins a new career as the host of his new talk show Jack Talk. Meanwhile, Will
Will Truman
William Pierce "Will" Truman is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Eric McCormack. He is a gay lawyer who lives in the Upper West Side of New York City with his best friend, Grace Adler.-Fictional character history:...
(Eric McCormack
Eric McCormack
Eric James McCormack is a Canadian American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
) tries to hide from Karen (Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally is an American actress and singer.After working in the theatre in Chicago, Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and began to appear in supporting roles in film and television productions. She made her Broadway debut in Grease in 1994 and she has since appeared in several Broadway...
) the fact that her husband, Stan, is alive and faked his death due to troubles with the mob
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
. Will also tries to stop his former boss, Malcolm (Baldwin), from dating Karen.
Will & Grace creators and executive producers David Kohan
David Kohan
David Sanford Kohan is an American television producer. After writing for The Wonder Years and The Dennis Miller Show, Kohan co-created and produced Will & Grace, Good Morning, Miami, Twins and Four Kings with Max Mutchnick. Kohan has won an Emmy and a People's Choice Award. He has been nominated...
and Max Mutchnick
Max Mutchnick
Jason Nidorf Mutchnick is an American television producer. He has received an Emmy Award, a People's Choice Award, and several Golden Globe Award nominations....
were in favor of doing a live episode, and Kevin Reilly, who at the time served as NBC Entertainment President, thought it would be a good way to inaugurate the final season of the show. Since airing, "Alive and Schticking" has received mostly positive reviews from television critics, who enjoyed watching the mistakes made by the actors and their attempts to hide their laughter during the live broadcast. The episode acquired a Nielsen rating
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
of 9.81 and garnered the series' highest rating in the 18–49 demographic since February 17, 2005, and biggest overall viewer total since February 24, 2005.
Plot
WillWill Truman
William Pierce "Will" Truman is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Eric McCormack. He is a gay lawyer who lives in the Upper West Side of New York City with his best friend, Grace Adler.-Fictional character history:...
(Eric McCormack
Eric McCormack
Eric James McCormack is a Canadian American actor, musician, writer and producer. Born in Toronto, he began his acting career performing in school plays at Stephen Leacock Collegiate Institute High School...
) reveals to his friend Grace
Grace Adler
Grace Elizabeth Adler-Markus is a fictional character on the American sitcom Will & Grace, portrayed by Debra Messing. She is a Jewish interior designer , living in New York City with her gay best friend Will Truman...
(Debra Messing
Debra Messing
Debra Lynn Messing is an American actress, voice artist, and comedienne. She is perhaps best known for her role as Grace Adler in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace and as Molly Kagan in the mini-series The Starter Wife....
) that Karen's (Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally is an American actress and singer.After working in the theatre in Chicago, Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and began to appear in supporting roles in film and television productions. She made her Broadway debut in Grease in 1994 and she has since appeared in several Broadway...
) husband Stan is still alive. He learned this from his former boss, Malcolm (Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
), a secret agent, who told him that Stan is now living under seclusion and faked his death because of troubles with the mob. Will makes Grace promise that she keep this information to herself, but she breaks the promise and tells Jack
Jack McFarland
John Philip "Jack" McFarland was a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace, played by Sean Hayes.-Character personality:...
(Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes (actor)
Sean Patrick Hayes is an American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his role as Jack McFarland in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, for which he won an Emmy Award, four SAG Awards, one American Comedy Award, and six Golden Globes nominations.He also portrayed comedian Jerry Lewis in the...
). When Malcolm later visits Will at his apartment and warns him to not to tell people about Stan's predicament, Karen and her maid, Rosario
Rosario Salazar
Rosario Inés Consuelo Yolanda Salazar McFarland is a fictional character on the American television sitcom Will & Grace. She is played by actress Shelley Morrison...
(Shelley Morrison
Shelley Morrison
Shelley Morrison is an American actress. Early in her career, she was sometimes credited as Rachel Domínguez. Morrison has been a theater and television actress since the early 1960s, predominantly as a character actress in ethnic roles...
), also arrive. At meeting Karen, Malcolm becomes fond of her, as does Karen of him, even asking him out on a date, to which he accepts. Will, however, tells Malcolm that he cannot date Karen because Malcolm is still protecting Stan from the mob.
Meanwhile, Grace and Jack are discussing their own problems. Grace uses Jack's promiscuous history with married men as a legitimate reason to have an affair with a married man, but Jack tells her to forget about it as both of them are the moral role models to their friends. After being honest with her, Jack confesses that the reason he is wearing an eye patch is not because he got glitter in his eye, as he told his friends. When he refused to stop his singing performance during the debut of his new talk show, Jack Talk, even though the entire set had accidentally been set on fire, his eyebrow was burnt off. Later, Will, Grace, and Jack all decide that it would be for the best to let Karen know the truth about Stan. Will breaks the news to her, but Karen believes he is joking. Rosario tells Karen that Stan is not dead, as she has been giving him reports on Karen. At the admission, Karen fires Rosario and leaves Will's apartment with Malcolm, explaining that Stan may be alive, but that he is still dead to her.
