Podcast appearances and mentions of James Burrows

Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson are finally joined by their “papa,” Cheers co-creator and legendary director James Burrows! They're talking about Jimmy's theater beginnings, how he taught Ted how to play Sam Malone with swagger, what Woody joining Cheers did for the show, Jimmy's approach to directing comedy, and more.  To help those affected by the Southern California wildfires, make a donation to World Central Kitchen today. Like watching your podcasts? Visit http://youtube.com/teamcoco to see full episodes. 

Nathan Lee Graham has illuminated stage and screen for decades. On Broadway, he performed in THE WILD PARTY and PRISCILLA, QUEEN OF THE DESERT. He is known for his roles on screen in the Zoolander movies, Sweet Home Alabama, Hitch, Theater Camp, and currently in Hulu's Mid-Century Modern alongside Nathan Lane, Matt Bomer, and the late Linda Lavin. In this episode, Nathan shares how powerful women have guided him, learning to perform for a multi-camera sitcom, and why he focuses on always moving forward in life while protecting his inner circle carefully. Mid-Century Modern on Hulu Jim Caruso's Cast Party The Telepathy Tapes 

Send us a textI'm thrilled to welcome the incredibly talented and accomplished Mattie C. Caruthers! A true veteran in the entertainment industry, Mattie has built an impressive career as a director, producer, and writer of television sitcoms. Her journey began in music at Little David Records, where she worked alongside industry legends like Monte Kay, managing projects for artists such as Flip Wilson and George Carlin. She later transitioned to film and television, earning credits on iconic shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, My Wife and Kids, and The Jamie Foxx Show. Her television directorial debut on My Wife and Kids earned her a 2006 NAACP Image Award Nomination and a 2005 BET Nomination for Outstanding Director in a Comedy Series.Mattie has collaborated with some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Eddie Murphy, Oprah Winfrey, and Norman Lear. She's also studied under industry legends like James Burrows, Debbie Allen, and Ken Whittingham. As the Founder and CEO of MacMattie Entertainment, Mattie is dedicated to creating meaningful stories with positive depictions of people of color. From her groundbreaking sitcom pilot My Sisters and Me to her award-winning directorial projects, Mattie's passion for storytelling is unmatched.#podcast #director #booksSupport the show

We talk with James Burroughs about his reign as hollywood's greatest sitcom director, being the son of the Abe Burrows In the genetics of comedy, his book “directed by James Burrows”, “Cheers”, “Will & Grace”, “Mary Tyler Moore”, “Taxi”, “Friends”, the scripps that make him want to direct, the ones that don't, his amazing memory, his humble beginnings, the decade it took him to learn how to direct, working with geniuses like James L. Brooks, Chuck Lori, and Kohan & Mutchnick, Andy Kaufman. And Jimmy explains how his two best friends are Al Michaels and Bruce Springsteen.Bio: James Burrows is one of television's most respected and honored creative talents. Over his distinguished career, Burrows has been the recipient of ten Emmys, five Directors Guild of America Awards, the 1996 American Comedy Awards' Creative Achievement Award, and in 2014 the Television Critics Association's Career Achievement Award in 2006 he was inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Science's Hall of Fame and was honored by the US Comedy Arts Festival with their Career Tribute award. He has been the recipient of 22 nominations for the Director's Guild of America Award, thus bestowing him the honor of being the most nominated director in the history of television at the Guild. He was recently honored by the DGA with the Inaugural 2014 Lifetime Achievement Award in Television. In November of 2015 he directed his 1000 th episode which was recognized by a TV Special on NBC in January of 2016. Burrows' success as the director of television pilots is legendary. He just finished the first two episodes of Frasier re-boot season 2, and has wrapped up the pilot “Mid Century Modern” for Fox. He will be at the helm of “Mid Century Modern” this Fall as the show goes to series. The current primetime television schedule features one show “Neighborhood,”- whose pilot episode Burrows directed and one streaming show, the “Frasier Re-boot” which will begin airing Season 2 on Paramount + in mid-September 2024. In January of 2020, he received his fifth DGA Award for directing the Emmy award winning show “Live in Front of a Studio Audience #1: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons.” He was also asked back to direct “Live in Front of a Studio Audience #3: Different Strokes and The Facts of Life” in December of 2021. In June of2022, he embarked into a new market when he published his autobiography, “Directed by James Burrows.” It has received quite a bit of attention and praise from the industry. Burrows is probably best known as co-creator, executive producer and director of the critically acclaimed series, “Cheers.” The hit show, which aired for 11 seasons, is tied for the most nominated Comedy series in the Television Academy's history and is in third place for most Emmys received by a Comedy Series. Burrows has also received numerous awards for his work on “Will & Grace,” “Frasier,” “Friends,” “Wings,” “Night Court,” “Taxi,” and “Dear John.” For the first time in 25 years, he returned to the stage in the spring of 1998 to direct the highly acclaimed “Man Who Came to Dinner” at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, starring John Mahoney. Burrows learned his trade from the very best, the legendary writer/director Abe Burrows, whose noted career included such classics as “Guys and Dolls,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and “Cactus Flower.” Born in Los Angeles and raised in New York, Burrows graduated from Oberlin College and continued his education at Yale, where he earned a master's degree in fine arts. Burrows relocated to Hollywood to work as a dialogue coach for “O.K. Crackerby!,” a short-lived television series starring Burl Ives. When the show ended, he returned to New York and initially worked as a stage manager before directing several off-Broadway shows, such as “The Castro Complex,” and stock productions of “The Odd Couple” and “Never Too Late.” In 1974, Burrows moved back to the West Coast when he was invited to visit MTM Productions in Los Angeles and offered a job directing an episode of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Mr. Burrows and his wife, Debbie, reside in Los Angeles and between them they have a quartet of daughters.

Ring the Jimmy Burrows Alarm™️! We're back with the smash hit Will & Grace! The show that brought gay comedy to the mainstream after the despicable shunning of the Ellen Degeneres show. Join us as we learn how it came to be, the legacy it leaves, and some fascinating tidbits about pilot and character development straight from the Jimmy Burrows memoir ‘Directed by James Burrows' Come catch all your favorites Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Sean Hayes and Megan Mullaley and stick around for an exhilarating round of “Guess That Guest Star!” Hosts Geoff Kerbis Max Singer Rich Inman --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pilotslicense/support

Ben and Nemone put sous-chef Sydney Adamu from The Bear into therapy. She helps whip the team at the restaurant into shape, she's nurturing but anxious and riddled with self-doubt, not to mention a person of colour with the highest of ambitions in a profession dominated by white men. Mouthwatering, no?    We want to hear about any theories we might have missed, what you've thought of the show so far and your character suggestions. Please drop the team an email (which may be part of the show): shrinkthebox@sonymusic.com  NEXT CLIENTS ON THE COUCH. Find out how to view here   Tyrion, Game of Thrones (seasons 1&2).  Alex and Bradley, The Morning Show (Season 1)   Tasha, Orange is the New Black (season 2)  Polly, Peaky Blinders (seasons 1&2)  Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, The Wire (Season 1)  Moira Rose, Schitt's Creek (Season 1)  Raymond Holt, Brooklyn 99 (selected episodes)     CREDITS  We used clips from season 2 of The Bear, available on Disney+.     Starring  Jeremy Allen White as Carmen Berzatto  Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richard Jerimovich  Ayo Edebiri as Sydney Adamu  Lionel Boyce as Marcus  Liza Colón-Zayas as Tina  Edwin Lee Gibson as Ebraheim  Corey Hendrix as Gary Woods  Richard Esteras as Manny  Jose M. Cervantes as Angel  Abby Elliott as Natalie Berzatto    Created by: Christopher Storer  Written by: Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Sofya Levitsky-Weitz, Alex O'Keefe, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer  Directed by: Alan Myerson, Peter Bonerz, James Burrows, Kevin S. Bright   Produced by: FX/Hulu/Disney+    Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts.    To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ben and Nemone put Chandler from Friends on the famous Central Perk couch to talk about his phobia of commitment, his attachment patterns and how he feels about mum AND dad putting on a black dress and trying to seduce one of your best friends. Expect doses of sarcasm, celebrity cameos and Janice's laughter peppered throughout. We want to hear about any theories we might have missed, what you've thought of the show so far and your character suggestions. Please drop the team an email (which may be part of the show): shrinkthebox@sonymusic.com NEXT CLIENTS ON THE COUCH. Find out how to view here Sydney, The Bear (season 2) Tyrion, Game of Thrones (seasons 1&2). Alex and Bradley, The Morning Show (Season 1) Tasha, Orange is the New Black (season 2) Polly, Peaky Blinders (seasons 1&2) Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, The Wire (Season 1) CREDITS We used clips from all seasons of Friends, available on Netflix. Starring Matthew Perry as Chandler Bing David Schwimmer as Ross Geller Courtney Cox as Monica Geller Jennifer Aniston as Rachel Green Lisa Kudrow as Phoebe Buffay Matt LeBlanc as Joey Tribbiani Created by: David Crane and Marta Kauffman Written by: Ted Cohen and Andrew Reich, David Crane, Marta Kauffman, Scott Silveri, Shana Goldberg-Meehan et al. Directed by: Alan Myerson, Peter Bonerz, James Burrows, Kevin S. Bright Produced by: Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions and Warner Bros. Television Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts. To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where does Frasier's snobbery originate from? Why does he revert to his ‘child state' when around his father? And... the hidden story behind Frasier being a Freudian analyst and Niles (his brother) being a Jungian analyst. Plus, Ben and Nemone's minds are blown when they realise a crazy coincidence with Frasier and Tony Soprano. We want to hear from you!!! Please drop the team an email with your questions and theories (which may be part of the show): shrinkthebox@sonymusic.com NEXT CLIENTS ON THE COUCH. Find out how to view here Cersei, Game of Thrones (Season 1) Tommy Shelby, Peaky Blinders (Season 1) Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 7) Sydney, The Bear (Season 2) Michael, Office (USA. Season 1) CREDITS We used clips from Season 1 of Frasier Starring: Kelsey Grammar as Dr Fraiser Crane, David Hyde Pierce as Niles Crane, John Mahoney as Martin Crane, Peri Gilpin as Roz Doyle and Jane Leeves as Daphne Moon. Created and written by: David Angell, Peter Casey, David Lee and Brad Hall. Directed by: James Burrows, David Lee, Andy Ackerman and Rick Beren. Produced by: Grub Street Productions, Paramount Network Television, Paramount Television (in association with) Grammnet Productions and National Broadcasting Company (NBC) Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email podcastadsales@sonymusic.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Achievement in Television eXcellence Awardee and legendary director/producer James Burrows joins Jim Halterman for a conversation spanning his one-of-a-kind career as the co-creator/director of Cheers, winner of 11 Emmy Awards, and director of more than 1,000 episodes of television, including iconic sitcoms Taxi, Friends, Frasier, Will & Grace, and many, many more.This conversation was recorded live at ATX TV Festival Season 12 (June 1-4, 2023) in Austin, TX.PANELIST:James Burrows (Director / Producer / Creator / Author)MODERATOR:Jim Halterman (TV Guide Magazine)SUBSCRIBE to youtube.com/ATXTV for more panels, conversations & events with your favorite TV creatives and casts.FOLLOW ATX TV:Twitter: twitter.com/ATXFestivalFacebook: facebook.com/ATXFestivalInstagram: instagram.com/atxfestival/TikTok: tiktok.com/@atxtv

