Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More
Encyclopedia
"Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" is a double-length episode of the American television series Will & Grace
s fifth season. It was written by Jeff Greenstein
and Bill Wrubel and directed by series producer James Burrows
. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) in the United States on November 21, 2002. Guest stars in "Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" include Harry Connick, Jr.
, Katie Couric
, Judith Ivey
, and Debbie Reynolds
.
The episode focuses on Grace
(played by Debra Messing
) impulsively accepting a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Leo (Harry Connick, Jr.) despite that the two have only known each other for a short time. They get married and tell their friends about the news, despite Grace's best friend Will
's (Eric McCormack
) unease about the whole idea. Grace and Leo decide to host a wedding reception for themselves, but at the festivity, Grace learns unsettling details about Leo, which gives her reason to wonder if she has made a mistake.
Before the episode aired, some critics worried that bringing Leo into the storyline would disrupt the friendship between Will and Grace. Co-creator David Kohan
, however, believed the two characters had to "move on forward in their lives in some way", and sought to assure the worrying critics that a third individual added to the mix would be unlikely to replace Will as the best friend of Grace. NBC was also in full support of creating a triangle
between the three characters, stating that it was a way for the producers to find a new "spark" for the series.
Once the episode aired, it received generally mixed reviews from television critics. Despite this, "Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" was watched by 24.3 million households in its original airing, according to Nielsen ratings
. The episode also garnered Will & Grace' s second-largest audience ever among adults aged 18 to 49. The Nation
magazine commented that this was the first time that a prime-time sitcom showed a Jewish protagonist (Grace) marrying inside the faith.
When Grace
(Debra Messing
) and her boyfriend Leo (Harry Connick, Jr.
) take a walk around Central Park
, they notice a tent and a van parked nearby, after a bride and groom ran past them. Eager to know what is happening, Grace stops by the van, sees Katie Couric
, and askes her what is going on. Katie tells Grace that The Today Show is having massive televised weddings in the park for ratings sweeps week. When Katie asks Grace and Leo if they would like to get married, Leo says yes, but Grace believes he is being sarcastic, only later realizing that he is serious. Leo explains to Grace that because they originally met in a park, they should also get married in a park. Leo proposes and Grace accepts, despite that the two have only known each other for two months.
Upon arriving at Will
's (Eric McCormack
) apartment, Grace and Leo reveal to their friends, Will, Jack
(Sean Hayes
), and Karen (Megan Mullally
), that they have gotten married. The friends' reactions to the news are not positive; in particular, Grace's gay best friend Will is uneasy about the whole idea. Leo and Grace, however, assure Will that they will have a wedding reception in honor of him, which improves Will's relationship with both Grace and Leo.
During the reception, Grace learns many things she did not know about Leo, including that his first name is Marvin (revealed by his mother, Eleanor (Judith Ivey
)). So many unsettling details about Leo come to light that Grace becomes uneasy and leaves the reception; Leo follows her. The two run into Katie in the lobby who tells them that The Today Show has scrapped the wedding segment because the judge who performed the ceremony was not licensed in New York so their marriage is not valid. Upon learning this, Grace tells Leo that she needs time to think about their relationship. Leo returns to the reception and announces to everyone that his marriage to Grace is not legitimate. Grace returns to the reception later, and reveals that she does want to marry Leo.
At a Jewish synagogue, where Grace and Leo's wedding is to take place, Grace learns from her mother, Bobbi (Debbie Reynolds
), that her father will not be able to walk her down the aisle. Grace panics, but Karen suggests that Will should walk with her instead. She agrees and calls upon him. Although Will at first declines to give her away because of the prior argument, they make up and he finally escorts her down the aisle. After the wedding reception, Will, Grace, Leo, Jack, and Karen walk through Central Park enjoying Grace and Leo's marriage.
