Great comedies? Burrows molded most of them
James Burrows (shown here), who died Friday at 85, was the master of TV comedy.
His work sprawled from “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” to the”Big Bang Theory” pilot and beyond. He propelled the “must-see” age of “Friends” and “Frasier” and such. He did it all.
Well, almost all. “I passed on both ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Designing Women,'” he wrote. “I didn’t see the potential of either at the time. It happens.”
But mostly, he saw potential and expanded it. He was “one of the great comedy directors in television,” wrote Brandon Tartikoff, the former NBC chief. He was “the most successful director in television comedy — ever,” wrote Warren Littlefield, Tartikoff’s successor. Read more…
