The best sitcoms grab you by the throat and by the heart
Burrows directed 243 of Cheers' 273 episodes and all 246 of Will & Grace, plus iconic shows like Taxi and Frasier that defined NBC's Must See TV era. He pioneered multi-camera sitcom directing techniques and discovered talent through directing over 75 pilots, creating shows centered on friendship and human connection.
- Directed 243 of Cheers' 273 episodes and all 246 episodes of Will and Grace
- Directed over 1,000 television episodes across more than 75 pilots picked up as series
- Born December 30, 1940; son of Broadway legend Abe Burrows; died at 85
- One of the first sitcom directors to expand from three to four cameras on set
James Burrows, the visionary director behind Cheers, Friends, and Will & Grace, has died at 85. His influence shaped television comedy for generations through his mastery of script, performance, and actor chemistry.
James Burrows died at 85, leaving behind a body of work that shaped American television comedy across five decades. He directed 243 of the 273 episodes of "Cheers," all 246 episodes of "Will and Grace," and helmed the pilots for "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory." His fingerprints are on "Taxi," "Frasier," "Friends," and "Mike & Molly." On any given night, he once observed, you could turn on a television or open a streaming app and find something he had directed. He had directed more than a thousand shows in his lifetime.
Burrows was born James Edward Burrows on December 30, 1940, in Los Angeles, the son of Abe Burrows, a Broadway titan who had written and directed "Guys and Dolls" and "Can-Can." His childhood was spent in theaters and studios, watching his father work, eating at Sardi's and Gallagher's in New York, meeting celebrities at New Year's Eve parties. He sang in the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus until his voice changed, attended LaGuardia High School of Music & Art, then earned a degree from Oberlin College before studying at Yale School of Drama, where his classmates included Robert Klein, John Guare, and John Badham. At Yale, he discovered directing and never looked back.
His first television work came as a dialogue coach on "O.K. Crackerby!" in 1965, directed by his father. He assisted on "The Patty Duke Show," worked in dinner theater and summer stock, and spent years as a stage manager on road productions, meeting actors like Hugh O'Brien, Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Julie Harris. In 1974, after watching Mary Tyler Moore's sitcom, he wrote her a letter asking if there was any opening—"small or smaller"—at her production company. Grant Tinker, Moore's husband and business partner, invited him to Los Angeles to direct an episode. Burrows apprenticed at MTM Enterprises, which had four sitcoms running simultaneously. His theater background taught him how to direct actors and block scenes. He became one of the first sitcom directors to expand the standard three-camera shoot to four cameras.
What united his shows was a thematic obsession with connection: the regulars at a Boston bar in "Cheers," the drivers in "Taxi," the twenty-somethings in "Friends," the unrelated families and friend groups that formed the emotional core of his comedies. "The best sitcoms transcend the screen and reach out and grab the audience by the throat and by the heart," he wrote in his 2022 memoir "Directed by James Burrows." He described his directing philosophy as finding the intersection where the best script met the best performance and the best chemistry between actors—that precise moment where all three elements aligned to produce what he called "the sweetest and most enduring laugh."
Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman, who worked with Burrows across 16 seasons between "Taxi" and "Cheers," remembered him as "the very best at his craft," with a positive spirit and boundless energy. NBC, which aired the majority of his shows during the "Must See TV" era of the early 1990s, said in a statement that Burrows "knew how to make us laugh, what buttons to push and was the absolute master of getting the most out of every joke." His family described him differently: not as a technician but as a humanist who understood that great comedy was never simply about laughter. It was about humanity, connection, and truth. They noted his rare ability to make everyone around him better, his habit of remembering every person he met by name, his kindness and generosity.
Burrows directed over 75 pilots that were picked up as series, discovering new acting talent throughout his career. In 2019, he served as an executive producer on live television productions of "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," with established actors recreating episodes from the 1970s. He married Debbie Easton, a hairstylist he met on the set of "Frasier," in 1997. His first wife, Linda Solomon, died in 2004; they had three daughters together—Kat Schatzow, Ellie Gluck, and Maggie Burrows, who became a director herself. He had a stepdaughter, Paris, and seven grandchildren. His agent Rick Rosen called him "the greatest comedic television director in the history of the medium."
Citas Notables
When I direct a television show, I try to reach that sweet spot where the best script meets the best performance and the best chemistry between performers. Hitting that exact moment results in the sweetest and most enduring laugh.— James Burrows, from his 2022 memoir
He was the very best at his craft. His positive spirit, boundless energy, and tireless work defined what it takes to run a show and keep people laughing.— Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
What made Burrows different from other sitcom directors of his era?
He came from theater, which meant he understood actors as human beings, not just performers hitting marks. He could block a scene like a stage director and then translate that to multiple cameras. But more than technique—he had this obsession with finding the exact moment where script, performance, and chemistry all landed together. He called it a sweet spot.
Did he invent anything technically?
He was one of the first to push from three cameras to four on a sitcom set. That might sound small, but it changed how you could shoot comedy. More angles, more flexibility, more ways to catch the laugh.
His shows all seem to be about friendship or found family. Was that intentional?
Absolutely. He believed the best sitcoms grab you by the throat and the heart. A bar where strangers become family. Taxi drivers supporting each other. Friends sharing an apartment. He understood that people don't just want jokes—they want to see people they care about.
What did people who worked with him actually say about him as a person?
That he remembered your name. That he made you feel seen. DeVito and Perlman said he had boundless energy and kept people laughing. His family said he was kind and generous. For a director running a show, that's not nothing.
How many shows did he actually direct?
Over a thousand. He'd direct a pilot, it would get picked up, he'd run the show for years. "Cheers" alone was 243 episodes. By the end of his life, he could turn on any television any night and find something he'd made.
Did he ever step back, or did he just keep working?
He kept working. In 2019, at 78 or 79, he was producing live television productions of classic sitcoms. He seemed to love it—the work, the people, the craft of making people laugh.