and Bill Wrubel and was directed by series producer James Burrows
. It was the one-hundredth episode of Will & Grace, and the producers celebrated the milestone by planning an hour-long episode followed by a clip show featuring highlights and outtakes from past seasons. In an interview with The Jewish Journal
in 2001, David Kohan
, the co-creator of Will & Grace
, in discussing the lead characters, stated that a marriage could be a problem for the dynamic between the two characters: "I'd love for [Grace] to find a Jewish love interest, but that relationship might actually work, and then there'd be no more 'Will & Grace'." Kohan, however, changed his mind by the time of a follow-up interview in 2002: he noted that the characters had to "move on forward in their lives in some way" and it would be unlikely that Grace's possible husband would displace her gay best friend, Will. In July 2002, reports surfaced that a possible wedding involving Grace would happen, but the staff were not allowed to reveal anything.
Musician Harry Connick, Jr.
, was cast in the role of Leo. He received a call from co-creators Kohan and Max Mutchnick
asking him to appear on Will & Grace, and agreed to do it after learning that it was his wife's favorite show. According to Debra Messing, who plays Grace, Kohan and Mutchnick had a specific vision of Grace's husband from the start. They thought it was important that Grace meet a "menschy, nice Jewish man who happens to be a hottie, and that's what we got with Harry Connick Jr," she said. According to The Nation
magazine, this was the first time that a prime-time sitcom showed a Jewish protagonist (Grace) marrying inside the faith. Connick, who is part-Jewish, said he enjoyed the fact that he was not asked to sing on the show, because "it throws you out of character a little bit when that stuff happens. It's been great just doing the acting thing." Messing, in discussing Grace and Leo's relationship, commented that it is "unlike anything that Grace has ever been a part of before and just the little that we've done so far, it feels wonderful to be playing with Harry." In another interview, also discussing the characters' relationship, she explained, "...bringing Leo into it and making it a viable and potent relationship for Grace, that's never happened before. I think she's a little less frenetic and neurotic, and I think that really being in love markedly changes Grace. That sexual energy in a great way has shaken things up, because it is the greatest threat to the friendship of Will and Grace to date."
Before the Grace and Leo storyline was written, NBC worried that the show's characters never seemed to move forward or mature. They wanted the show to be more like Friends
, which received higher ratings because of its romantic storyline cliffhanger
s. Greenstein commented that "there was an interchangeability among the episodes from season to season. We wanted to create more continuing story arcs; we wanted to deepen the predicaments the characters are in, get the audience kind of rooting for something from week to week." In November 2002, negotiations were made for Connick to play a series regular on Will & Grace; he originally signed on for only 13 episodes. Jeff Zucker
, who at the time served as President of NBC Entertainment, commented that creating a triangle between Will, Grace, and Leo was a "brilliant" way to give the series a new spark. He was confident that it would be well-received by the audience and the fans.
The episode was filmed over three days at the end of October and beginning of November 2002. It was supposed to take only two days, but the filming of the wedding scenes was postponed after Messing got sick on the first day. On November 3, 2002, the rooftop terrace scene was filmed at the New York Palace Hotel
. In November 2002, the scene in Central Park was shot in New York. The wedding ceremony was filmed, in part, at Temple Israel of Hollywood. As the actors performed their lines in front of a studio audience
, the writing staff stood behind the cameras taking notes in the script and watching the audience's reaction to jokes. The writers often stopped the cameras and added new inflections to the dialog. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel
' s Terry Morrow, the cast handled the changes quickly, and scenes were routinely redone up to three times even if the actors executed their lines properly.
Debbie Reynolds
and Judith Ivey
guest-starred in the episode as the mothers of Grace and Leo, respectively. Reynolds had played Grace's mother in the episode "The Unsinkable Mommy Adler" in season one, while Ivey played Connick's mother in the previous episode, "The Needle and the Omelet's Done". Katie Couric
portrayed herself in the episode. Vera Wang
designed Grace's wedding dress, which cost approximately $20,000. The show's costume designer, Lori Eskowitz-Carter, provided Sergio Rossi
boots worth $1,750 for the episode, while Grace's jewelry was supplied by Martin Katz
.
received its smallest audience that season. The episode received a 11.8 rating/27% share among viewers in the 18-49 demographic, making it Will & Grace' s second-largest audience ever in that demographic. Editor Peter Chakos was nominated for an Emmy Award
in the category of "Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series" at the 55th Primetime Emmy Awards
.
The episode received a mixed reception from television critics. Alan Pergament of The Buffalo News
commented that "like all hourlong episodes of comedies, this one becomes a little bloated in the middle. But it holds up for the most part and has some very funny and poignant moments, including an emotional rooftop scene between Will and Grace that defines their friendship." Whitney Matheson of USA Today
said she "was bored to tears" by the episode, while Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk
thought it was a "fun episode". Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated
was not complimentary towards Connick, "Whoever came up with the idea to cast Connick on Will & Grace should be fired." A writer from Entertainment Weekly
, however, commented that Leo "fits right in to the antic Will & Grace world of Will, Grace, Jack, and Karen." Matt Roush of TV Guide
was not thrilled of the idea of Grace getting married, writing: "Well, is the show called Will & Grace & Leo? I don't think so." The Star-Ledger
' s Alan Sepinwall commented that Will & Grace "has already been infected with a sense of cattiness and despair, as the writers try to top each other's nasty one-liners. A happy, healthy relationship could be just the cure for what's ailing the one-time Emmy winner."
Bill Carroll, Vice President and Director for the Katz Television Group, a consulting firm, wondered where the show would head after Grace got married: "The real question now is, where is the critical development of that show going to be? Now that they've married her off, where is the show's focus?" The Hartford Courant
' s Roger Catlin did not think Grace's and Leo's marriage would last long. "Are we to believe Will & Grace will now be about a married woman, her husband and her gay roommate? That they'll all still live together? That Connick will no longer have merely special-guest status? The inevitable breakup and annulment to come are as obvious as the sweeps-timing of the ceremony."
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 fifth season. It was written by Jeff Greenstein
Jeff Greenstein
Jeff Greenstein is an American television writer and producer. His credits include Desperate Housewives, Jake in Progress, Will & Grace, Partners, Friends, and Dream On....
and 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 originally aired 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 November 21, 2002. Guest stars in "Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" include Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, Katie Couric
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
, Judith Ivey
Judith Ivey
Judith Lee Ivey is an American actress and director.-Personal life:Ivey was born in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Lee , a teacher, and Nathan Aldean Ivey, a college instructor and dean. She spent 1965-1968 in Dowagiac, Michigan, where she attended Union High School through tenth grade...
, and Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
.
The episode focuses on 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...
(played by 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....
) impulsively accepting a marriage proposal from her boyfriend Leo (Harry Connick, Jr.) despite that the two have only known each other for a short time. They get married and tell their friends about the news, despite Grace's best friend 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:...
's (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...
) unease about the whole idea. Grace and Leo decide to host a wedding reception for themselves, but at the festivity, Grace learns unsettling details about Leo, which gives her reason to wonder if she has made a mistake.
Before the episode aired, some critics worried that bringing Leo into the storyline would disrupt the friendship between Will and Grace. Co-creator 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...
, however, believed the two characters had to "move on forward in their lives in some way", and sought to assure the worrying critics that a third individual added to the mix would be unlikely to replace Will as the best friend of Grace. NBC was also in full support of creating a triangle
Love triangle
A love triangle is usually a romantic relationship involving three people. While it can refer to two people independently romantically linked with a third, it usually implies that each of the three people has some kind of relationship to the other two...
between the three characters, stating that it was a way for the producers to find a new "spark" for the series.
Once the episode aired, it received generally mixed reviews from television critics. Despite this, "Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" was watched by 24.3 million households in its original airing, according to Nielsen ratings
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...
. The episode also garnered Will & Grace
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
magazine commented that this was the first time that a prime-time sitcom showed a Jewish protagonist (Grace) marrying inside the faith.
Plot
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....
) and her boyfriend Leo (Harry Connick, Jr.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
) take a walk around Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
, they notice a tent and a van parked nearby, after a bride and groom ran past them. Eager to know what is happening, Grace stops by the van, sees Katie Couric
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
, and askes her what is going on. Katie tells Grace that The Today Show is having massive televised weddings in the park for ratings sweeps week. When Katie asks Grace and Leo if they would like to get married, Leo says yes, but Grace believes he is being sarcastic, only later realizing that he is serious. Leo explains to Grace that because they originally met in a park, they should also get married in a park. Leo proposes and Grace accepts, despite that the two have only known each other for two months.
Upon arriving at 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:...
's (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...
) apartment, Grace and Leo reveal to their friends, Will, 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...
), and 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...
), that they have gotten married. The friends' reactions to the news are not positive; in particular, Grace's gay best friend Will is uneasy about the whole idea. Leo and Grace, however, assure Will that they will have a wedding reception in honor of him, which improves Will's relationship with both Grace and Leo.
During the reception, Grace learns many things she did not know about Leo, including that his first name is Marvin (revealed by his mother, Eleanor (Judith Ivey
Judith Ivey
Judith Lee Ivey is an American actress and director.-Personal life:Ivey was born in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Lee , a teacher, and Nathan Aldean Ivey, a college instructor and dean. She spent 1965-1968 in Dowagiac, Michigan, where she attended Union High School through tenth grade...
)). So many unsettling details about Leo come to light that Grace becomes uneasy and leaves the reception; Leo follows her. The two run into Katie in the lobby who tells them that The Today Show has scrapped the wedding segment because the judge who performed the ceremony was not licensed in New York so their marriage is not valid. Upon learning this, Grace tells Leo that she needs time to think about their relationship. Leo returns to the reception and announces to everyone that his marriage to Grace is not legitimate. Grace returns to the reception later, and reveals that she does want to marry Leo.
At a Jewish synagogue, where Grace and Leo's wedding is to take place, Grace learns from her mother, Bobbi (Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
), that her father will not be able to walk her down the aisle. Grace panics, but Karen suggests that Will should walk with her instead. She agrees and calls upon him. Although Will at first declines to give her away because of the prior argument, they make up and he finally escorts her down the aisle. After the wedding reception, Will, Grace, Leo, Jack, and Karen walk through Central Park enjoying Grace and Leo's marriage.
Production
"Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" was written by Jeff GreensteinJeff Greenstein
Jeff Greenstein is an American television writer and producer. His credits include Desperate Housewives, Jake in Progress, Will & Grace, Partners, Friends, and Dream On....
and Bill Wrubel and was 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:...
. It was the one-hundredth episode of Will & Grace, and the producers celebrated the milestone by planning an hour-long episode followed by a clip show featuring highlights and outtakes from past seasons. In an interview with The Jewish Journal
The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles
The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles is an independent, nonprofit community weekly newspaper serving the Jewish community of greater Los Angeles, published by TRIBE Media Corp. The Journal was established in 1985. As of 2010 it had a verified circulation of 60,000 and an estimated readership...
in 2001, 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...
, the co-creator of Will & Grace
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...
, in discussing the lead characters, stated that a marriage could be a problem for the dynamic between the two characters: "I'd love for [Grace] to find a Jewish love interest, but that relationship might actually work, and then there'd be no more 'Will & Grace'." Kohan, however, changed his mind by the time of a follow-up interview in 2002: he noted that the characters had to "move on forward in their lives in some way" and it would be unlikely that Grace's possible husband would displace her gay best friend, Will. In July 2002, reports surfaced that a possible wedding involving Grace would happen, but the staff were not allowed to reveal anything.
Harry Connick, Jr.
Joseph Harry Fowler Connick, Jr. is an American singer, big-band leader/conductor, pianist, actor, and composer. He has sold over 25 million albums worldwide. Connick is ranked among the top 60 best-selling male artists in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America, with...
