simple portrait from one of the walls, and McCormack took a small ceramic dog, though he said he would have taken everything if he could. The cast members of the show took the news about the show ending well. Hayes said: "I'm proud of being a part of something in history and I'm proud to have been given a platform to make people laugh." McCormack added, "We have never taken ourselves or this show too seriously but now that it's over I take our collective achievement very, very seriously." The actors were satisfied with the episode and thought the viewers would find it satisfying as well. "It's daring and ambitious and more far-reaching than most finales go. I think people will be quite surprised," McCormack said. Messing added: "I think Will & Grace fans will be satisfied. Ultimately, [the episode] was done beautifully and it ties up loose ends for all of the characters in a way that's wonderful." Broadcast and reception The series finale was heavily promoted by NBC, and the main cast members appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Today Show, and Live with Regis and Kelly to bid farewell. NBC devoted a two-hour block in its primetime schedule on May 18, 2006, for the Will & Grace send-off. An hour-long series retrospective, "Say Goodnight Gracie", featuring interviews with the cast, crew, and guest stars, preceded the hour-long series finale. The retrospective was viewed by an estimated 12.7 million viewers, while the finale drew 18.43 million viewers and a Nielsen rating of 11.5/18, making it the most watched episode of the final two seasons of Will & Grace. Since airing, the episode has received mixed reviews from television critics. Richard Keller of TV Squad thought the finale's theme of Will and Grace's connection to each other was well-presented by director James Burrows. Keller added, "While not as satisfying as, say, the Friends finale or as crushing as the Seinfeld finale, the series finale to Will & Grace did have its moments and came back to the original concept of friendship among a close group of people. There were some moments where I did laugh out loud, but they were few." CHUD.com's David Oliver praised the finale for not having characters "go on wild tangents that betray who they were during the entirety of the show's run." He also commented that Messing and McCormack are "affecting in their