On this week's episode, I have Writer/Showrunner Max Mutchnick from Will & Grace, The Wonder Years, and many many more. Tune in as we talk about his journey as a writer and what some of his creative goals and hopes are for the future.Show NotesMax Mutchnick on IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0616083/Max Mutchnick on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maxmutchnick/?hl=enMax Mutchnick on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MaxMutchnickMichael's Online Screenwriting Course - https://michaeljamin.com/courseFree Screenwriting Lesson - https://michaeljamin.com/freeJoin My Newsletter - https://michaeljamin.com/newsletterAutogenerated TranscriptMax Mutchnick:By the way, I think Miley Cyrus is the only sitcom actor who is able to move the needle. They push you during sweeps. Can you get a Shatner? If we could get Shatner on Big Bang. I know we'll write, that's probably not a good example because it probably worked. But for the most part, shows just get what they get. They always get what they get. It doesn't matter. These co-stars and these, none of that mattered,Michael Jamin:Right?Max Mutchnick:Is it funny? And do you like the people? Do you like the people? Do you like what? They like the world of it?Michael Jamin:You're listening to, what the Hell is Michael Jamin talking about? I'll tell you what I'm talking about. I'm talking about creativity. I'm talking about writing, and I'm talking about reinventing yourself through the arts.Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode. Today, I have a wonderful guest that no one deserves to hear. And yet, as a gift, if you're driving your car, pull over, you're going to want to hear this guy, this man and his writing partner, they are responsible for literally one of the biggest hits in the modern era. I'm talking about Will and Grace. This is the co-creator of Will and Grace Max. Much Nick, but lemme tell you what else he's done. All right. It's not just that. I'm going to run through his profile for a second and then I promise I'll let him get a word in edgewise. One word's Dennis Miller show. He was right around the Dennis Miller Show, the Wonder Years Good advice, the single Guy Dream on co-creator of Boston Common Co-creator of Good Morning, Miami Co-creator of Twins, co-creator of Four Kings. This guy's got a lot of work done. Shit, my dad says. Co-creator, partners co-Creator clipped, co-creator, and of course Will and Grace Max, welcome to the show. And let me tell you why this is so meaningful to me to have you hereMax Mutchnick:And me too, just to get an award in.Michael Jamin:Okay? I wonder if,Max Mutchnick:And by the way, those credits were in no particular order.Michael Jamin:Well, it is the IMDB order.Max Mutchnick:It's a weird order, but I'm still thrilled to be here. So I'm going to let you keep going because I like all this.Michael Jamin:Everyone loves having smoked Blunt.Max Mutchnick:It's fantastic.Michael Jamin:Let me tell you why it's so meaningful, because one of the very first jobs I had in Hollywood, I was a PA on a show called Hearts of Fire a max, and his partner writing partner David, were, I don't know if you guys were staff writers or story editors,Max Mutchnick:I think on Hearts of Fire, we were staff writers. I think we were staff writers. Yeah.Michael Jamin:So I'd get you lunch. That's basically it. But you guys were, you guys were so kind. You always let me in. I come into your office, you'd invite me into your office, which to me felt like a big deal. And you guys were both, to me, you were the epitome of what a comedy writer is supposed to be like larger than life, charismatic, funny, ball busting, but also just, I don't know, just energetic and enthusiastic and bursting with creativity and to be around you guys threeMax Mutchnick:Seconds away from tears at all times.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Oh yeah, thatMax Mutchnick:Too. But I mean, we maybe didn't show that to you, but again, I hate to interrupt you when you're saying all this nice stuff.Michael Jamin:Well, I do remember one time, David, I was sitting with you and he's like, what have you heard? I'm like, what have I heard? What do you hear? I'm like, dude, you guys are the only people who talk to me. What have I heard? Nothing.Max Mutchnick:That's so good. What have I heard? And I was listening to you, and by the way, it gives me nothing but joy to be here, and I have to do full disclosure. So I start watching you and listening to you, and this is what happens when you get to be 40 57. I said, I'm like, I know him. I have a feeling of love for him. I do not know how we know each other. It's so funny. I couldn't remember the show that we worked on. I couldn't remember the show we worked on. And then I heard you talking about Mike and Maddie. Yes. The other day. And it was, which isn't on my IMDB page.Michael Jamin:It is. I skipped over it. I didn't want to embarrassMax Mutchnick:You. Yeah, no, I'm glad that we can talk about that too. But it all started at Hearts of Fire.I mean, it's just unbelievable. And that was such an incredibly formative time, and it's so interesting to me that you had this experience of us is mean, and by and large, that's what we are. I mean, I always look back on life and I reflect on it, and I'm always happy when I look back on the things that I've done and where I've been and where I'm going and all that stuff. But today, not so much. What do you mean? Well, it's like I'm saying, when I'm in the moment of today, a lot of times I really can get wrapped up in being depressed about the business and where things are. And I am starting to say things that like old people say, and I don't want to, because I always thought I would never do that. I would never say the business isn't like it used to be. But I'mMichael Jamin:Surprised you even feel that way. You've already accomplished so much. I don't think I would ever get to your level of success. I would've stopped long before.Max Mutchnick:I mean, that's nice. And I know that there are people who are in my position who feel like they've done it. And definitely the collision of a career and social justice, which kind of took place with Will and Grace, the idea that we did this thing and that it had a reverberation on another level should be enough. But I am still a guy with ambition and drive, and I still feel like I have more to say, and I'm not spoiled in that sense. I really don't want to be done at this age. And if anything, my ego is in a better place because I can even fantasize about the idea of being in a room that I wasn't running, which is crazy because that's in the middle of my career when it's at that really hot space. It's like, oh no, I could never be in a room that I wasn't in charge of. But that's not how I feel so much. But theMichael Jamin:Hours are so long and exhausting and you're like, sure, I'll work till two in the morning every night. Well,Max Mutchnick:I couldn't. That's the one thing I would don't feel like that is something that ever needs to be the case. I'm way into having dinner with my family, and I feel like it's after 10:00 PM it's diminishing returns. I actually think after 8:00 PM it's diminishing returns because emotionally you get so your skin starts to break out. You're eating out of styrofoam, and it's just not, it's so bad for where you are. You have to just love the fucking show you're on. Can I say bad word? YouMichael Jamin:Can say, sure. You can say show.Max Mutchnick:You have to love where you are so much to be working late or own. ButMichael Jamin:How did you keep, were the hours good on Will and Grace?Max Mutchnick:Yes. Because we've run a meritocracy and we always have, and that is the best idea will out. So I don't care if it comes from a LB like Michael Jamin or if it comes from John Acquaintance, wherever the best idea and wherever the most honest idea that's organic to the characters comes, and that's the one we're going with. And I'm very, I think one of the things you master or you have to master to be a showrunner that works well and runs a tight ship is the ability to say no quickly and without a lot of ting. So I'm going to say no, and I'm going to say it quickly, and it's going to feel like it hits you hard, and maybe it does. But in order for us to run a tight ship, that's just the way that it has to go. Famously, one of the best showrunners of all time, David Crane, I guess really, it was very democratic and everybody got to talk and pitch, and he didn't cut things off fast. I mean, sometimes there's a German there and you've got to find it and tease it out and stuff like that. But for the most part, immediately, no, that's not the way that we're going. And no, that's not the way the character.Michael Jamin:And they had long hours in that show,Max Mutchnick:Very, very long hours. They famously worked really late. And I was also listening to you the other day talk about those schools of,Michael Jamin:And that's what I was going to get to.Max Mutchnick:Yeah. And you could say that you talked about, there's the Friends school. I think there's also the Diane English strain. Did you mention that one?Michael Jamin:No, I did. I only really mentioned the one that I thought I came from, I think I came from, which was Frazier. Cheers Taxi. Right.Max Mutchnick:And I call that that's the David Lloyd's, I mean,Michael Jamin:And Chris Lloyd, yeah. Okay. What would you say your lineage would be then? And do you agree with that?Max Mutchnick:Yes, I did. I agreed with everything you said. I mean, my lineage is actually, it's a must see TV sound. It's an NBC, it comes down, but that's really the friend sound. And I come from that because my first real job was on Dream on which Martin David created. And then I came in late. David and I came in late on that show, but I also come from the Diane English School because Michael Patrick King was such a giant influence in my sound,Michael Jamin:And that was good advice or whatMax Mutchnick:Good advice. But he had come from Murphy Brown. Right, of course. So if you worked at Murphy Brown, you prayed at the altar and English. I mean, but those friends people, they just spawned so much, soMichael Jamin:Much. But you don't run the show the way they did, though.Max Mutchnick:Not at all. No, not at all. Yeah. We learned as much on shows from what not to do than from what to do. The benefit of being on shows where there, it's just, and I'm not using David Crane as an example because I've never been in a room with him, but we have been in rooms where either we weren't used or there was just endless talk that went absolutely nowhere and the decisions weren't made to just, that's good. That's it. Put it up on the board. You can get there very fast and not like there is a famous school that I don't want to talk about that it's good enough. It's good enough. It's good. Enough's not what I'm talking about. I don't do, it's good enough. But there is a world of shows that's run with that ethos.Michael Jamin:See, I thought one of the first, the advice that we got when we started running shows was I think it was Steve Levitan who said, just pick away, even if it's wrong, pick away. Yes. Or you lose the room.Max Mutchnick:Yes. I mean, it's like you can fu around forever about, oh, what you want to do with your life. I don't necessarily know that this was what I was going to do, but it happened and I went for it, and I got rewarded at a certain point. I feel like if you get rewarded in something that you're doing within six months to 12 months, stay there.Michael Jamin:Were you running a show that wasn't your own, it was your first job at, or No,Max Mutchnick:I'm I'm rare. I'm rare in that regard that I was at Emerson in college, and my dear friend was a comic named Anthony Clark. And Anthony called me and said, they're making shows now in la and there's a company that's very focused on writers who have strong relationships with standup comics. And the company was Castle Rock. And Larry David was just making Seinfeld at that time. And the guy that ran the company with Rob Reiner was a wonderful man named Glenn Paddick. And he gave us our first break, but we had to go into Warren Littlefields office as these young guys and argue for why would I ever give a show on this golden network to two guys that have never done the job before? You've never run a show.Excuse me. I was on single guy. So I mean, I had worked, but I had never run a show. The first time I ran a show and I wasn't even close to running a show. I was a co-producer. And I went in there and I said to