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  • Directed by James Burrows

  • Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More
  • By: James Burrows, Eddy Friedfeld
  • Narrated by: James Burrows, Danny Campbell
  • Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (26 ratings)
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Directed by James Burrows cover art

Directed by James Burrows

By: James Burrows, Eddy Friedfeld
Narrated by: James Burrows, Danny Campbell
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Summary

“Being directed by the Jimmy Burrows, while on Friends, was like hitting the jackpot. I’m delighted that everyone can now share in his incredible insight with this book.”—JENNIFER ANISTON

From the director of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, and Will & Grace comes an insightful and nostalgic behind-the-scenes memoir that’s “as difficult to put down as a Friends marathon is to turn off” (The Washington Post).

Legendary sitcom director James Burrows has spent five decades making America laugh. Here listeners 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. 

©2022 James Burrows and Eddy Friedfeld (P)2022 Random House Audio

What listeners say about Directed by James Burrows

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Aaaargh …

I was looking forward to listening to this book because Mr Burrows has been the creator of so much laughter in my life. The material IS very interesting, but I wish someone had had the courage to tell him that his skills lie in directing, not performing. A professional voice-artist should have been used for the narration. I”m having to listen to the book in bite-sized pieces because of the monotonous tone of his storytelling. I’m so sorry for the negative review because he is, by all accounts, a kind and popular man and a huge talent - but Audible is about 'listening' to books ... so it is essential that the narration is spot-on.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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A must go Tv nerds

Except for the glaring error that James thinks Harry Enfield starred in Men behaving Badly (he was in 6 episodes - the other star was Neil
Morrissey) I enjoyed this, though could have done without the casual sexism.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Behind the scenes of comedy classics

James Burrows worked on pretty much all of the favourite US comedies of the last four decades. He tells us how the came together, how they worked and his own directing techniques. Absorbing. He isn’t a natural narrator, but it’s what he says in his own voice that counts.

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Thank you Mr Burrows

Really interesting. Highly entertaining. Great stories from behind the scenes. Listen as soon as you can.

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