James Burrows (born December 30, 1940),^[1] sometimes known asJim "Jimmy" Burrows,^[2] is an Americantelevision director. Burrows has received numerous accolades including 11Primetime Emmy Awards and fiveDirectors Guild of America Awards. He was honored with theDirectors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015 and NBC specialMust See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows in 2016.

Burrows started his career withThe Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1974.^[3] Burrows has directed over 50 television pilots and co-created the television seriesCheers (1982–1993). He has also formed 3 Sisters Entertainment, a joint venture withNBC. He is known for directing numerous episodes of comedy shows such asThe Bob Newhart Show,Taxi,Frasier,Friends,Will & Grace, and3rd Rock from the Sun.

He executive produced theEmmy Award-winning ABC specialsLive in Front of a Studio Audience includingNorman Lear's "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons" in 2019,"All in the Family" and "Good Times" in 2019, and"The Facts of Life" and "Diff'rent Strokes" in 2021. He directed episodes for the revivals of theNBC sitcomWill & Grace (2017–2020), and theParamount+Frasier (2023–2024),

Burrows was born to aJewish family^[4][5] inLos Angeles, California, the son of Ruth (née Levinson) andAbe Burrows, a well-known composer, director and writer.^[6] James has one sister, Laurie Burrows Grad.^[7] When James was still a young child, his family moved to New York where James attended New York'sHigh School of Music & Art.^[8][9] Burrows is a graduate ofOberlin College and the graduate program of theYale School of Drama.^[8]

After Yale, Burrows returned to California where he became employed as a dialogue coach onO.K. Crackerby!, a television series starringBurl Ives and created by Burrows' father, Abe.^[10] Burrows then took a job as an assistant stage manager for the 1967 playHolly Golightly, an adaptation of the novellaBreakfast at Tiffany's.^[11] The production was unsuccessful, but the job served as Burrows' introduction to its star,Mary Tyler Moore.^[11] Early on, Burrows also worked for the road company ofCactus Flower and the Broadway production ofForty Carats.^[12] He also went to direct the short lived Broadway playThe Castro Complex. Burrows continued working in theater as a stage manager and transitioned into directing plays.^[13] Burrows directed traveling plays and a production at aJacksonville, Florida dinner theater.^[13][14]

While working in theater, Burrows wrote Moore and her then husbandGrant Tinker seeking a job at their production company,MTM Enterprises.^[11] In 1974, Tinker hired Burrows as a director for MTM Enterprises where he directed episodes ofThe Mary Tyler Moore Show andThe Bob Newhart Show.^[11][15] Tinker asked directorJay Sandrich, known for his work directingThe Mary Tyler Moore Show and laterThe Cosby Show andThe Golden Girls, to serve as a mentor to Burrows.^[16]

Burrows is best known for his comic timing, complexblocking for actors, and incorporating more sophisticated lighting in television studio shoots. He is also credited as being one of the first sitcom directors to increase the typical multi-camera television shoot from three to four cameras.^[15] During this time Burrows directed for numerous shows such asPhyllis,Rhoda,Laverne & Shirley,Busting Loose,The Ted Knight Show,The Associates, andOn Our Own.

Burrows co-createdCheers with brothersGlen and Les Charles. The Charles brothers were also former employees of MTM Enterprises and served as producers on the seriesTaxi where Burrows worked as in-house director for 76 episodes.^[11][15][17] Burrows and the Charles brothers wanted to create a show where they could have more control.^[17]Cheers premiered onNBC on September 30, 1982.^[17] AlthoughCheers initially struggled in the ratings, the series became a hit, running 275 episodes over eleven seasons.^[17] Burrows directed all but 35 of those 275 episodes.^[11] During his time onCheers Burrows also directed episodes for shows such as the NBC sitcomsThe Hogan Family,Dear John, andNight Court.

Burrows then gained acclaim for directing theNBC sitcomFrasier. He won thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the pilot,The Good Son in 1993. Burrows directed in total 32 episodes from 1993 to 1997. The series was a spinoff ofCheers focusing on the character ofDr. Frasier Crane portrayed byKelsey Grammer. The series also starredDavid Hyde Pierce,John Mahoney,Peri Gilpin, andJane Leeves. It received critical acclaim for its writing, directing and performances. It won five consecutivePrimetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy Series (for seasons 1–5). In 1998, Burrows directed a Chicago-based production of the 1939 comedyThe Man Who Came to Dinner starringJohn Mahoney.^[14]

Burrows also directed 15 episodes of another NBC sitcomFriends starringJennifer Aniston,David Schwimmer,Courteney Cox,Matthew Perry,Matt LeBlanc, andLisa Kudrow. The series follows six friends living inNew York City. He received a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the 1994 episodeThe One with the Blackout fromSeason 1. During this time he also received Emmy nominations for directing the pilot episodes of both the NBC sitcom3rd Rock from the Sun starringJohn Lithgow,Kristen Johnson,Joseph Gordon-Levitt, andJane Curtin, and the ABC sitcomDharma & Greg starringJenna Elfman andThomas Gibson. He also directed episodes of the NBC sitcomsWings,NewsRadio,Caroline in the City, and the CBS sitcomsPearl andGeorge and Leo.

