Network Sevens situational comedy Will and Grace and romantic drama Essay

Network Sevens situational comedy Will and Grace and romantic drama The L word have both garnered critical and public praise for their use of significant homos - Essay Example l and Grace, and day-soap romantic drama in the case of The L Word, has a lot to do with the success of these shows and helping to make the lifestyles of gays and lesbians less suspicious, less mysterious, less threatening and have served to increase the gay and lesbian community’s base of heterosexual support for individual choice in same-sex relationships. Will and Grace follow on the success of shows like Mad About You, where the relationships were situational and the public at large, across gender identities, could relate to the events on a comedic level. More importantly, Will and Grace captured the â€Å"formula† for good humor. With its characters, like Karen (played by Megan Mullolly) the show is able to create a balance with peripheral characters so that the focus and expectation is not constantly on Will and Grace (Debra Messing) as characters in the show. There are the lives of the people in their lives going on about them, and this is important so that the show does not over-focus on the dating aspect of a single gay man and a heterosexual woman living in New York City. Drama, like comedy, requires a strength in the actor to the extent that the actor can successfully carry the character (Ulea, 2002, p. 3). Researcher V. Ulea describes drama this way: â€Å"A type of dramatic drama that represents main protagonists with average or above average and strong potential (2002, p. 4): The dramatic character is responsible for connecting with the viewer in a way that draws the viewer into the character’s space, and to react to the circumstances of the situation in a way that most of the viewing audience would react, or in a way with which the viewing audience can be understanding of or sympathetic of. According to Ulea, there can be cross-over between the genres, and it might yield something called â€Å"dramedy (2002, p. 5). This is when the ending is â€Å"assigned for cheerful, sad, or drama. Accordingly, the combination of powerful potential combined