him after I got David Cohan a white shirt with a collar like, you have no idea. The Prince of a collar and a what? The difference that it makes put on a goddamn buttoned up shirt. And we go and we sit in there and I say to Mr. Littlefield, who I owe a great deal to, if you give me the keys to the car, I promise not to scratch the car. And if I scratch the car, you can take the keys away. You can bring in whoever you want. They can oversee me, but just give me, literally give me a week, give me a show, and I already know what to do and not to do, and I'll run this thing the right way.Michael Jamin:Wait, this was before you wrote the pilot? This was just to get the chance to,Max Mutchnick:We had written the pilot and they wanted to make it. Oh, okay. And then they said to our agents, or they said to Glenn Pad, Nick, these guys have no experience. You've got to go get showrunners. And I was just so anti the idea that someone was going to creatively be open, and I asked for the meeting and I begged him, and I kind of tell that story. And the whole truth of that story is a day or two before he went to our agent and said, I want someone at that table read who runs a show. I want an experienced showrunner in case at the pilot table read, they fall apart. And God bless the writing team of Roberto, Roberto Bebe and Carl Fink, even Fink, I think. And I could be getting that wrong, and I hope someone calls us out on it. But anyway, those guys were so cool. And they sat at the table read, and we got our notes, and then they walked up to us on the stage where we were shooting the show on Radford, and they were like, you got this boys, we'll see you later. And we never saw again. Really. And then we were show running.Michael Jamin:Did you bring top heavy writers to the firstMax Mutchnick:David's sister who wasn't the superstar,Michael Jamin:Right. That she's nowMax Mutchnick:WasMichael Jamin:I'm talking about your first staff I'm talking about.Max Mutchnick:Yes, I know. Yes. Really. And I don't know who the third one was. I remember there being, it was a mini room before. It was self-imposed before it was imposed on us. And it was just this very tiny group because David and I didn't know how to ate and do all that. And we figured we would do all of the heavy lifting, which was not possible. And we eventually brought in Carrie Lizer, but we started with a very, very tiny group of writers and just crawled our way through.Michael Jamin:Wow. Yes. It's cool. Should we spend the next 59 minutes talking about the single guy, or should we continue talking aboutMax Mutchnick:Your No, no. Can't talk about that show. But it was really cool to work with Ernest Borgne, and I'll just put it to you. Yes. What is the, I'm going to ask you a trivia question.Michael Jamin:JohnnyMax Mutchnick:What?Michael Jamin:Johnny was his name?Max Mutchnick:Yes. Wasn't it? Yes. I went to high school with him, so that's not, and his dad was Johnny Silverman's father was David Cohen's rabbi in real life. Oh, wow. But I mean, we lived in an industry town. That's what it was. But no, Ernest Borg nine, in addition to having a wife that was a cosmetics had of cosmetics Dynasty, Tova nine was the name of all the lotions and potions. Earnest Hemmingway, little known Borg. What?Michael Jamin:Borgnine, not Hemmingway. Not Hemmingway.Max Mutchnick:Shit, that would be so bad. Ernest Borgne had the best collection of what? Does anybody knowMichael Jamin:Doug?Max Mutchnick:No, no, no. He had a good one though.But moving on, he had the best collection of Abraham Lincoln memorabilia because on the weekends, he used to go to Beacons moving and he would sell off the dregs of whatever was left in a truck that people didn't pick up. And one time he went and he bought a painting, and it was of Abraham Lincoln, and he takes it to wherever, Sotheby's or Heritage, whatever he did. And it turns out to be one of only two portraits ever painted of Abraham Lincoln while he was in office. Wow. That started this epic collection. We've digressed into such boring stuff. And I blame you. IMichael Jamin:Blame you. I brought up,Max Mutchnick:You're running this room. You could cut me off at any point.Michael Jamin:No, I could not. But let me ask you this, though. You've created so many shows, and obviously the writers are the same. So what is it, why was Will Grace, why that one not the other ones? Why was that one that blew up?Max Mutchnick:Well, I think I have a glitch in my casting programming. I didn't know to second guess myself in the way that I did after Will and Grace. I mean, it's a great question because it is the thing that, if anything, it could be a regret in my life. It's that I haven't made great decisions at crunch time andMichael Jamin:Wait, so you think it was casting decisions, you think, but you don't get to catch.Max Mutchnick:You put it on the page, and then it's these brilliant actors that have to operate in a medium that's not respected, but possibly the hardest form of acting. And there are very, very few people that can do it as well as the ones that we know. And Jim Burrows always says it's lightning in a bottle.Michael Jamin:Yeah, it is.Max Mutchnick:So it's that, and it's less Moonves also being not great to me.Michael Jamin:Well, I mean, I was going to say, every casting decision has been approved by a million other people. It's not like you could, right?Max Mutchnick:I know. And you want to believe it at the time, and you get in there and you sell, and you do your thing. And then sometimes you don't believe in a person that's going into a cast, but Les has got a thing for that person, so they go in there. But by the way, that man gave me a lot of breaks, and he was good to me for a period in my life, but I also think he did some super fucked up things to our shows too. Partners should have stayed on the air, and he took partners off the air too quickly, and no one had done anything like that. And they should have explored a gay guy and a straight guy being best friends. That's an interesting area.Michael Jamin:What is it? But you guys mostly work in sitcom. I know you did some movie work, but is that just the form you wanted to be in? Is there any other itch you have?Max Mutchnick:No, not really. It just kept, I mean, we kept every few years when they say it's back, we want them, let's go to people that know how to make on that list. And I mean, I'm doing it again, by the way, since this strike is over, and I hope that they work.Michael Jamin:What you're taking outMax Mutchnick:Multicam Ideas couple. Yeah. Yeah. We're working on a couple of Multicam right now that I'm really excited about, but I would love to not do it anymore. I would love to not do it anymore.Michael Jamin:What do you mean you'd love to not do it? I don't understand. IMax Mutchnick:Would love to write what I think single camera comedies are, which is a beautiful, when it's done exquisitely. I think it's, if you write Fleabag, that's like the masterpiece.Michael Jamin:It was a masterpiece, but it was a play. I remember watching you go, this is a play.Max Mutchnick:Yeah, but you can't, I don't know. You can't knock it like that. It doesn't, oh,Michael Jamin:It's not a knock. I mean, it's a compliment. I mean, these long monologues, and it's just not done. ButMax Mutchnick:She still was so brilliant that she figured out, she figured something out about how to make great fuckingMichael Jamin:Episodes. Oh, listen, we're on the same page. I was a masterpiece fricking masterpiece. And what I like about it is that it does feel like a play to me. It's really, it's conversational and it's intimate and brave. It's courageous, man. Man.Max Mutchnick:I think it's the final 20 minutes of the second season. I think that it, it'd be hard pressed to find a better single camera comedy ever written. Yeah, I agree. From the moment the priest shows up at her apartment to sleep with her. And I think that goes straight to the end. I don't know. Beat for beat where I've ever seen it, where I've ever watched a better script.Michael Jamin:How do you feel when you watch something like that? What does that do to you? Because you're a professional writer with a huge, great track record. How does that make you feel?Max Mutchnick:I only have that attitude of the more, the merrier. It's only good to me if you're asking me in a coded way, am I ever jealous of somethingMichael Jamin:A little? Yeah.Max Mutchnick:I mean, yeah. Would I like to have created the bear? Sure. Yes. But I'm more proud of Chris store and impressed that I know him, and I love, and I love that that happens. I mean, I get more offended by the bad stuff. I just can't stand the bad stuff, the good stuff. I'm like, God damn, that's exciting. That got made, and somebody left that writer alone and their vision was carried through to the end.Michael Jamin:Hey, it's Michael. If you like my content, and I know you do because listening to me, I will email it to you for free. Just join my watch list. Every Friday I send out my top three videos of the week. These are for writers, actors, creative types, people like you can unsubscribe whenever you want. I'm not going to spam you, and the price is free. You got no excuse to join. Go to michael jamin.com and now back to What the hell is Michael Jamin talking aboutWill and Grace, you could tune in an episode, and you knew you were in for some big, big laughs every episode. And I don't know, you were inviting these friends into your home every week. That's what it felt like. You were inviting your friends over. And there's an art to that.Max Mutchnick:Yes. And there's an art to picking the best writers that money can buy, which is what Will and Grace always had. I mean, the star power in the writing room at Will and Grace was spectacular. And I mean, to a person, it had the best run of writers, but the only time it went off the rails is if the heart got taken out of a story. And if the heart wasn't there, then the thing didn't hold up. That's right. And so you have to lay a foundation in the first act and make sure that all that stuff is true and real at the beginning. And then you can go kind of wherever you want in the second act. Then you can get nuts and then resolve in a very real way. But if you don't actually start from a true place of, oh my God, I cannot believe you are sleeping with my brother, that hurts me so much. Why? Because you're mine. Whatever that story is, you want to just hit those notes that everybody understands.Michael Jamin:Now, when you rebooted Will and Grace, did you bring back the entire writing stuff?Max Mutchnick:We didn't bring back everybody, but brought back most everybody.Michael Jamin:And what's shocking about that you had this amazing writing staff and that they were available.Max Mutchnick:We had to be patient. We had to work a little bit of magic. And I also think, I mean, it's embarrassing for NBC, but David and I had out of pocket some fees.Michael Jamin:Oh, really? You wanted them that bad?Max Mutchnick:But it's worth it. It's worth it. It's like, oh, you, you're going to stop at 25 k an episode for this wildly talented person and for their integrity, and they need it to be 27 5. It's like, take it out of mine.Michael Jamin:Right.Max Mutchnick:And we had to give you the full truth on that. It was more with crew. With Crew that we did that.Michael Jamin:Did you want your old crew?Max Mutchnick:Yeah. I mean, there are people that you want, you want the show to sound the same and you want,Michael Jamin:What was it like bringing it back though, for you as a creator? ItMax Mutchnick:Was incredible, honestly. It was such an incredible thing. I mean, we brought it back thinking that Hillary Clinton was going to be president. And the twisted irony is that the game show host won the office, but it ended up really giving us stuff to write to, because if you're just preaching to the third that you have, it's like, what's fun about that? ButMichael Jamin:To me, I guess I'm interested in your characters are now much older. And now I wouldn't have thought when Will Grace ended? I'm not really thinking about where they're going to be years from now. I'm just done thinking about them.Max Mutchnick:I know, and it kind of did have a finality to it, but I mean, I've told the story, but the set was at Emerson. How was it? And it was done, and they were done with the installation, and it was getting moved back on a flatbed to la. And my husband and I were in London, and I was bereft about the way the election was going and sitting in the back of a cab, I said to him, if I had the show, I would have Karen