Entertainment

Why This New 'Will & Grace' Character Might Be Grace's Perfect Match

Chris Haston/NBC

In the early 2000s, a crossover between Will & Grace and Friends would have been must-see TV. And while it may have taken nearly two decades, NBC is finally (kind of) delivering. On the Will & Grace Season 10 premiere, David Schwimmer plays the West Side Curmudgeon — or Noah Broader, if you want to call him by his way less fun real name. It's not a proper crossover — Noah is no Ross Geller — but as the character is Grace's love interest, he should add a fun dynamic to the show.

Viewers first meet Noah at a fundraising party for Grace, who's running for president of the New York Society of Interior Designers. Noah, a Twitter celebrity known for complaining about New York City, crashes the event looking for free food, and Will and Grace instantly recognize him. "I love him!" Will exclaims. "He hates the things we hate and tweets about it!" Grace then fangirls while talking to him, and mistakenly thinks he's flirting with her. But later, Noah takes to Twitter to make fun of her campaign flyer.

Chris Haston/NBC

After some "light stalking," Grace tracks down Noah at a diner and demands he take down his rude tweet. He refuses at first, but Grace keeps coming back to try and persuade him, eventually getting through by calling him a coward who'd rather mock people than face his own failures. Noah doesn't come right out and say it — and maintains that he was not flirting, even though Grace figures out he Googled her — but it's clearly he enjoys how she challenges him. So, he takes down the tweet and invites Grace to stay for a rice pudding — noting, of course, that the diner has terrible service.

NBC hasn't announced how many episodes Schwimmer will be in, and his IMDb page doesn't offer any clues. But he is a recurring character this season, so you might be seeing Noah's grumpy face quite a bit. Plus, the way that he and Grace begin their relationship is pretty true to form. In the original series, Grace didn't initially get along with some of her earlier boyfriends, either — in particular, Will's boss Ben (Gregory Hines), who she sued, and Nathan (Woody Harrelson), her neighbor who she considered too sloppy and childish. And even though she hit it off with Nick (Ed Burns) after her divorce from Leo, Grace quickly got into a fight with him about the nefariousness of greeting card companies around Valentine's Day. So she's certainly never been afraid of a confrontation when it comes to her significant others.

Chris Haston/NBC

Yet, like with ex-husband Leo (Harry Connick Jr.), Grace is extremely attracted to Noah despite their early differences. As Debra Messing said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight Canada, "He's a complicated guy and she's into him. She's really into him."

Besides, Grace can be a griper in her own right, which might make her the perfect person to counter this curmudgeon as Season 10 continues.