Production
James Burrows
James Edward Burrows is an American television director who has been working in television since the 1970s.-Biography:...
. In July 2005, it was announced by the National Broadcasting Company
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
(NBC) that Will & Grace
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
would appear in the episode. This was Baldwin's third appearance, as he guest starred in two episodes from season seven, playing Will's boss. His initial decision to do the show was to work with Megan Mullally, who plays Karen; "I just love Megan. And so I said, 'Well, if you let me do it with Megan.' And they said 'You got it.' So I went and did that with them for four [episodes]. It was fun. For me now, it's about who I work with."
Will & Grace creators and executive producers David Kohan
David Kohan
David Sanford Kohan is an American television producer. After writing for The Wonder Years and The Dennis Miller Show, Kohan co-created and produced Will & Grace, Good Morning, Miami, Twins and Four Kings with Max Mutchnick. Kohan has won an Emmy and a People's Choice Award. He has been nominated...
and Max Mutchnick
Max Mutchnick
Jason Nidorf Mutchnick is an American television producer. He has received an Emmy Award, a People's Choice Award, and several Golden Globe Award nominations....
were in favor of doing a live episode; "We love the idea of a live episode because we get to show the audience of Will & Grace what we've known from day one — we work with the best cast in network television," said Mutchnick. He noted that the live element would allow the writers to make changes in the script right up until the airing of the episode. Kevin Reilly, who at the time served as NBC Entertainment President, said the "challenging live platform launch" for Will & Grace would be a good way for the show to inaugurate its final season. In discussion of the episode, Burrows, the director of all Will & Grace episodes, commented: "This will be like the classic golden era of television that I was weaned on, where the audience sees everything. Directing a live broadcast will be a first for me, and as long as I have been in the business, there are very few firsts."
Upon learning about the live telecast, the cast had mixed emotions. Sean Hayes, who plays Jack, was nervous about the episode and hoped there would be cue card
Cue card
Cue cards, also known as note cards or idiot cards, are cards with words written on them that help actors and speakers remember what they have to say. They are typically used in television productions where they can be held off-camera and are unseen by the audience...
s. Debra Messing (Grace) "gasped loudly" when it was revealed that the technical demands of live television would mean that Burrows would not be directing on the stage floor, but would be up in a booth instead. Messing noted that she had never done live television, but in regards to the live broadcast, said, "It starts out our final season in a real special way." Eric McCormack (Will) was intrigued about the idea and seemed to be ready for whatever happened; "It keeps it interesting for us. It stirs it up. It gives us a new way to do it."
Mullally revealed that the show's writing team was "notorious for tinkering with the script's laugh lines", even during the actual taping of the episodes. She hoped they would resist that urge for the live episode. Messing, however, was sure that the writers would interfere during the broadcasts; "I have a gut feeling that, like, 10 minutes before we go they'll be like, 'Oh, no, no, you know what? Change this line to this. Now we're locked – go.'" Prior to the live episode, the cast had shot the second, third and fourth episodes of the season. Shortly before this episode, Mullally injured her foot and was unable to walk without crutches. The writers therefore had to put Mullally's character, Karen, in a cast and a motorized scooter, ostensibly because the character was recovering from an operation to correct a webbed toe.
"Alive and Schticking" was performed live twice for viewers in the East
East Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
and West
West Coast of the United States
West Coast or Pacific Coast are terms for the westernmost coastal states of the United States. The term most often refers to the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. Although not part of the contiguous United States, Alaska and Hawaii do border the Pacific Ocean but can't be included in...
coasts, with different jokes for each broadcast. The first show was broadcast at 8:30 p.m. (ET
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
) for the East and the second three hours later at 11:30 p.m. ET (8:30pm PT
Pacific Time Zone
The Pacific Time Zone observes standard time by subtracting eight hours from Coordinated Universal Time . The clock time in this zone is based on the mean solar time of the 120th meridian west of the Greenwich Observatory. During daylight saving time, its time offset is UTC-7.In the United States...
) for the West. During the two performances, Messing and Hayes had "attacks of the giggles". An audience member who was in attendance commented that Messing and Hayes "were so bad at keeping a straight face" during a dress rehearsal that Burrows had to get on the show's PA
Public address
A public address system is an electronic amplification system with a mixer, amplifier and loudspeakers, used to reinforce a sound source, e.g., a person giving a speech, a DJ playing prerecorded music, and distributing the sound throughout a venue or building.Simple PA systems are often used in...
system to yell at them. After both telecasts were aired, Burrows revealed that McCormack, Messing, Hayes, Mullally, and Baldwin "had a ball, but they also dreaded it."
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Alive and Schticking" was watched by 9.81 million households, according to Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. The episode received a 4.4 rating/11 share among viewers in the 18–49 demographic. It also scored the series' highest 18–49 rating since February 17, 2005, and biggest overall viewer total since February 24, 2005. "Alive and Schticking" finished 21st in the weekly ratings for the week of September 26–October 2, 2005. In 2006, Baldwin was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming...
in the "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" category for this episode.
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram is a major U.S. daily newspaper serving Fort Worth and the western half of the North Texas area known as the Metroplex. Its area of domination is checked by its main rival, The Dallas Morning News, which is published from the eastern half of the Metroplex. It is owned...
contributor Robert Philpot, who gave the episode a B+ rating, thought it was a pleasant surprise and an indication that there "might be some life" left in the show. He added that the episode feels fresher because of the "rapid-fire dialogue, farcical situations and ubiquitous double-entendres. And although this live edition was inarguably a stunt, it did prove that real people — and not mere machines — laugh at the characters and the jokes." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
also noted that the episode showed that Will & Grace still had a bit of life left. He added that McCormack seemed to flourish under the pressure, and that Hayes and Mullally "were given free rein to flex their Jack and Karen [...]". Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens
Dana Stevens is a screenwriter and television writer/producer.-Biography:Stevens wrote the screenplays of the films For Love of the Game and City of Angels. She was the creator, head-writer and showrunner of the television dramedy What About Brian?...
of Slate
Slate (magazine)
Slate is a US-based English language online current affairs and culture magazine created in 1996 by former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. On 21 December 2004 it was purchased by the Washington Post Company...
magazine reported that "Alive and Schticking" offered a chance to punch up the show with some "unusually broad sight gags." She wrote that the real reason to watch the episode were the mistakes made by the actors.
Philpot continued that moments like Will and his boss making out recalled the show's "glory days", and Messing's trouble keeping a straight face "brought back fond memories of Tim Conway
Tim Conway
Thomas Daniel "Tim" Conway is an American comedian and actor, primarily known for his roles in sitcoms, films and television. Conway is best known for his role as the inept second-in-command officer, Ensign Charles Parker, to Lt...
cracking up Harvey Korman
Harvey Korman
Harvey Herschel Korman was an American comedic actor who performed in television and movie productions beginning in 1960...
on The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show
The Carol Burnett Show is a variety / sketch comedy television show starring Carol Burnett, Harvey Korman, Vicki Lawrence, Lyle Waggoner, and Tim Conway. It originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 278 episodes and originated from CBS Television City's Studio 33...
." Knoxville News Sentinel
Knoxville News Sentinel
The Knoxville News Sentinel is a daily newspaper in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. It operates , an award-winning news website....
DVD Talk
DVD Talk is a website for DVD enthusiasts founded in January 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman when DVDs and DVD players were first beginning to hit the market.The site started as an online forum, an email newsletter, and a page of DVD news and reviews...
praised Baldwin for his performance and commented that "Alive and Schticking" helped "jumpstart the series creatively after a couple of seasons" and "It's fun [...] to see the actors momentarily break character, a la The Carol Burnett Show, where the absurdity of certain situations (usually involving Jack and/or Karen) makes giggling all but impossible." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
television critic Gary Susman gave "Alive and Schticking" four stars, while Frazier Moore
Frazier Moore
Frazier Moore, Jr. is a television critic for the Associated Press.-Background:Moore was born in Atlanta to El'Eckler Ussery Moore and Frazier Moore, Sr., a professor of advertising and public relations at the University of Georgia. Moore grew up in Athens, Georgia, and attended the University of...
of the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
lauded it as a "fun, and attention-grabbing, note." The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
Ray Richmond
Ray Richmond is a globally syndicated critic and entertainment/media columnist. Richmond has also worked variously as a feature and entertainment writer, beat reporter and TV critic for a variety of publications including the Los Angeles Daily News, Daily Variety, the Orange County Register, the...
said "In hindsight, this live thing proved a good idea."
"Alive and Schticking" received less positive reviews as well. Gail Pennington of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
wrote that the live episode "proved once and for all that Will & Grace should have been buried before now," and Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk pointed out that its underlying storyline "is a little too over-the-top." Jessica Banov of the The Fayetteville Observer wrote, "The first live show ... was so-so. The lighting was weird, and I'm not sure what was up with Debra Messing's hair. But it was funny to see Messing and Sean Hayes break from their scripts to giggle." Cinquemani commented that Baldwin's "absurd" role as Malcolm "is proving to be one of Will & Grace
David Blum
David Blum is a New York City writer and editor.Blum was born in Queens, New York, and graduated with a degree in English literature from the University of Chicago in 1977.He began his career as a reporter in 1979 for The Wall Street Journal...
of The New York Sun reported that the producers of Will & Grace wasted Baldwin's "prodigious talents on a supporting role this past season, when it's clear he could effortlessly carry his own network series." Kauffman concluded that Grace's joke about George Bush being brain dead "just falls amazingly flat".
External links
- "Alive and Schticking" at the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- "Alive and Schticking" at TV.comTV.comTV.com is a website owned by CBS Interactive. The site covers television and focuses on English-language shows made or broadcast in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and Japan...
- "Alive and Schticking" Alternative versions at the Internet Movie Database