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'Will & Grace' Ads Take Back The Knight
NBC Stars Made Commercials Against Senator's Anti-Gay Marriage Initiative
OAKLAND, Calif., Updated 8:37 p.m. EST December 8, 1999 -- The four stars of "Will & Grace," an NBC comedy about a gay attorney and his heterosexual woman friend, are in a television commercial opposing a California ballot initiative to ban gay marriages.
Eric McCormack (Will), Debra Messing (Grace), Megan Mullally (Karen) and openly gay actor Sean Hayes (Jack) agreed to appear in the commercial after being approached by Max Mutchnick, the show's co-executive producer and co-creator.
The actors are following in the footsteps of other stars who did political ads during the run of their popular shows, including Ed Asner of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Lou Grant" and Ellen Degeneres of "Ellen."
"I would really like this ad to appeal to younger voters who think that this initiative is unfair and intrusive," Mutchnik told the Oakland Tribune. The show draws about 13 million viewers a week.
The commercial opposes Proposition 22, an initiative on the March 2000 state ballot sponsored by state Sen. William "Pete" Knight, R-Palmdale.
The "Limit on Marriage" initiative would rewrite the state Constitution to specify that only marriages between a man and a woman are valid in California. Same-sex marriages are not recognized by any state government or the federal government. Knight's supporters fear another state will recognize gay marriages. Under California law, the state must recognize all unions performed in other states.
The ads will cost $1 million and hit the airwaves in January in the state's biggest cities, the Los Angeles Times reported in today's edition.
Robert Glazier, spokesman for the Protection of Marriage Campaign said the television ad will not defeat the initiative.
"This is a straightforward issue about protection of the family, about protecting marriage between a man and a woman," he said.
The commercial is scheduled to be unveiled this morning in San Francisco by the No On Knight campaign.
An NBC representative said that the network has nothing to do with the ad.
"The cast decided to do this of their own accord and out of their own personal beliefs and it doesn't reflect the network," said NBC senior vice president Shirley Powell.
The ad was produced and financed by Mutchnick's production company, KoMut Entertainment.
"I wanted to help more than just writing a check. I get tired of blind charity, and so I decided to ask the cast if they would do this," Mutchnick said. "I thought that we could affect something quickly by using their well-known faces."
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