A book review of Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and more by James Burrows
Stars: ****
Ballantine Books (2022)
Memoir>TV
352 pages
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Summary: Legendary sitcom director James Burrows has spent five decades making America laugh. Here readers will find never-revealed stories behind the casting of the dozens of great sitcoms he directed, as well as details as to how these memorable shows were created, how they got on the air, and how the cast and crew continued to develop and grow. Burrows also examines his own challenges, career victories, and defeats, and provides advice for aspiring directors, writers, and actors. All this from the man who helped launch the careers of Ted Danson, Kelsey Grammer, Woody Harrelson, Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing, and Melissa McCarthy, to name a few.
Burrows talks fondly about the inspiration he found during his childhood and young adult years, including his father, legendary playwright and Broadway director Abe Burrows. From there he goes on to explain his rigorous work ethic, forged in his early years in theater, where he did everything from stage managing to building sets to, finally, directing. Transitioning to television, Burrows locked into a coveted job with The Mary Tyler Moore Show, where he first observed and then started to apply his craft. Directing most of the episodes of Taxi came next, where he worked closely with writers/producers Glen and Les Charles. The three formed a remarkable creative partnership that helped Burrows achieve his much sought-after goal of ownership and agency over a project, which came with the creating and directing of the seminal and beloved hit Cheers. Burrows has directed more than seventy-five pilots that have gone to series and over a thousand episodes, more than any other director in history.
Directed by James Burrows is a heart-and-soul master class in sitcom, revealing what it truly takes to get a laugh.
Directed by James Burrows
As someone who grew up with most of these shows, I was interested in read this book. I like behind the scenes of TV shows and movie type books. It took me a long time to get through this book, not because it wasn’t interesting though. It’s large and isn’t a quick read. If you speed read you won’t be able to take from it what was intended.
James Burrows, as a director, is often overlooked when talking about TV shows. We focus on the actors for the most part. When you think of Friends or Frasier, you think of the actors not the director. However without the director the show wouldn’t come together.
It was very interesting reading about the start of the shows, like before the pilot. There is information on how they pitched the show to networks, how they picked cast including in some cases who almost got picked or the show names that almost got used.
The book is written like a memoir but includes dialogue from the shows in certain parts. Also the middle of the book has photos of James Burrows, sometimes alone, sometimes with other directors/producers and sometimes with cast.
It was very interesting.
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