Will and Grace Enters the Smithsonian

Hundreds of photographs, papers, and historical objects documenting the history of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people are being added to the Smithsonian Institution's collection today, including items from the popular TV show Will and Grace. Show creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick, along with NBC, are donating objects to the National Museum of American History. The collection includes original scripts, casting ideas, political memorabilia surrounding the show and the series finale. The network agreed to donate props, including a pill bottle and flask, a sign from "Grace Adler Interior Design," and Will Truman's framed college diploma.

Kohan tells the AP the Smithsonian's interest in the show featuring gay principal characters was a validation they never dreamed about when the sitcom began airing in 1998. "These particular guests that were invited into people's living rooms happened to be your gay friends," Kohan says. "I don't think people really had the opportunity to have that before, and it served to, I think, make people recognize that your close friends were gay. The fact that it's in the American history (museum), maybe we were a part of something that was bigger than we ever imagined." The donation is part of larger effort to document gay and lesbian history, an area that has not been well represented at the museum. (More Smithsonian stories.)