, was cast in the role of Leo. He received a call from co-creators Kohan 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....
asking him to appear on Will & Grace, and agreed to do it after learning that it was his wife's favorite show. According to Debra Messing, who plays Grace, Kohan and Mutchnick had a specific vision of Grace's husband from the start. They thought it was important that Grace meet a "menschy, nice Jewish man who happens to be a hottie, and that's what we got with Harry Connick Jr," she said. According to The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
magazine, this was the first time that a prime-time sitcom showed a Jewish protagonist (Grace) marrying inside the faith. Connick, who is part-Jewish, said he enjoyed the fact that he was not asked to sing on the show, because "it throws you out of character a little bit when that stuff happens. It's been great just doing the acting thing." Messing, in discussing Grace and Leo's relationship, commented that it is "unlike anything that Grace has ever been a part of before and just the little that we've done so far, it feels wonderful to be playing with Harry." In another interview, also discussing the characters' relationship, she explained, "...bringing Leo into it and making it a viable and potent relationship for Grace, that's never happened before. I think she's a little less frenetic and neurotic, and I think that really being in love markedly changes Grace. That sexual energy in a great way has shaken things up, because it is the greatest threat to the friendship of Will and Grace to date."
Before the Grace and Leo storyline was written, NBC worried that the show's characters never seemed to move forward or mature. They wanted the show to be more like Friends
Friends
Friends is an American sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994 to May 6, 2004. The series revolves around a group of friends in Manhattan. The series was produced by Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
, which received higher ratings because of its romantic storyline cliffhanger
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode of serialized fiction...
s. Greenstein commented that "there was an interchangeability among the episodes from season to season. We wanted to create more continuing story arcs; we wanted to deepen the predicaments the characters are in, get the audience kind of rooting for something from week to week." In November 2002, negotiations were made for Connick to play a series regular on Will & Grace; he originally signed on for only 13 episodes. Jeff Zucker
Jeff Zucker
Jeffrey "Jeff" Zucker is an American television executive and former President and CEO of NBCUniversal.-Personal life:Zucker was born to Jewish-American parents in Homestead, Florida, near Miami. His father was a cardiologist, and his mother, Arlene, was a school teacher...
, who at the time served as President of NBC Entertainment, commented that creating a triangle between Will, Grace, and Leo was a "brilliant" way to give the series a new spark. He was confident that it would be well-received by the audience and the fans.
New York Palace (Budapest)
The Boscolo Budapest Hotel, formerly the New York Palace is a luxury hotel on the Grand Boulevard of Budapest's Erzsébet körút part, under Erzsébet körút 9-11, in the 7th district of Budapest, Hungary...
. In November 2002, the scene in Central Park was shot in New York. The wedding ceremony was filmed, in part, at Temple Israel of Hollywood. As the actors performed their lines in front of a studio audience
Studio audience
A studio audience is an audience present for the taping of all or part of a television program. The primary purpose of the studio audience is to provide applause and/or laughter to the program's soundtrack . A studio audience can also provide volunteers, a visual backdrop and discussion participants...
, the writing staff stood behind the cameras taking notes in the script and watching the audience's reaction to jokes. The writers often stopped the cameras and added new inflections to the dialog. According to the 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....
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds
Debbie Reynolds is an American actress, singer, and dancer.She was initially signed at age 16 by Warner Bros., but her career got off to a slow start. When her contract was not renewed, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer gave her a small, but significant part in the film Three Little Words , then signed her to...
and Judith Ivey
Judith Ivey
Judith Lee Ivey is an American actress and director.-Personal life:Ivey was born in El Paso, Texas, the daughter of Dorothy Lee , a teacher, and Nathan Aldean Ivey, a college instructor and dean. She spent 1965-1968 in Dowagiac, Michigan, where she attended Union High School through tenth grade...
