"The Finale" is the twenty-third and twenty-fourth episodes of American television series Will & Grace's eighth season, which originally served as the series finale prior to the announcement of a 16-episode ninth season revival slated for the 2017–18 TV season. It originally aired on NBC in the United States on May 18, 2006, when it was watched by an average of eighteen million viewers, making it the most watched episode of the final two seasons of Will & Grace. In the finale, Will and Grace have a falling-out that lasts for years. They each have a child with their respective partners, and eventually reconcile when their children (Laila and Ben) meet at college. Meanwhile, Karen's arch-enemy Beverley Leslie makes an offer to Jack which ultimately leads to Jack inheriting Beverley's fortune. The episode was written by series creators and executive producers David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, and directed by James Burrows. Filming took place at CBS Studio Center in Studio City, California in April 2006. The cast members took the news about the show ending well, but they became emotional as the final scene was being filmed. NBC heavily promoted the finale, and the main cast members appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Today Show to bid farewell. An hour-long series retrospective, "Say Goodnight Gracie", featuring interviews with the cast, crew, and guest stars, preceded the hour-long series finale. Since airing, "The Finale" has received mixed reviews from television critics. Within the series continuity, when Will & Grace began its ninth season 11 years after this episode aired, the events of "The Finale" were retconned out of existence. Neither Will nor Grace ever had children, Karen did not divorce Stan, and Jack never married Beverly Leslie; the entire episode was said to have been a dream of Karen's. Plot Grace Adler (Debra Messing), heavily pregnant, is having bizarre dreams of the future in which she and her gay friend and roommate Will Truman (Eric McCormack) are an old couple raising their child. In her dream, Jack McFarland (Sean Hayes) is married to actor Kevin Bacon, and Karen Walker (Megan Mullally)—who has not aged (her explanation: "Money")—is now in a relationship with her maid Rosario Salazar (Shelley Morrison). In Grace's real life, however, her relationship with Will is complicated. Grace is not sure if she wants to spend the rest of her life living with Will. When her ex-husband