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

by James Burrows

For most people, a multi-camera sitcom, which essentially is a scripted play performed in front of a live audience (as opposed to a single-camera sitcom, which is filmed without an audience), is the closest they’ll ever come to live theater. For those of us in this business, there’s a privilege and a responsibility to deliver a certain level of performance to viewers. Before television, I grew up in the theater, learning and developing skill sets I never realized would give me a unique edge as a sitcom director. The highest form of comedy is where it’s combined with pathos, where at the moment you’re watching, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry. I got to come into that world at a time when audiences were not only comfortable with that mix, they expected it.