'Will & Grace' Paid Homage to 'Ellen's' Iconic Coming Out Scene

The season finale of Will & Grace paid homage to the iconic Ellencoming out episode, and Megan Mullally went on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk to the host about the impact her og sitcom had.

Mullally, who obviously plays everyone’s favorite pill-popping drunk, Karen Walker, didn’t give away too much about the actual moment in the episode, but we will, so SPOILERS AHEAD!

Karen took leap and began dating Nikki, played by Samira Wiley, a few episodes earlier, and has been going through a serious identity crisis ever since, including an unfortunate phase of going full lumberjack.

In the finale, which takes place entirely in an airport, she realizes she can’t date Nikki anymore, because she’s not really gay. Her moment of truth comes when she leans over the podium and comes out to Nikki as straight — into the microphone and over the whole airport’s speaker system.

It’s a direct parallel to Ellen’s “The Puppy Episode,” in which she finally gets the courage to come out to Laura Dern and accidentally reveals her secret to everyone in the airport — an iconic moment in LGBTQ TV history if there ever was one.

Ellen’s show got cancelled not long after, but now here she is, back on TV with her own long running talk show, and here Will & Grace is, revived from the dead after so many years. 

“Your show really laid the groundwork for Will & Grace,” Mullally said. “I don’t know if there would have been a Will & Grace had you not done that show and come out, so thank you for that. Thank you for my career.”

You can watch more of Mullally’s interview below: