Fagel Attraction

Douglas was mostly praised from critics for his performance and received an Emmy Award nomination in the "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" category.

Instead of asking him out on a date, due to fear of rejection, Gavin makes up an elaborate story that Will's laptop theft was part of a "gay laptop-theft ring."

This leads to the two bickering, which prompts Karen (Megan Mullally), Grace's friend and socialite assistant, to pull them apart.

[7] His management team wanted him to stretch beyond his usual roles, and believed a successful comedy show like Will & Grace would be a good way to do so.

[9] In 2002, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series" category for this episode,[10] but lost to Anthony LaPaglia of Frasier.

[14] Renée Peck of The Times-Picayune reported that she enjoyed watching Douglas have fun with an "off-the-wall" role combining an alternate lifestyle with altered consciousness.

"[16] Mark A. Perigard of the Boston Herald wrote that the "biggest laughs" in the episode come when Douglas holds hands with Will and then dances with him.

Allan Johnson of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the episode is good, but not great: "It proves stunt-casting doesn't necessarily work unless the actor is up to the script and lead performers.

"[19] Ted Cox of the Daily Herald wrote that the idea of Douglas being cast as a neurotic gay man "isn't a whole lot to this episode.

"[20] A television reviewer from Deseret News thought that because of his role on Will & Grace, Douglas should give the Oscar he won earlier in his career back.

"[19] The Palm Beach Post's Kevin D. Thompson wrote that Shannon's performance "displays why she should have her own sitcom",[22] while Cox wrote that she has a "quality in which a tightly bound surface normalcy seems to barely contain a bundle of tics and impulses, and the writers make excellent use of it by having Val try to first steal Grace's flair for design, then cop one of her clients.

"[20] Perigard noted that Grace and Val's storyline made it "clear that the producers just like the sight of the two women flailing their arms in a mock catfight.