From 1998 to 2006 Burrows directed every single episode of the NBC sitcomWill & Grace starringEric McCormack,Debra Messing,Megan Mullally, andSean Hayes. Burrows received twelvePrimetime Emmy Award nominations for the series winning forPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2000. He was nominated for directing the episodes, "Pilot" (1998), "Homo for the Holidays" (2000), "Lows in the Mid-Eighties" (2001), "A Chorus Lie" (2002), "24" (2003), and "It's a Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad World" (2005). Burrows directed every episode ofWill & Grace during its initial eight-year run.^[18]

In 2006 he directed the pilot of theChuck Lorre createdCBS sitcomThe Big Bang Theory starringJohnny Galecki,Jim Parsons,Kaley Cuoco,Simon Helberg,Kunal Nayyar,Sara Gilbert, andMayim Bialik. In 2003 he directed the pilot of another Chuck Lorre createdCBS sitcomTwo and a Half Men starringCharlie Sheen andJon Cryer. During this time he also directed episodes of shows such as the CBS sitcomsThe Class,Courting Alex, andGary Unmarried, the Fox sitcomBack to You, and the ABC sitcomHank.

Burrows directed high-profile sitcoms during the 2010s including theCBS sitcomsMike & Molly (2010–2016) starringBilly Gardell, andMelissa McCarthy, andThe Millers (2013–2015) starringWill Arnett,Margo Martindale,Beau Bridges. Burrows reunited withMatt LeBlanc withMan with a Plan (2016–2020). He also directed the sitcomB Positive (2020–2022) starringAnnaleigh Ashford. Burrows directed episodes of numerous television series including the ABC sitcomsRomantically Challenged,Better with You, the CBS sitcoms$#*! My Dad Says,2 Broke Girls,Partners,Friends with Better Lives,Superior Donuts, andThe Neighborhood, the NBC sitcomsSean Saves the World,Crowded, and theNetflix comedy seriesDisjointed.

By 2012, Burrows had directed over 50pilots for television series.^[19] Burrows has directed over 1,000 episodes of television, a milestone he achieved in November 2015 with the NBC sitcomCrowded.^[20] To celebrate Burrows' achievement, NBC aired a special tribute on February 21, 2016, titledMust See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows featuring cast reunions from many of the series Burrows has directed such asCheers,Taxi,Friends,Frasier,The Big Bang Theory,Will & Grace andMike & Molly.^[21] In January 2020, Andy Fisher and Burrows won theDirectors Guild of America Award for Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials forLive in Front of a Studio Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons.^[22]

In 2016, Burrows directed his 1,000th TV episode, onNBC'sCrowded.^[23] Burrows took part in two revivals,Will & Grace (2017–2020) with the original cast reunited. He received a nomination for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the episode, "We Love Lucy". In 2023, he directed the first two episodes of the revival ofFrasier onParamount+.

Burrows has had cameo appearances in several of the shows for which he has directed. In thefirst season ofFriends, Burrows appeared in the episode "The One with the Butt" as the director of the film in which the characterJoey Tribbiani is cast asAl Pacino's "butt double".^[24] He also appears as a television director named Jimmy in the 2005HBO seriesThe Comeback.^[25] Burrows played himself on the series. An episode ofScrubs, "My Life in Four Cameras", had a character named Charles James in honor ofCheers creators Burrows and Glen and Les Charles. It was previously asserted inSitcoms: the 101 Greatest TV Comedies of All Time (2007) that Burrows served as the silhouette of the customer who knocks on the door in the final scene ofCheers,^[15] but Burrows himself refuted this claim on episode 9 of theNewsRadio-themed podcast Dispatches from Fort Awesome, revealing that the actual "Man Who Knocks" was agent Bob Broder.^[26]

Burrows is married to celebrity hairstylist Debbie Easton; the couple lives inManhattan.^[27] Burrows was previously married to Linda Solomon.^[28][29] He has three daughters and one stepdaughter.^[25]

Television

Film

Television

Over the course of his career, Burrows has been nominated for fifteenDirectors Guild of America awards, and for anEmmy Award every year between 1980 and 2005, excluding 1997.^[48] Burrows has won elevenEmmy Awards and fiveDirectors Guild of America Awards.^[49] TheAcademy of Television Arts and Sciences celebrated Burrows' forty-year career by hosting a panel in his honor on October 7, 2013.^[48]

• Burrows, James with Eddy Friedland (2022).Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN 9780593358269.
• Darowski, Joseph J.; Darowski, Kate (2017).Frasier: A Cultural History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538113875.
• Darowski, Joseph J.; Darowski, Kate (2017).Cheers: A Cultural History. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781442277960.
• Littlefield, Warren with T.R. Pearson (2012).Top of the Rock: Inside the Rise and Fall of Must-See TV. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 9780385533744.

• James Burrows atIMDb
• James Burrows atThe Interviews: An Oral History of Television

• 1940 births
• Living people
• 20th-century American Jews
• 21st-century American Jews
• American male television writers
• Television writers from California
• American television directors
• American television producers
• David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni
• Directors Guild of America Award winners
• Film directors from Los Angeles
• Film directors from New York City
• Oberlin College alumni
• Primetime Emmy Award winners
• Screenwriters from New York (state)
• American showrunners
• Television show creators
• The High School of Music & Art alumni

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