guest-starred in the episode as the mothers of Grace and Leo, respectively. Reynolds had played Grace's mother in the episode "The Unsinkable Mommy Adler" in season one, while Ivey played Connick's mother in the previous episode, "The Needle and the Omelet's Done". Katie Couric
Katie Couric
Katherine Anne "Katie" Couric is an American journalist and author. She serves as Special Correspondent for ABC News, contributing to ABC World News, Nightline, 20/20, Good Morning America, This Week and primetime news specials...
portrayed herself in the episode. Vera Wang
Vera Wang
Vera Ellen Wang is a Chinese American fashion designer based in New York City and former figure skater. She is known for her wide clientele of couture bridesmaid gowns and wedding gown collections.-Personal life:...
designed Grace's wedding dress, which cost approximately $20,000. The show's costume designer, Lori Eskowitz-Carter, provided Sergio Rossi
Sergio Rossi
Sergio Rossi is an Italian fashion designer and distributor of women's shoes and handbags, as well as a limited range of men's shoes. The Sergio Rossi label is owned by the French conglomerate PPR.-Biography:...
boots worth $1,750 for the episode, while Grace's jewelry was supplied by Martin Katz
Martin Katz (American jewelry designer)
Martin Katz is an American jewelry designer and collector whose pieces have been popular with celebrities for nearly two decades. His work has been featured in fashion spreads and celebrity photo shoots for magazines such as Vogue, W, and InStyle...
.
Reception
"Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" brought in an average of 24.3 million viewers during its original airing on November 21, 2002, the second-largest audience ever for a Will & Grace episode; as a result, CSI: Crime Scene InvestigationCSI: Crime Scene Investigation
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama television series, which premiered on CBS on October 6, 2000. The show was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer...
received its smallest audience that season. The episode received a 11.8 rating/27% share among viewers in the 18-49 demographic, making it Will & Grace
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...
in the category of "Outstanding Multi-Camera Picture Editing for a Series" at the 55th Primetime Emmy Awards
55th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 55th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held on September 21, 2003. The awards show was broadcast on FOX. Nominees are listed below; winners are in bold.-Outstanding Drama Series:* 24, Fox* CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CBS...
.
The episode received a mixed reception from television critics. Alan Pergament of The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway.-History:...
commented that "like all hourlong episodes of comedies, this one becomes a little bloated in the middle. But it holds up for the most part and has some very funny and poignant moments, including an emotional rooftop scene between Will and Grace that defines their friendship." Whitney Matheson of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
said she "was bored to tears" by the episode, while Jeffrey Robinson of DVD Talk
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...
thought it was a "fun episode". Seth Davis of Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated is an American sports media company owned by media conglomerate Time Warner. Its self titled magazine has over 3.5 million subscribers and is read by 23 million adults each week, including over 18 million men. It was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the...
was not complimentary towards Connick, "Whoever came up with the idea to cast Connick on Will & Grace should be fired." A writer from 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...
, however, commented that Leo "fits right in to the antic Will & Grace world of Will, Grace, Jack, and Karen." Matt Roush of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
was not thrilled of the idea of Grace getting married, writing: "Well, is the show called Will & Grace & Leo? I don't think so." The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger
The Star-Ledger is the largest circulated newspaper in the U.S. state of New Jersey and is based in Newark. It is a sister paper to The Jersey Journal of Jersey City, The Times of Trenton and the Staten Island Advance, all of which are owned by Advance Publications.The Newark Star-Ledgers daily...
Bill Carroll, Vice President and Director for the Katz Television Group, a consulting firm, wondered where the show would head after Grace got married: "The real question now is, where is the critical development of that show going to be? Now that they've married her off, where is the show's focus?" The Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant
The Hartford Courant is the largest daily newspaper in the U.S. state of Connecticut, and is a morning newspaper for most of the state north of New Haven and east of Waterbury...
External links
- "Marry Me a Little" 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...
- "Marry Me a Little, Marry Me a Little More" 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...
- "Marry Me a Little More" at the Internet Movie Database