NBC NBC has also been experiencing its share of viewer dropoff, and the post-Seinfeld era is not shaping up to be a pretty one. Will & Grace, the sole semi-hit of the season, is smart, sharply written and features likable characters (excluding the thoroughly annoying Megan Mullally). The show, about roommates who would make a perfect couple —if the man weren't gay— has yet to push the envelope. No signs yet of same-sex smooching or anything mildly controversial. Conrad Bloom, like Jesse, suffers from insipid writing and few laughs, but it's not so lucky as to be hammocked between Friends and Frasier.Encore! Encore!, which was retooled before the start of the season, is a prime example that even the most talented actors can only do so much with pitiful material. NBC's new dramas offer little in the way of inspired television. The extreme Bo Derek-starrer, Wind on Water, was extremely bad and short-lived. Similarly, the sprawling family drama, Trinity, is contrived and overwrought, though it is still on the schedule— for the time being, anyway.