training Rosario on a rock climbing wall. I would do a story about, you're going to go back to Mexico, but then you're going to climb back in after you go back. Right. And I just wanted that to see that visual of Shelly Morrison on a rock climbing wall and caring training her, and in response to him, those horrible policies. And Eric said to me, well, honey, why don't you just go do something about it and make it the set's where it is? All the actors are where they are, and they were amenable. Thank God, God bless them for doing that, because it didn't have to go that way. It wasMichael Jamin:Easy.Max Mutchnick:It was much easier than you would think to bring it all back together.Michael Jamin:Right. That's with the rebuilding. That's so interesting. When you guys are coming up with show ideas, I mean, are they just coming to you? Are you always coming up with ideas or is it like, okay, we got to come up with an idea?Max Mutchnick:No, I mean, I'm coming up with ideas all the time until someone pays me and then all of a suddenMichael Jamin:Nothing. Can't thinkMax Mutchnick:Of anything. Yeah. It's like, I don't know. I can't sleep. I mean, do you sleep? I don't turn. My brain doesn't shut off. And so I'm always kind of thinking about stuff. And by the way, we've written some of the things that I love the most that we've ever done. They've never seen the light of day. And I think that one of the little twisted crimes of our industry is the fact that agents and studios, if they have any sense that you've written something ago, that you wrote it back when they don't want to, it's like a loaf of bread or something like that, as opposed to a piece of art that it is still relevant. It still makes sense. These characters are vibrant and exist, but it feels like used goods even if it's never anywhere.Michael Jamin:And so you guys, your partner, you meet every day and you're coming up with ideas, or even when you're not,Max Mutchnick:I'm very good that way. I don't feel like I can stop and I don't want to stop. Dave is arguably a happier person, and he doesn't feel the same desire to beat himself to death. That's what it's, yeah. But we've had a dynamic for mean our daughters are very, very close, which Oh, really? A gift of life for both of us. But always, I mean, I say this in front of him and behind his back, our relationship has that lovely Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin, sort of one of us is in love with the other one, and one of us doesn't care. And Dave's just like, but he's my brother. So he's not like he's going anywhere. But it's just like, stop trying so fucking hard. I get a little sweaty when I don't need to.Michael Jamin:Well, yeah, you've had so much success. It occurred to me. I just remember one time I was over at your place once, I don't remember where you were living, but I remember you had Enya on.Max Mutchnick:It's so crazy. So wait, I'm going to make my relationship to Enya. I'm going to bring it back to writing sitcoms because Okay. My anxiety has always been a present part of who I am and what you referred to as the fun of coming into my office. Yeah, you're right. But it's driven by a kind of anxiety and on, I guess it would've been good advice for Michael Patrick King. I was having such heavy, crazy anxiety. Anxiety to the point of passing out anxiety that I had to go every time we had a break down to my car and listen to Anya on AC cd.Michael Jamin:Is it because you're worried you're going to be fired? Is that whyMax Mutchnick:I just didn't have that? There's a, that very scary moment of existing in a writing room of what your output is. Like Jeff Astrof, by the way, such an incredible writer in a room, such a good room person. But he lives by the thing. If I don't put a joke into that script today, I can't go to bed tonight. And that drives a person. And I just was in these, so you have to get, but Michael Petra king got me a little bit more comfortable with, I listen to you sometimes and I watch you construct comedy on the fly, and I am impressed with it. And I think, what the fuck? Can't I still do that? But I tap into something different. I tap into a different thing because I think life just across the board, other than rape and cancer and Israel is pretty much, everything is funny. And I feel really good about exploring the most uncomfortable truths of my life, and that's where I get the stuff from. But I wasn't there. I wasn't there, and certainly not at the beginning. And Dave Cohan comes from such a pedigree family that it was second nature to him to just construct really clever wordplay and stuff like that. And I was really panicked about that at the beginning.Michael Jamin:Interesting. Because you know that in the room of writers, if I'm going to choose a team of writers and I have eight picks, the first eight are story people, not joke people.Max Mutchnick:And that's that generic question you ask a writer when you interview them. So what do you think you're best at story or, well, really good at story, right? They're really good at story.Michael Jamin:You're good at stories.Max Mutchnick:You can tell a fucking story.Michael Jamin:None of you'reMax Mutchnick:Good. It's crazy. It's crazy how many people can't tell a story or the joke thing of you want to say to people and you don't. It's like, okay, close your eyes. Go to the table, put that joke in the actor's mouth and tell me the response that you hear. Do you actually hear people laughing at those words? Because that's how I always do it. I'm like, and then it becomes second nature. Yeah, that sounds right. They will make ew. She'll make ew funny. That will get a laugh. That will get a laugh. But it's always shocking to me like the clunkiness sometimes that's pitched and it's like, that's not going toMichael Jamin:Work. Yeah. Yeah. How funny. How funny.Max Mutchnick:And if I'm calm and you got time, it's like you can try to get it, but you want a Michael Jamin in your room to just give it to you. Done.Michael Jamin:Oh, give it to me. Done. It's so interesting. Go starting out. I was just a joke guy. And then you won't keep your job long if that's all you understand, right?Max Mutchnick:No, you have to be able to, because you go to that run through and the entire back half of that story falls apart. So you have to be a technician to say, if you do this and you do that, the back half will, as we say, it's an F 12, it will write itself. It never does that, unfortunately. But I will tell you this, speaking of that, during all of this AI and the strike, and my writer's assistant that's been with me for a very long time, and I won't say his name because he hates that he's a writer's assistant, but he's incredible. A friend gave him a Will and Grace, an AI written Will and Grace.Michael Jamin:Oh, andMax Mutchnick:I mean, this is the upsetting part.Michael Jamin:No, don't go there. Don't say any of this. What isMax Mutchnick:It? I know. I mean, but the truth is, it's like, well, if this is what came to me, if I sent a team off, if I sent a group off and I said, Karen and Jack are going to have a garage sale, bring me back that story. I want two, I mean, I'd break the scenes with them, but two scenes of the first act, two scenes in the second act, it's AB story. Bring that back to me. It wasn't like it was so far off.Michael Jamin:Wasn't so far off. So better than staff writer.Max Mutchnick:This isMichael Jamin:Scary.Max Mutchnick:Yeah, no, I know. I mean, I don't know. It's like if it was in front of me, we could even read it, but I don't have it. I don't want to give any credit to that, but I'm going to name drop. But I told that story to Norman Lear at dinner not too long ago, and he told me that someone had done it for him too on, I think it was on all of the Family. And I believe that we agreed that it wasn't an abomination.Michael Jamin:This makes me sick a little bit.Max Mutchnick:Oh, it's sickening. Yeah, completely sickening. Because it calls 246 episodes of Will and Grace. It figures out what those people sound like. I mean, look, if I delivered, I wouldn't deliver it at a table read. It would still, it would be that thing that I was talking about. There wouldn't be laughs. It didn't have, it didn't have heart construction. Yeah, but good enough. Yeah, but it could go right. That's a callback number 56 onMichael Jamin:Callback. Good enough. I posted about James Burrows yesterday about what he said. I dunno if you saw,Max Mutchnick:Oh, I did. And we should talk about that.Michael Jamin:Yeah. What's, because he basically said, and I think it was misinterpreted a little, that there are, there's only about 30 great writers to do sitcoms. And what I think he meant was 30 great showrunners or potential showrunners, not writers. ButMax Mutchnick:Yeah, I absolutely didn't agree with him. And you started to talk about it, and then always, I kind of turn you off about five minutes, but I will say this, it's like you hit on exactly what it is. The reason why we like it is because Multicam are the comfort Food of America. I mean, that is the show. You want your kid, when they come home from school, turn on an episode of friends and watch that thing, and then dinner will be ready and it goes down easy and you love it. You even can know where it's going, and it's still satisfying. But I didn't agree with Jim, and I hope that he was misquoted because I am not sure that it's over because of how much it's actually liked by Go ahead and create. Everybody loves Raymond and I dare America to not want to watch it.Michael Jamin:Well, okay, growing up, there was a show called Small Wonder. It was one of these syndicated whatever. And I would watch that. And I said to my partner recently, I was like, how come we can't get on small wonder? Where are those shows put on Small wonder? I'd rather be happy working on Small Wonder. But they don't exist.Max Mutchnick:Well, no one programs that way anymore. I still believe if someone made the commitment, I mean, they must have papered this out somewhere, but I always think, shit, if I ran a network, I would ask the higher ups. Can I please develop sitcoms from eight to 10, put them on the air, and will you give me a guarantee that I get to put them on the air for two years straight, all four of them? Because it doesn't happen like a movie. It doesn't happen. I mean, you try really hard, but it's a fluke to get anybody to get a pilot off the ground in that a scene. They don't know anybody. Right. It's the hardest thing in the world. But I believe that if Multicam, I believe that they weren't driven by star casting because star casting always fucks up a multicam. Of course, there are examples of big stars that have made shows work like Charlie and Julia even. But I mean, there's that list of names that if we weren't being recorded, I would just say it's all these fucking famous people that aren't funny. AndMichael Jamin:Wait, is it because you think they get executive producer and they give notes and they change it? They make the show what they want it to be, you mean?Max Mutchnick:Yeah. I mean, I don't give a shit about that, but that's all bad. Jim Burrows, though, won't allow that, which is a gift, though. The world is so changed that if Miley Cyrus wants to do a sitcom, by the way, I think Miley Cyrus is the only sitcom actor who is able to move the needle. They push you during sweeps. Can you get a Shatner? If we could get Shatner on Big Bang, I know we'll write, that's probably not a good example because it probably worked. But for the most part, shows just get what they get. They always get what they get. It doesn't matter. These co-stars and these, none of that matters,Michael Jamin:Right? No.Max Mutchnick:Is it funny? And do you like the people? Do you like the people? And do you like the world that they're in?Michael Jamin:That's what actually, and that is a good segue to what I wanted to talk about as well. Shit, my dad says, you guys were on the forefront. That was a Twitter popular What? ItMax Mutchnick:Was the first one.Michael Jamin:Right? The first ones. So I'm saying you were on the forefront. You were the first ones who did that. And I remembering because it was based on the Twitter feed, I remember thinking, is this what's going on now? And yes. Yes, it is.Max Mutchnick:I know. I mean, it's funny. I remember when I was a kid and all of a sudden in the music scene, there was punk rock. And I remember being a worried Jewish boy saying to my mother, ma, I think punk rock's going to ruin the world. I think punk rock's going to ruin the world. And it was like all of a sudden, Twitter, a