The Ten Best Episodes of James Burrows’ Illustrious Must-See TV Career

Any retrospective of TV’s best episodes will probably focus on this episode of Taxi, which saw Andy Kaufman’s strange little mechanic wed to his bride played by Carol Kane. Burows tapped into Taxi‘s central identity as one of our greatest workplace comedies while also leaving Kaufman and Kane room to flourish.

[Stream Taxi‘s “The Wedding of Latka and Simka” on Hulu.]

Cheers began a seasons-long tradition with this, the first of the Bar Wars episodes, where Sam Malone and the Cheers gang engaged in a prank way with Gary’s Old Town Tavern. This first episode in particular featured some really hilarious escalation and a climax involving pro-baseball player Wade Boggs to beat the band.

[Stream Cheers‘ “Bar Wars” on Netflix.]

Burrows won an Emmy for directing this episode, where Woody finds himself a rival for his girlfriend Kelly’s affections. His opponent: the incredibly forthright Frenchman Henri, who very much would like to steal Woody’s girlfriend away and tells him so often.

[Stream Cheers‘ “Woody Interruptus” on Netflix.]

Another Emmy win for Burrows, this time for directing the Frasier pilot. It’s funny to think about now, what with Frasier being one of TV’s most venerable and successful sitcoms, but it was no guarantee that spinning off Cheers‘ fifth-lead character to a family sitcom in Seattle was going to work. Burrows was a big part of why it did.

[Stream Frasier‘s “The Good Son” on Netflix.]

Burrows directed one of my personal favorite Frasier episodes, this second-season episode where Niles does the old “adopt a bag of flour to prepare for parenthood” trick. This one also won an Emmy, this time for David Hyde Pierce’s performance.

[Stream Frasier‘s “Flour Child” on Netflix.]

A.K.A. the Friends pilot, which is one of the most assured and fully-formed sitcom pilots in history. That kind of confidence is probably more easily arrived at when you’ve got a veteran like James Burrows behind the camera. Plot, tone, and sensibility are all established with great economy and some good laughs as Rachel flees her wedding and makes some friends at what will become a very familiar-looking coffee shop.

[Stream Friends‘ “The One Where Monica Gets a Roommate” on Netflix.]

Burrows directed a handful of episodes of this perpetually underrated sitcom, including this first-season episode where Dave (Dave Foley) and Bill (Phil Hartman) decide to quit coffee and cigarettes, respectively. Check out the timing on the above clip and the way the cameras capture the Jekyll & Hyde of it all.

[Watch Newsradio‘s “Smoking” on Amazon Video.]

Friends episode rerun on TV a lot, and between that and streaming them on Netflix, I’ve seen this episode a LOT, and every time I do, I am always caught offguard by its emotional climax. The Ross/Rachel scene is both wholly surprising and yet entirely supported by the episode up to that point. It’s a real triumph.

[Stream Friends‘ “The One With the Prom Video” on Netflix.]

Did you know that James Burrows directed every single episode of Will & Grace? So we have him to thank for episodes like this one, where Jack’s mother (Veronica Cartwright) comes to visit, and Jack finally reveals to her that he’s gay. Which is something she never knew before. Per Karen: “What is she, headless?” Burrows’ directorial triumphs are yet another reason to raise hell that Will & Grace isn’t streaming anywhere.

One more W&G episode, this one the first of its live episodes, which presented a particular directorial challenge (you even see Burrows calling the episode into action at the beginning of the above video). Not only did this feature all the usual challenges of putting a live broadcast TV, but he also had to contend with notorious gigglepusses Sean Hayes and Debra Messing.

All those kudos belong to you, Jimmy Burrows. Congratulations on your tribute.