Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More

by James Burrows

Another time I was sitting at a table with an again-inebriated Steinbeck, who took the speech for the Nobel Prize he won for literature in 1962 from his pocket and showed it to me: The writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit—for gallantry in defeat—for courage, compassion, and love. In the endless war against weakness and despair, these are the bright rally-flags of hope and of emulation. I hold that a writer who does not passionately believe in the perfectibility of man has no dedication nor any membership in literature.

In the beginning, the characters must be appealing and compelling. Networks want characters to be appealing all the time. But that’s ultimately terrible for storytelling, because there’s no journey. There’s no redemption if there’s no sin. There has to be some dimension. The challenge is in figuring out how to grow and nurture characters carefully so that the audience will continue to accept them.

A resident director is optimal for a show, to provide continuity and represent the producers to the cast and the cast to the producers in constructive, nonabrasive ways. It was my job on Taxi, as well as all the other shows I’ve worked on, to make the actors “director-proof”: able to function on their own and come up with their individual identities. My general practice is to help develop the characters and translate them from the page to the stage. I see the complete picture when I see it “on its feet.” It takes on a different life during rehearsal. I get an indication of not only how the writing is working but how the actors work with the material and whether the ensemble is working together. Then I can find pieces of business, physical bits, and different ways of doing things.

On M*A*S*H, Larry Gelbart’s philosophy was “Take your characters and put them in the last place they want to be.”

“Let me tell you a story. When I was twelve years old, my father took me downtown where we lived in Delaware. I was walking along with him, and I stopped because I saw two men kissing. I didn’t know what to make of it. I turned to my dad, and he said to me, ‘Joey, they’re in love.’ ”