Twitter account, a tweet for Justin Alper. Brilliant. I mean, creator Elementary with Pat Schumacher, and this was Justin's, it was his account, but at a beginning, middle to an end, when you heard it, it was just like, shit, my dad says, it's just like, well, inside that line, speaking of Hemmingway, the best story, the shortest story ever written.Michael Jamin:Yeah. What is it?Max Mutchnick:Baby Shoes for Sale, never Worn.Michael Jamin:Right? Right.Max Mutchnick:They might be out of order, but those are the words I think, and shit my dad says was like, oh my God. You know exactly what that is. That's a son with being embarrassed by a father that he loves. So it was all there. It was there. Yeah.Michael Jamin:But if, I don't know, was there ever a moment like now, sure. Oh, this guy, this person has a big Twitter feed. Yes, bring him in. Let's talk with them. Right. But was there a moment when you were doing this? Are we really basing a show on a Twitter feed? I mean, I know you saw more, but I would've been worried.Max Mutchnick:Yeah, yeah. But it was literary. I mean, I don't know. Justin was just so sharp and smart, and there were ideas immediately, so it didn't feel hacky at all. But by the way, I will say this, it was one of the handful of terrible, deadly fatal casting mistakes that I made in giving the job of the Sun to the actor that we did when the actor of the hundreds of people that we read for that part, there was only one guy who came in and he was a slam dunk, and he was the one, and he was the only one of all the 500 men that read for the part that Bill Shatner said, that's the guy. And that guy was David Rum, HoltzMichael Jamin:Rum,Max Mutchnick:David m, it was so there in the room. Yeah. I forgot it was him. He understood everything. And I brought some of my own bullshit to it, and so did everybody else. David didn't, he didn't look like we wanted it. Look, we wanted a cuter person and all kind of stuff.Michael Jamin:Pretty, it's so funny. We did a show with him years later. Crummy Sweet kid, sweet guy. Interesting.Max Mutchnick:Wow. Forgot about that. Yeah. Such a talented guy. Such talentedMichael Jamin:Guy. Yeah. Interesting.Max Mutchnick:And a brother in neurosis.Michael Jamin:Yeah. Yeah. Well, let me talk about that, because you tend to put yourself into the characters you write. And how hard is that is difficult for you? Does everyone know that it's you, IMax Mutchnick:Guess? I think so. I mean, well, I only tell the stories in first person. I mean, I don't say, I have a friend who had sex with a Chauffeur for Music Express. I tell the story about what I did and how embarrassing it was and what I did and what I did to recover from it. And I got very comfortable with that. And it's made it possible to tell a lot of stories because that's what I have.Michael Jamin:But on the flip side, are you sometimes protective of the character when someone else pitches an idea and Well, I wouldn't do that. Well, it's not you. It's,Max Mutchnick:Oh my God. No. If it feels true, and it sounds true, I completely, I mean, I'm not going to go back on what I said. If your story is fantastic and it's not nuts, I mean, I want to tell that I want tell that story. Right? I mean, those are the ones that I, the ones that really like are like, oh, Jesus Christ, that's so uncomfortable. That's so uncomfortable and so awkward. And we have to do that. We have to tell that story.Michael Jamin:Did you start on your shows that you run, do you start every morning with like, Hey, what's everybody up to? Are you trying to pull stories out of people, personal storiesMax Mutchnick:We call a host chat?Michael Jamin:Is that what you called it? Yeah,Max Mutchnick:We call a host chat, because when I first started out, I knew I had a rundown of, I think Regis. Regis and who is Frank ER's wife?Michael Jamin:Kathy Lee.Max Mutchnick:Kathy Lee. Kathy Lee. And it's called Host Chat, by the way. It might've been on,Michael Jamin:Mike Madia was called that as well. Yeah. Yeah.Max Mutchnick:I mean, that's where it comes from. It doesn't come from Regis, it comes from that. And David, and I mean, it's arguably sometimes the best part of the day.Michael Jamin:Well, yeah, it's funny. You guys set up Mike and Maddie, and then you bounced off that show probably in a matter of months. And then I took, I took the job that you vacated and I was thrilled. And with you was, I dunno. For me, it was like, oh my God, this is this giant opportunity. And you guys, this is your temporary gig.Max Mutchnick:Oh, well, it wasn't a temporary gig. It was a fall from Grace. I mean, I think we had already been working, something was going on in our career, either we were in between agents or something, but that was an absolute blight. I mean, it was terrible. That experience.Michael Jamin:And why, what was it For me,Max Mutchnick:We were WGA primetime,Michael Jamin:And that was not all ofMax Mutchnick:Sudden we're writing a strip bullshit show with two hosts that hate each other. And I mean, a great thing came out of it though, the first week of the run of those shows, David Cohan is in all of the sketches.Michael Jamin:Oh, I didn't know that.Max Mutchnick:Yeah, David, we wrote him into the sketches. He played kind of this dumb PA character, and we would do these cold opens that they could never make them work. They could never make work because Maddie couldn't act. And Mike was always frustrated. But Dave's in them, they're online, I believe, and they're pretty funny.Michael Jamin:Oh my God. HowMax Mutchnick:Funny. Yeah, it's incredible.Michael Jamin:And so I guess going forward, as I take up a lot of your time here, what do you see going forward with the industry? I don't know. What does it lookMax Mutchnick:Like to you? That's one thing I won't do. It's the more I realize how little I know kind of thing. I believe this. I believe that good shows always will out. They will always happen. And even in spite of the system. So I think that that can happen. But I don't know. I'll tell you, in six months, I can come back and we'll talk about whether the multicam that I have in the hopper right now, if they work and if they get on the schedule, because things just, it just doesn't happen anymore.Michael Jamin:People think, yeah, people, when you're in it, you're made well, your next job is never guaranteed.Max Mutchnick:I don't like that 50 something year old guy that doesn't work anymore. I don't want to be that. I don't that person and I can be okay. I guess reflecting, looking back on, I tried really hard and I kind of want to, this might be embarrassing, but I really would like to show myself that I have not disconnected from the popular culture that I can tap into the way people feel still. And I'm not just a guy making dad jokes. I mean, I'm not that guy anyway. My daughters, that's not their experience. So it is just a matter of can I get the system to work on my behalf?Michael Jamin:What do you tell young writers trying to break in then giveMax Mutchnick:Advice that there's always room for one more. I mean, I still feel that way, but I feel like you've got to be, if you get on a show, I think the goal is to parrot the showrunner.Yes. Make the sound that he's making. Don't make some other weird Crispin Glover sound. Make the sound that he's making, and then improve upon that act. It's like actors that you hire to do a guest spot on a show, and they kill it, and you hire them, and then they get on the floor and they give you something else. It's like, no, no, no. Do exactly the thing that we hired you for. So a writer, it's like, I read your spec script. I love it. I love your tone. I loved talking to you. And by the way, in that meeting, I'm thinking as much about what's it going to be like to do post chat with this person and do anything else? Because I don't know that I should say this, but I will because I don't stop myself. A lot of times when we meet writers, we read them after we met them,Michael Jamin:You read 'em afterMax Mutchnick:They have a thing. If they're in the system to the point that the studio and the network are saying, oh yeah, we love this person. We think this person is great. This person's just come out of NYU. We think you'll help this person. Right? You've got to meet this guy, or you've got to meet this woman, this human. I sit down with them and then it's like, okay, you are,Michael Jamin:I wouldn't trust anything they say, though. That's the thing. Why? What do you mean? Well, because you got to meet this writer, and they're like, but I don't think they know what I'm looking for in a writer. That's the thing.Max Mutchnick:But it's like both have equal power in the hiring. So it's like you meet them, do I like them? You can read a script and then all of a sudden you imbue all the stuff that, and they're just like, Ugh. They're a drip. And they're not cool. And they're not easy to talk to. I mean, by the way, mean if the script's brilliant, you're going to hire them. But well,Michael Jamin:Also, I imagine we're also intimidated by your success too. It's not easy to sit opposite you guys,Max Mutchnick:But we try really hard to pull that out of the room as fast as we can because it gets in the way. And like I said, it's like I won't really comment on our position in the world and that kind of stuff. I just can't even think about that. If someone's coming in to talk to us, I feel as much want them to. I'm still the same as my husband says, everybody has diarrhea. It's like, I want them to like me.Michael Jamin:You still sob to Enya?Max Mutchnick:Yes. That I don't do anymore. I do. I'm a little bit my spine's illustrator. I don't have one way of doing anything is really the moral of the whole.Michael Jamin:Wow, max, I'm so appreciative that you took the time. I don't know, just to talk because oh my God, you have so much wisdom to share. It's just so interesting to hear your journey, and I don't know.Max Mutchnick:It is a joy to talk to you, and I don't usually enjoy these things as much as I have that says everything about you, andMichael Jamin:It's atMax Mutchnick:Ease. Yeah. I mean, you're just easy and good and smart and everything. A lot. I mean, your commentary throughout the strike was just fantastic and on point. And you were putting yourself out there in a way. AndMichael Jamin:Ballsy is what IMax Mutchnick:Ballsy. Ballsy. Yes, that's right. I mean, one gets scared making things when you have, I guess you don't have that much to lose.Michael Jamin:That's pretty much it. That's pretty much it. Yeah.Max Mutchnick:So can you just tell me before we say goodbye? Yeah. What are you working on?Michael Jamin:Well, we're going to talk more. We're done talking. Okay.Max Mutchnick:Okay. So do you want to wrap it up? Do we sing or what do we do?Michael Jamin:Yeah. We hug virtually and we tell everyone to be their best creative versions of themselves.Max Mutchnick:That's exactly right.Michael Jamin:Encourage people. There's roomMax Mutchnick:For one more.Michael Jamin:I love that. There's room for one more. So if you're listening always. Yeah.Max Mutchnick:No matter what it is. And God damn, I wish I could sing the theme for, I mean, if you have your sound engineer, why don't you just have your sound engineer fade in the theme from the Mike and Maddie show written by Charles Luman.Michael Jamin:MicMax Mutchnick:Shine. It's a beautiful day in America.Michael Jamin:I'm not paying for that needle drop. I got my own music. HeMax Mutchnick:Doesn't need the money.Michael Jamin:I'll talk to him. Okay. All right. Thank you again, max. I really appreciate it, Janet. Yeah. Okay. And don't go anywhere. Alright everyone, we got another more great episodes. Wasn't that interesting talk? He's a great guy. Go watch him. Go watch Will and Grace again. It's ageless. Alright, thanks so much everyone, until next week.So now we all know what the hell Michael Jamin is talking about. If you're interested in learning more about writing, make sure you register for my free monthly webinars @michaeljamin.com /webinar. And if you found this podcast helpful or entertaining, please share it with a friend and consider leaving us a five star review on iTunes that really, really helps. For more of this, whatever the hell this is, follow Michael Jamin on social media @MichaelJaminwriter. And you can follow Phil Hudson on social media @PhilaHudson. This podcast was produced by Phil Hudson. It was edited by Dallas Crane and music was composed by Anthony Rizzo. And remember, you can have excuses or you can have a creative life, but you can't have both. See you next week.

