SHOWER POWER

‘Will & Grace’ scene recalls ‘Lucy’ episode

NBC’s “Will & Grace” is paying homage to the classic “shower scene” from the 1960s CBS series “The

Lucy Show,” starring Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance.

On Thursday night’s “W&G” episode, Karen (Megan Mullally) and Grace (Debra Messing) get locked in Karen’s “smart” shower, which uses sensor technology and voice commands to customize the length of one’s shower, the water temperature, etc. But things go awry when Karen and Grace can’t quite figure out how to work the shower’s bells and whistles — echoing the shower scene from “The Lucy Show,” which originally aired in January 1963 with Ball and co-star Vivian Vance.

Glenda Rovello, the “Will & Grace” production designer, says the show’s shower was based on the Animal Planet series “Tanked,” which features different types of custom-made (often huge) water tanks.

“When my son was in elementary school, he loved [‘Tanked’],” Rovello says. “I watched it with him many times. So when this tank came up, I thought, who better? I called [the show] and they were completely ‘can do.’ They engineered and built it in Las Vegas and trucked it here [to LA].” Rovello says the tank’s capacity was around 1,950 gallons (it was filled to 1,800 gallons of water, which was filtered and heated to 91 degrees). “[The water] was then pumped in with a 2-inch pool pump,” she says. “It took about 25 minutes to go from empty to full.”

The scene is very reminiscent of “The Lucy Show” episode, “Lucy and Viv Put in a Shower,” when Lucy (Ball) shoos away the plumber installing her shower — then decides she and her best pal Viv (Vance) can finish the job themselves. The only problem? They forget several vital details.

The “Will & Grace” wardrobe department had three duplicate wardrobes of the clothing Messing and Mullally wore in the shower scene, but the actors ended up only wearing one outfit apiece.

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