Director James Burrows looks back on his career in new book

NEW YORK — James Burrows loves sitcoms, and he should. The 81-year-old has directed more than 1,000 episodes of TV sitcoms, including fan favorites such as “Friends,” “Cheers,” and Will & Grace.” He’s also directed the pilot episodes for “Frasier,” “Two and a Half Men,” “The Big Bang Theory” and more, setting the tone for the series going forward. There’s only two or three on the air.” He does believe the next big sitcom will come, and that will make multi-cam sitcoms popular again, but adds he “doesn’t see that show on the horizon right now.” Burrows looks back on his famed career in a new book called “Directed by James Burrows,” detailing how he got started in showbiz and became Hollywood’s go-to director for sitcom pilots, setting shows up for success to go forward. AP: A touching point in the book is when you recall sitting down with the cast of “Friends” when you were leaving the show, and giving them a very fatherly talk about how to handle future situations, such as, listen and learn from new directors but “if you disagree, say something.” You reminded them that they knew their characters better than anyone and that David Schwimmer and Jennifer Aniston, in particular, should push for opportunities to do physical comedy, because it’s where they shined. And before that, I did “Live in Front of a Studio Audience,” with ”The Facts of Life” and “Diff’rent Strokes,” where we had adults playing kids, Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg and Jen Aniston and Kathryn Hahn and Jason Bateman and Will Arnett.