Kathrine Switzer is a trailblazer in women's sports history. The first woman to register & run the Boston Marathon, she ignited a revolution empowering women worldwide.

This week on Just Jack & Will, Sean & Eric crack open the second season of Will & Grace, with the titular best friends handling their codependency by moving ten feet apart, and Jack living with his new green card bride Rosario in the back of Karen's penthouse. They discuss VHS tapes, the summer reruns that brought the show to a bigger audience, appearing in your nude, and the invention of the online reservation, and Eric talks about the first scene where he really felt comfortable as the leading man. Then, they welcome the legendary Jimmy Burrows back to the show to chat about getting all the pieces in place for a second season and beyond. Put down the cheese and return to the picnic area!Have a question about Will & Grace, especially Season 2? We want to hear them! Email us at JustJackAndWill@gmail.com, call or text to 818-308-4012, maybe the guys will answer your question on the show!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

SAG-AFTRA reaches a tentative deal with studios after 118 days on strike. Was the deal a win? What is in it? Plus, WBD and Disney earnings news. Legendary sitcom director James Burrows talks with Eric Deggans, NPR TV critic and guest-host on The Business, about the revival of Frasier, his directing career, and whether sitcoms can endure on streaming services.

Erin Patterson, the woman at the centre of the deadly mushroom meal saga, has been charged with three counts of murder, Australia's most wanted man, Hakan Ayik, has been arrested in Turkey, Israel's army says its forces have encircled the Hamas stronghold of Gaza City, there was a bit of a shock yesterday when it was announced that Mitch Marsh had flown home from the world cup for family reasons, James Burrows, the director of Friends, has opened up about the death of Matthew Perry, The Beatles have released a new song, more than four decades after it was recorded as a demo See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome back to purgatory and Happy Halloween!!! The dudes are back and this time reviewing Eden Lake from 2008 written and directed by James Watkins and starring Kelly Reilly, Michael Fassbender, Jack O'Connell, Finn Atkins, Jumayn Hunter, Thomas Turgoose, James Burrows and Tom Gill!!! Thanks for checkin us out! and if you'd like to find our back catalog you can find it on podbean.com Outro track "Lake of Fire" by Nirvana https://youtu.be/b_741PwcOhE?si=Dn7hEYF4ZRIWDfU3  

We're celebrating the end of the WGA strike with a tribute to some of the most emotionally manipulative creative fiction on TV: The Golden Bachelor. But first we're wrapping up the big strike settlement, catching up on the return of late night TV, and sharing our streaming advice for YOU in an autumn edition of Add? Keep? Cancel?! Join us as we bravely enter the Bachelor-verse, even though we're generally Bachelor-averse! ———

Season 1, Episodes 18 of Friends, "The One With All The Poker", premiered on March 2, 1995. It was written by ⁠Jeff Astrof & Mike Sikowitz⁠ and directed by James Burrows. When the girls lose money to the guys in a poker game, they seek out Monica's Aunt Iris for lessons and demand a rematch. Send in any questions, comments, feedback or criticisms to The Postman: 1. On Twitter @asinensky @achester99 @PPPGFriends 2. By Email curbpostman@gmail.com 3. By filling out this ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠form⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Give us a 5 Star Rating and Review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pretty-good-friends/support

Season 1, Episode 14 of Friends, "The One with the Candy Hearts", premiered on February 9, 1995. It was written by Bill Lawrence and directed by James Burrows. It's Valentine's Day and, out on his first date in nine years, Ross meets up with his ex-wife. Meanwhile, Monica, Phoebe and Rachel rebel against the spirit of the day by burning mementos of past relationships. Send in any questions, comments, feedback or criticisms to The Postman: 1. On Twitter @asinensky @achester99 @PPPGFriends 2. By Email curbpostman@gmail.com 3. By filling out this ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠form⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Give us a 5 Star Rating and Review⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pretty-good-friends/support

Eleven-time Emmy winner James Burrows chats with Trey Elling about DIRECTED BY JAMES BURROWS: FIVE DECADES OF STORIES FROM THE LEGENDARY DIRECTOR OF TAXI, CHEERS, FRASIER, FRIENDS, WILL & GRACE, AND MORE. Topics include: The best lesson he learned from his dad, Abe (1:15) Entering TV during a transformative time (2:34) Dying with your boots on (5:54) The difficulty of Taxi (10:04) Andy Kaufman (12:27) Louie De Palma (16:11) Having Sam & Diane to hook up in Cheers (17:11) The inspiration for Cheers (19:30) The challenges of setting a show in a bar (22:06) Replacing Coach with Woody Harrelson (24:07) Cheers never jumping the shark (27:44) The Cheers finale (28:39) Why he worked so well with Glen & Les Charles (30:15) Kelsey Grammar's brilliance (31:25) Will & Grace (35:22) The importance of 'butterflies' (40:05) Directing the Friends pilot (40:54) NewsRadio (46:15) Jason Bateman (50:01) Drawing the best out of an actor (51:54) Why he thinks of himself as lucky (53:38)

This week on Just Jack & Will, Sean & Eric review the second episode of Will & Grace, in which Grace moves in and Karen and Jack finally meet. They reenact a scene, talk about blow-up dolls, salad acting, and touching stomachs, and Sean struggles a little with early Jack. Then, they welcome legendary director James Burrows to talk about directing every single episode of Will & Grace. Peter Paul & Mary, you listeners are fabulous.Have a question about Will & Grace, especially Season 1? We want to hear them! Email us at JustJackAndWill@gmail.com, call or text to 818-308-4012, maybe the gentlemen will answer your question on the show!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

"The Pilot" (also known as "The One Where It All Began", "The One Where Monica Gets A Roommate" and "The First One") is the first episode of Friends. It premiered on September 22, 1994. It was written by Marta Kauffman and David Crane, and was directed by James Burrows. An introduction to the gang. After Rachel leaves her Mr Potato Head look-alike fiancé Barry at the altar, she moves in with Monica and discovers that independence sucks when you don't have Daddy's credit cards to rely on. Meanwhile, Chandler and Joey encourage Ross to experience the advantages of bachelorhood, and Phoebe supports herself by playing guitar in the subway. Send in any questions, comments, feedback or criticisms to The Postman: 1. On Twitter @asinensky @achester99 @PPPGFriends 2. By Email curbpostman@gmail.com 3. By filling out this ⁠form⁠ ⁠Give us a 5 Star Rating and Review --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/pretty-good-friends/support

A special episode today, as Ben Blacker chats with the creators of Cheers: Glen Charles, Les Charles, and James Burrows. They discuss the TV comedy landscape in 1982 and now, who at NBC didn't get the show, Taxi, Phyllis, discovering the cast's special talents, the pressure following Shelley Long's departure, and lots more.Before that interview, though, an excerpt from Ted Danson and His Friends From Work, a live streaming special that Blacker produced in 2020. The show featured cast reunions of Ted Danson's shows and movies, from Three Men and a Baby to The Good Place, and ended in a 45 minute Cheers reunion, featuring the Charles brothers, Burrows, Danson, Rhea Perlman, Woody Harrelson, Kelsey Grammer, Kirstie Alley, John Ratzenberger, Bebe Neuwirth, and George Wendt, as well as a fan-question from Tina Fey!And before THAT, a short but important conversation with Adam Conover (Adam Ruins Everything), who is a WGA Board Member and is on the contract negotiating committee about who forms the WGA's strategy, what sympathetic execs can do to help (without getting fired), how pre-WGA writers can pitch in, and what gives him hope that the WGA will win this fight,By the way! Les Charles wants you to know that the name of the episode that he couldn't recall in the conversation is "Old Flames," which is episode 7 of season 2 and was written by the late, wonderful David Angell.THE WRITERS PANEL IS NOW A COMPLETELY INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION.Follow and support the show by subscribing to Ben Blacker's newsletter, where you'll also get weekly advice from the thousands of writers he's interviewed over the years, as well as access to exclusive live Q&As, meet-ups, and more: https://benblacker.substack.comSOCIALS: twitter.com/BenBlackerfacebook.com/tvWritersPanel Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Burrows is a classic TV icon, now in his 80s and still active in the industry. He explains why he believes the era of the sitcom may be coming to an end.

