When NBC’s long-running sitcom, Will & Grace, says its final goodbyes tonight, it will probably seem to most viewers a minor event. And that, says Gail Shister, is a testament to just how far American audiences have come in their perception of gay culture since the show debuted in 1998. “If Ellen opened the door, Will & Grace burst into the room with a marching band, tastefully accessorized… Without a single sermon, [the show] advanced the national conversation about homosexuality.”