fresh from binging all of 30 rock in about two months time (super sad about it) i needed a new show to binge. since i had never seen 30 rock or even really cared to until the ripe age of 29, i pondered what other sitcom hidden gems i missed from that time, or like before 2010.
after scrolling and scrolling through hulu, i found it. the perfect, easy to watch, but also emotionally in tact and super witty sitcom. will and grace. the binge was a go. im loving megan mullaney’s sharp and hilarious karen. debra and eric stun as will and grace. and jack. an icon. but still the more i binge- something was off for me. hear me out-
first let’s think about how will and grace was revolutionary while still being limited at the same time. it cracked the door open for queer characters on tv, but only the kind of queer that felt “safe” to straight audiences. funny, stylish, nonthreatening, adjacent to the real mess.
now let’s think about how will & grace handled its flamboyant character. jack was iconic, but he was also written as the “gay you didn’t wanna be.” the easy target. the punchline. the one whose queerness was loud enough to be funny but never allowed to be taken seriously. and i say that as
…someone who grew up being that kind of gay. the one people felt comfortable picking at, imitating, mocking. it hits me in a real way now, because i know how much that stereotype shaped the way people treated guys like me.
and that’s part of why “serve.” is so unapologetically queer. **an adult animation comedy series i’m writing. i’m not interested in creating characters who exist to make straight audiences comfortable. i’m not interested in queerness that’s only allowed if it’s tidy or toned down. i want the messy, loud, emotional, flamboyant, complicated versions of us- the ones who never got to be more than a joke on network tv. sometimes i worry it might be “too much,” but then i remember:
the reason will & grace couldn’t move society as fast as it moved tv is because it wasn’t allowed to show the full spectrum of who we are.
“serve.” isn’t asking for that permission. it’s just telling the truth. hopefully there’s room for stories such as mine and the many other like it now in 2026. i know personally seeing the film moonlight (2016) was the first time i saw myself on the screen. i saw a gay black boy going through what i went through. that was a powerful thing for my younger twenties-self to see. it awoken the writer in me. i’ve since been a card carrying a24 close friends member and have almost completed my first feature length screenplay, The Town Crier along with a complete pilot script for the aforementioned serve. & hell, who knows? maybe by 40 one of my stories get produced. guess we’ll just need to wait and see.
byyeeeee :3