How you doin?  We're back with FRIENDS of the Podcast: our Friends retrospective and could we be any more excited? Ian and Georgia are here on a Central Perk Sunday to discuss all things Season 1 of the hit 90s sitcom as we discuss Season 1, Episode 14: The One with the Candy Hearts. We try to figure out who's got the keys this week as we discuss: The relative merits of beloved (by some) Irish band, the Cranberries Whether the Ross/Carol kiss counts as cheating and are we still too easy on Carol for the affair with Susan? We discuss the merits of Foley jokes Does Joey have more game than we at first think? How Maggie Wheeler hits Prime Janice form on this one Why does James Burrows direct so many episodes in Season 1 and should he be given more credit for the phenomenon FRIENDS was? We've got 3 recurring guest stars to choose from this week: Carol, Susan, and Janice Ian talks about the cinematography of the episode, not a usual discussion point We discuss which parts of the episode are the best for water cooler discussion We're so thrilled with our theme music by Baltic House Orchestra.  Catch their stuff over at: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BalticHouseOrchestra Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baltic.house.orchestra If you want to get in on the discussion, you can do so over at our Patreon page - patreon.com/bfe Next up: The One with Two Parts (1.16/1.17)

Ditch, Date or Dabble: tequila, vodka, wine? Legendary James Burrows talked about his projects on Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend podcast and revealed his thinking creating "Cheers." And we imagine what Tigger and Eeyore (from Winnie the Pooh) would be like as friends. LOL! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eric McCormack Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson Will and Vicki. The virgin Walden/Abelson voyage. If you're gonna break the almost 3 yrs to the day pandemic Zoom streak, and do a first Live in person from the new digs, how better than with handsome, charming, fabulous, Emmy, SAG, and GLAAD Award Winning, Eric McCormack? Couldn't be done. If you're gonna look into a set of eyeballs, share rarefied air, lotsa laughs, and some snacks, well…it doesn't get better than this. Thank you, Loren Gold for putting up with my incessant begging and pleading and making this happen. Exceeding all expectations, Eric was easy, expressive, talented (he did accents, impressions, and sang a teeny bit), and crazy fun. Stories, stories, and more stories, one better than the last. When we wrapped and Eric's fab assistant, Michelle Loparo, said some of said stories were new to her, well, score! From his early days in Toronto, school plays with David Furnish, no, really! Day jobs at Baskin Robbins, and a gas station, his father's secret revealed, childhood heroes and how one blew Eric's adult mind, five years doing Shakespeare in rep, breaking into TV, Lonesome Dove, meeting his unlikely perfect partner, manifesting his highest dream––auditioning for James Burrows, landing the part that would change his life, Will and Grace fun, bringing childhood imagings to life… Freddy Mercury, Barry Manilow, Elton John, starring on Broadway in The Music Man, turning serious… Travelers (Netflix- 3 seasons to binge), the upcoming, Departure (Peacock), Slasher (AMC), The Other Black Girl (Hulu) the acclaimed Drinkwater (Canadian Prime, soon here), plus another Broadway turn, The Cottage, directed by his great friend, Game Changers alum, Jason Alexander, coming this summer, and, as if that t'weren't enough, two podcasts soon to drop, one, Eating Out, with his pal, Steven Weber, a Women Who Write alum, and Just Jack and Will with his great friend Sean Hayes. I'm exhausted typing it, let alone this indefatigable man living it all, no doubt, brilliantly. There are more stories, unmentioned. Tasty treats reenacted to delight. I'm still basking in the glow, wondering how I'll ever Zoom again. Eric McCormack has ruined me for pandemic worry. What a way to break free. Whee! Eric McCormack Live on Game Changers with Vicki Abelson Wed, March 1, 5 pm PT, 8 pm ET Streamed Live on The Facebook Replay here:
https://bit.ly/3J5qyN5 Video and photos by Snuffy Walden

EP 192 Happy New Year. Adam picks out clips from this years shows. We revisit Phil's mom thinking he has the last supper, tattooed on his neck. Stories from Colin Quinn, James Burrows, Cash Cab's Ben Bailey, Brad Garrett and of course Philip White Shoes Cock! ADAM'S TICKET LINK https://linktr.ee/AdamFerrara T Shirt Link https://bit.ly/3rj7fXU LINK TO ADAM'S YOU TUBE SPECIAL https://800PGR.lnk.to/ItsScaryInHereYTID Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

EP 192 Happy New Year. Adam picks out clips from this years shows. We revisit Phil's mom thinking he has the last supper, tattooed on his neck. Stories from Colin Quinn, James Burrows, Cash Cab's Ben Bailey, Brad Garrett and of course Philip White Shoes Cock! ADAM'S TICKET LINK https://linktr.ee/AdamFerrara T Shirt Link https://bit.ly/3rj7fXU LINK TO ADAM'S YOU TUBE SPECIAL https://800PGR.lnk.to/ItsScaryInHereYTID Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Legendary sitcom director James Burrows shares his decades of memories from behind the camera of some of the most iconic shows ever on TV from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Cheers to Friends and Will & Grace. Originally from the theatre world, he recognized early on that sitcoms are plays with cameras and you can't teach comedy or chemistry. Actress Debra Messing chimes in to share what makes him so brilliant, and they both dish on the buffet of guest stars that played with them on Will & Grace - including one Ali Wentworth who got down and dirty as Dr. Superstein, Grace's gynecologist, in 2019. If you have questions or guest suggestions, Ali would love to hear from you. Call or text her at (323) 364-6356. Or email go-ask-ali-podcast-at-gmail.com. (No dashes) Links of Interest: Book: Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace and MoreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It would be difficult to overstate the influence on American television of director James Burrows. Co-creator of Cheers, he also directed 237 of the long-running show's 275 episodes. He directed every episode of Will & Grace, the groundbreaking show that turned gay characters and storylines into must-see TV. He also directed 75 episodes of Taxi, 32 episodes of Frasier, 15 episodes of Friends, and multiple episodes of Phyllis, The Bob Newhart Show, NewsRadio, and many others.  His sitcom work all began with an episode of another pathbreaking series, The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the early 1970s. Altogether, he has directed more than 1,000 episodes of American comedy television. In his new memoir, Directed by James Burrows, he's sharing stories from his legendary career working on the most successful and influential sitcoms of the past half century. Join us for this online program to hear how James Burrows shaped popular, high-quality comedy TV in America. NOTES This program is part of our Good Lit series, underwritten by the Bernard Osher Foundation. SPEAKERS James Burrows Director; Co-creator, Cheers; Author, Directed by James Burrows Michelle Meow Producer and Host, "The Michelle Meow Show," KBCW TV and Podcast; Member, Commonwealth Club Board of Governors—Co-host John Zipperer Producer and Host, Week to Week Political Roundtable; Vice President of Media & Editorial, The Commonwealth Club of California—Co-host In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are currently hosting all of our live programming via YouTube live stream. This program was recorded via video conference on September 27th, 2022 by the Commonwealth Club of California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on From the Front Porch, Annie recaps the books she read and loved in September. As always, we're offering a September Reading Recap Bundle, which features Annie's three favorite books from this month. Get your September Reading Recap Bundle or your favorites of Annie's September reads on our website: September Reading Recap Bundle Agatha of Little Neon by Claire Luchette The Revivalists by Christopher M. Hood Directed by James Burrows by James Burrows Sam by Allegra Goodman River of the Gods by Candice Millard The Absolutely True Diary of A Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.  A full transcript of today's episode can be found here. Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.  This week Annie is listening to Celebrities for Jesus by Katelyn Beaty. If you liked what you heard in today's episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you're so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff's weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week. Our Executive Producers are... Donna Hetchler, Angie Erickson, Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle C, Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, and Kate Johnston Tucker.

GGACP celebrates the 40th anniversary (premiered September 30, 1982) of the iconic sitcom "Cheers" by revisiting this 2019 conversation with the show's co-creator, Emmy-winning director James Burrows. In this episode, James talks about the importance of the “straight man,” the influence of his legendary dad Abe Burrows, the societal impact of “Will & Grace” and the winning formulas behind “Taxi,” “Friends” and “The Mary Tyler Moore Show.” Also, Andy Kaufman comes to dinner, Woody Harrelson changes the game, Norman Lear writes a fan letter and James meets John Steinbeck, Truman Capote and Groucho Marx. PLUS: Sydney Pollack! Remembering Ruth Gordon! The comedy of Patchett and Tarses! The generosity of Jay Sandrich! And James directs the “All in the Family” reboot! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on From the Front Porch, Annie's husband Jordan joins her to talk all about audiobooks! The books mentioned in this episode can be purchased from The Bookshelf's Libro.fm playlist (or as physical books from The Bookshelf): Annie's picks: Anna K: A Love Story by Jenny Lee Falling by TJ Newman Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman Going There by Katie Couric How Not To Drown in a Glass of Water by Angie Cruz Rabbit Cake by Annie Hartnett River of the Gods by Candice Millard Taste by Stanley Tucci Upgrade by Blake Crouch The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson You'll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey by Amber Ruffin and Lacey Lamar Jordan's Picks: Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders The Fellowship of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkein The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkein The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night by Mark Haddon Behind her Eyes by Sara Pinborough Defending Jacob by William Landay When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi Furious Hours by Casey Cep Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri Death is but a Dream by Christopher Kerr The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe Mutual Listens: The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green Directed by James Burrows by James Burrows Calypso by David Sedaris Survive the Night by Riley Sager From the Front Porch is a weekly podcast production of The Bookshelf, an independent bookstore in South Georgia. You can follow The Bookshelf's daily happenings on Instagram at @bookshelftville, and all the books from today's episode can be purchased online through our store website, www.bookshelfthomasville.com.  A full transcript of today's episode can be found here. Special thanks to Dylan and his team at Studio D Podcast Production for sound and editing and for our theme music, which sets the perfect warm and friendly tone for our Thursday conversations.  This week Annie is reading The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Jordan is reading Everything Sad is Untrue by Daniel Nayeri and The Fourth Turning by William Strauss and Neil Howe. If you liked what you heard in today's episode, tell us by leaving a review on iTunes. Or, if you're so inclined, support us on Patreon, where you can hear our staff's weekly New Release Tuesday conversations, read full book reviews in our monthly Shelf Life newsletter and follow along as Hunter and I conquer a classic. Just go to patreon.com/fromthefrontporch. We're so grateful for you, and we look forward to meeting back here next week. Our Executive Producers are... Donna Hetchler, Angie Erickson, Cammy Tidwell, Chantalle C, Nicole Marsee, Wendi Jenkins, Laurie Johnson, and Kate Johnston Tucker. Libro.FM: Libro.fm lets you purchase audiobooks directly from your favorite local bookstore (like The Bookshelf). You can pick from more than 215,000 audiobooks, and you'll get the same audiobooks at the same price as the largest audiobook company out there (you know the name). But you'll be part of a different story -- one that supports community. All you need is a smart phone and the free Libro.fm app. You can shop The Bookshelf's Libro.fm playlist here.

We discuss the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the good and bad that she represented. We learn about the Telling the Bees tradition, why the Queen's death was announced to her bees, but also why this is not a practice reserved for monarchs. Susie tries to convince Sarah that cats have a very important advantage over dogs. We talk about the Choose Your Own Adventure book series, why the publisher wanted all the protagonists to be boys, and how the series teaches children a lot about life, virtue, risk, and regrets. Plus, and most importantly!, Susie interviews her hero, James Burrows about his incredible career in television. He directed Taxi, Cheers, Friends, Fraiser, Will & Grace, and hundreds of pilots of television that have changed American culture, television, and comedy. He is a giant of pop culture, and it was the honor of Susie's life to speak with him about his book, Directed By James Burrows. Join our book club, shop our merch, sign-up for our free newsletter, & more by visiting The Brain Candy Podcast website: Connect with us on social media: BCP Instagram: Susie's Instagram: Sarah's Instagram: BCP Twitter: Susie's Twitter: Sarah's Twitter: Get an extended 30 day free trial when you go to Get 25% off when you go to and use code: CANDY at checkout! Join the conversation at More podcasts at WAVE:

Friends, I'm on a mission to show you the real person behind your favorite sitcoms (Cheers, Friends, Frasier, Will and Grace, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rhoda, The Bob Newhart Show, Third Rock from the Sun, the list goes on...). I think I succeeded! This is NOT the same interview you'll hear on other podcasts. You'll hear the backstory and inside scoop in today's intro. Then you get to know the man behind the icon. Send me your feedback! reallyfamouspodcast@gmail.com Buy Jim's book, Directed by James Burrows at my Amazon shop: https://amzn.to/3qQYQK8 Listen to my first talk with Jim: https://really-famous.com/now/jim-burrows Watch Jim and me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbR3_S40FqVaWfKhYOTneSQ?sub_confirmation=1 Watch Jim and me on Facebook Watch: https://www.facebook.com/karamayerrobinson/  Join my special insider's group: http://eepurl.com/dnbUWL Shop through my Amazon storefront (hey, thanks!): https://www.amazon.com/shop/reallyfamous Check out my new sizzle reel: https://really-famous.com/kmr-reel Follow me on social media to see behind-the-scene pics of Jim and me and get my backstories with more of my fabulous celebrity guests: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/karamayerrobinson/  Facebook https://www.facebook.com/karamayerrobinson/  Twitter https://twitter.com/kara1to1    Celebrity interview by Kara Mayer Robinson Music: Take a Chance by Kevin MacLeod - Incompetech - Creative Commons    

There's lots of TV talk when James Burrows joins Rob Lowe. On today's episode we dive into decades of sitcom history—you'll find out why laugh tracks are used, how Mary Tyler Moore helped James' career, why David Schwimmer almost didn't do Friends, and some interesting facts about Andy Kaufman. Got a question for Rob? Call our voicemail at (323) 570-4551. Yours could get featured on the show!

This week Dan and Jason talk about missing Jesse, the Marion Popcorn Festival, Andy Kaufman, James Burrows, the Bratwurst Queen, exploding foods, the Mt. Rushmore of things you crawl into, 3 Eyes vs. 1 Eye, restaurant restrooms, goalkeepers with baseball caps and more.   Netflix Suggestion of the Week Jason and Dan:  The Rings of Power   Video Podcast Link YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFCEtzOS_7KEGkIwa-TY5iA Audio Podcast Links Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lauer-road-radio/id1080548373 Podbean: https://lauerroadradio.podbean.com/ Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5LmfrAiGoe2Db6VUR8nF0t?si=RrmDIYrPSY-ioWXwBQjBJA iHeart: https://www.iheart.com/podcast/256-lauer-road-radio-31121154/ Player.FM: https://player.fm/series/lauer-road-radio-2360388 Castbox: https://castbox.fm/channel/Lauer-Road-Radio-id1334980?country=us Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/lauer-road-radio   Social Media Links Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauerroadradio/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lauerroadradio Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lauerroadradio/ Contact Us Directly Email: lauerroadradio@gmail.com Support Lauer Road Radio CashApp: $LauerRoadRadio https://cash.app/$LauerRoadRadio

James Burrows is an 11-time Emmy Award-winning director. He began his television career directing episodes of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "The Bob Newhart Show," and "Laverne & Shirley." He became the resident director on "Taxi," then co-created the beloved classic "Cheers," directing 243 of the 273 episodes, as well as all 246 episodes of "Will & Grace." He has directed the pilots and multiple episodes of "Frasier," "Friends," "Mike & Molly," the pilots of "Two and a Half Men" and "The Big Bang Theory," and hundreds of other shows that he chronicles in his new memoir, Directed by James Burrows.  In this episode, James shares lessons he has learned throughout his five-decade career, behind-the-scenes stories from directing more than 1,000 episodes of television, and how he knows something is truly funny.

Jimmy Burrows has directed more than one thousand episodes of sitcom television and has earned eleven Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards. In 1974 he began his television career directing episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, and Laverne and Shirley. He became the resident director on Taxi and co-created Cheers, directing 243 of the 273 episodes, as well as all 246 episodes of Will and Grace. He has directed the pilots of multiple episodes of Frasier, Friends, Mike & Molly, the pilots of Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory, and hundreds of other shows.  His new book is titled: Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Will & Grace, and More.      Some interesting insights from this episode: He operates with kindness. Everyone has to row together and pull equally with everyone else. He doesn't allow ego to get in the way. He has the perfect temperament for TV directing. He doesn't lose his temper, he's patient, he has low ego, and he knows how to encourage others. He feels as a director it's important to “die with your boots on”. That is, to try to do something to make a difference.  To provide input to make the best show possible. When deciding whether to work on a show, he likes to meet with the writer and have him/her defend themselves but not be defensive. When asked about same-sex marriage, then Vice President Joe Biden said, “I think Will & Grace probably did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody's ever done so far. People fear that which is different. Now they're beginning to understand.” His success is attributed to his ability to create a harmony on the set so everyone's involved in making the show better. On his sets, you have to check your ego at the door. “Excellence is to try to be the best you can be in your particular field.”   Notes: Book: Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More

Legendary sitcom director James Burrows feels sanguine about being Conan O'Brien's friend. James sits down with Conan to talk about his new book Directed by James Burrows, casting for Cheers and Frasier, which of his shows he still thinks is the funniest, and the evolution of the Norm-ism. Plus, Conan tries to get to know his own feet a bit better.  Got a question for Conan? Call our voicemail: (323) 451-2821. For Conan videos, tour dates and more visit TeamCoco.com.

MSNBC's Ari Melber hosts "The Beat" on Tuesday, August 23, 2022 and reports on dramatic new details from the New York Times revealing that the government found Trump had 300+ classified documents at Mar-A-Lago, and he “went through the boxes himself.” The government saying some of the material included the US's most closely guarded secrets. Civil rights activist Maya Wiley and retired NYPD detective Marq Claxton join. Plus, acclaimed director James Burrows reflects on “Will & Grace” and “Cheers.”

Adam flipped out driving through the everglades. Legendary Director James Burrows, of so many classic TV shows like Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, 3rd Rock from the Sun and The Big Bang Theory, stops by and tells us about Andy Kaufman's demands for firing Andy's alter ego, Tony Clifton from Taxi. Flying the Friends cast to Vegas for their last night of anonymity and riding in a motorcycle side car driven by Bruce Springsteen.  The new marvel super hero is poundcake man. ADAM'S TICKET LINK https://linktr.ee/AdamFerrara T Shirt Link https://bit.ly/3rj7fXU LINK TO ADAM'S YOU TUBE SPECIAL https://800PGR.lnk.to/ItsScaryInHereYTID Get your message on this podcast Megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Adam flipped out driving through the everglades. Legendary Director James Burrows, of so many classic TV shows like Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, 3rd Rock from the Sun and The Big Bang Theory, stops by and tells us about Andy Kaufman's demands for firing Tony Clifton from Taxi. Flying the Friends cast to Vegas for their last night of anonymity and riding in a motorcycle side car driven by Bruce Springsteen.  The new marvel super hero is poundcake man. ADAM'S TICKET LINK https://linktr.ee/AdamFerrara T Shirt Link https://bit.ly/3rj7fXU LINK TO ADAM'S YOU TUBE SPECIAL https://800PGR.lnk.to/ItsScaryInHereYTID Get your message on this podcast Megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

James a.k.a. “Jimmy” Burrows (co-creator of Cheers and prolific television director of shows such as Taxi, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, the list goes on and on…) surprises us this week to share endless stories from his early career through numerous hit TV shows. So drop some ice in the White Zin and settle-in for another crisp new episode of SmartLess.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App: https://wondery.app.link/smartless.Please support us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Sing us a song, you're the men of GLoP... from Margaritaville to Brandy... where everyone is gay and everyone is Jewish (There is a logical explanation here!) and where they dish on FDR, homophobic telescopes and the Dutch. While we were recording we heard the news of Ivana Trump's passing and that leads to an interesting vocabulary discussion, one that you might say is iconic for this program, especially if you're even vaguely familiar with our cannon. Then we baffle the kids with stories of Dom DeLuise, Rodney Dangerfield, Jackie Gleason, Larry Storch and director James Burrows. This whole episode smells terrific! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Television director James Burrows has been working since the 1970s on beloved series like Taxi, Cheers, Friends, Frasier, and Will & Grace. He has directed over 1,000 hours of television, co-created the long-running, critically-acclaimed series Cheers and is the recipient of 11 Emmy Awards and a DGA Lifetime Achievement Award.His golden touch becomes apparent when you consider that a staggering 75 of the series pilots he directed, including The Big Bang Theory and Two and a Half Men, advanced to series. His new book, the memoir “Directed by James Burrows,” details his accomplished life and career. James Burrows and Alec discuss their favorite parts of working together, how Burrows got his start in the entertainment industry and why his book is ultimately about kindness. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

He brought us classics like Cheers, Taxi, Will and Grace, Frasier, Friends and The Big Bang Theory. He's directed over 1,000 episodes of TV comedy. Jim Burrows and Alan compare notes on what it takes to make a show a success.

Larry weighs in on his acting role in the upcoming movie 'Jerry and Marge Go Large', guns, and the January 6th hearings. He's then joined by Emmy-award winning director James Burrows to talk about his new memoir 'Directed by James Burrows'. They begin their conversation by discussing James' early life growing up in show business, his legendary father, and how a stint in regional theatre production prepared him for and open doors to directing in television.(16:51) Burrows then shares some amazing anecdotes from his time working on some of the most important shows in TV history including 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show',(32:58) 'Taxi',(42:14), 'Cheers',(57:32) and 'Will and Grace'(1:09:31). Within the discussion James and Larry spend some time praising the genius of the great Andy Kaufman (44:29) and they end the podcast by examining the technical aspects of creating a sitcom pilot and giving advice to people who aspire to be directors for television.(1:14:34) Host: Larry Wilmore Guest: James Burrows Producer: Chris Sutton Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

TODAY's Summer Savings – Vicky Nguyen has everything you need to know about “buy now, pay later.” Plus, Harry Smith sits down with legendary sitcom director, James Burrows – the man behind “Cheers,” “Friends” and other shows. And, Valerie Bertinelli is back in Studio 1A for the first time since the pandemic – she's catching us up on her journey and is sharing her summer chicken thigh recipe.

Alan and Executive Producer Graham Chedd chat about and play excerpts from Alan's conversations with some of the guests in the new season, beginning next week. Guests include classical pianist Emanuel Ax, director James Burrows, and primatologist Frans de Waal.Support the show: https://www.patreon.com/clearandvivid