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Remembering Legendary Sitcom Director James Burrows; The Audacity Season 2 Coming in 2027

Emmy-winning television director James Burrows, who worked on Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends and Will & Grace, has died. He died on June 19. Mr. Burrows was 85.

Burrows's television career began in 1965 as a dialogue coach on the ABC sitcom O.K. Crackerby!, which starred Burl Ives and was created by Burrows's father, Abe. He started his directing career with The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1974. He directed four episodes from 1974 to 1976. Some of his other early sitcom directing credits included Phyllis (19 episodes), The Bob Newhart Show (11 episodes), The Tony Randall Show, Laverne & Shirley (8 episodes), Busting Loose (6 episodes), Rhoda (4 episodes), The Betty White Show (2 episodes) and Free Country (2 episodes).

He directed 75 episodes (Seasons 1-4) of the ABC sitcom Taxi from 1978 to 1982. He won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series in 1980 and 1981.

Burrows co-created Cheers with brothers Glen and Les Charles. He directed 236 of the 275 episodes of the 1982-1993 NBC sitcom. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association with Paramount Television. Nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series for all 11 of its seasons on the air, it earned 28 Primetime Emmy Awards from a record of 117 nominations. He won Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series in 1983 and 1991. He was one of the creators and producers of the 1987 NBC sitcom The Tortellis, which was the first spin-off of Cheers.

He directed 32 episodes of the NBC sitcom Frasier from 1993 to 1997. In 1993, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the pilot "The Good Son." He directed four episodes of the 2023-2024 Paramount+ revival.

Burrows directed 15 episodes of the NBC sitcom Friends from 1994 to 1998. He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for the 1994 episode "The One with the Blackout" from Season 1.

He directed every episode of the NBC sitcom Will & Grace, both during its initial eight-year run (1998-2006) and its later three-year revival (2017-2020). He received twelve Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the series, which won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in 2000.

Burrows directed over 50 television pilots. Some of his other sitcom directing credits included The Associates (4 episodes), Best of the West (3 episodes), Dear John (2 episodes), Cafe Americain (3 episodes), Partners (1995-1996, 10 episodes), NewsRadio (7 episodes), 3rd Rock from the Sun (2 episodes), Men Behaving Badly (7 episodes), Fired Up (4 episodes), George & Leo (3 episodes), Caroline in the City (21 episodes), Union Square (8 episodes), Dharma & Greg (2 episodes), Two and a Half Men (2 episodes), The Class (19 episodes), Back to You (17 episodes), Gary Unmarried (36 episodes), Romantically Challenged (4 episodes), Partners (2012-2013, 12 episodes), The Millers (32 episodes), 2 Broke Girls (4 episodes), Mike & Molly (49 episodes), Crowded (9 episodes), Man with a Plan (9 episodes), Superior Donuts (8 episodes) and B Positive (3 episodes). He directed all 10 episodes of the Hulu sitcom Mid-Century Modern in 2025.

He executive produced the Emmy Award–winning ABC specials Live in Front of a Studio Audience, including Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons in 2019, All in the Family and Good Times in 2019, and The Facts of Life and Diff'rent Strokes in 2021.

Some of his other producing credits included The Class, Back to You, Gary Unmarried, Romantically Challenged, Mike & Molly, Partners (2012-2013), The Millers, Crowded, Superior Donuts, Man with a Plan, Will & Grace and Mid-Century Modern.

Burrows had cameo appearances in several of the shows for which he directed. Some of his acting appearances included Rhoda, Phyllis, The Bob Newhart Show, Cheers, Friends and Will & Grace. He appeared as a fictionalized version of himself directing the show-within-a-show in 8 episodes of the 2005 HBO series The Comeback, as well as its subsequent seasons in 2014 and 2026.

NBC aired a special tribute on February 21, 2016, titled Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows featuring cast reunions from many of the series Burrows directed such as Cheers, Taxi, Friends, Frasier, The Big Bang Theory, Will & Grace, and Mike & Molly.

He was interviewed for The Interviews: An Oral History of Television on December 17, 2003. He released his book, Directed by James Burrows: Five Decades of Stories from the Legendary Director of Taxi, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Will & Grace, and More, in 2022.

Mr. Burrows directed over 1,000 episodes of television during his legendary career. He received numerous accolades, including 11 Primetime Emmy Awards and five Directors Guild of America Awards. He was honored with the Directors Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award in 2015. We thank him for his work on many sitcoms. He was one of the best to ever do it. He will be greatly missed.

We also remember actress Daveigh Chase. She starred as Joyce in Oliver Beene. She died on June 16 in Los Angeles from complications of bacterial meningitis and a severe blood infection that led to fatal sepsis. Ms. Chase was only 35.

Chase made her television debut in a 1998 episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch. Some of her other sitcom guest appearances included Yes, Dear and Inside Schwartz in 2001.

She starred as Joyce in the 2003-2004 Fox sitcom Oliver Beene. Set in 1962 and 1963, the show chronicled the trials and tribulations of the 11-to-12-year-old Oliver Beene (played by Grant Rosenmeyer), in first person perspective. Joyce was his quirky friend. The cast included Grant Shaud, Wendy Makkena, Andrew Lawrence, Taylor Emerson, Amy Bruckner, Amanda Michalka, Maggie Grace (2004) and David Cross as the voice of future Oliver Beene.

Chase starred as Rhonda Volmer in the 2006-2011 HBO drama Big Love. Some of her other television guest appearances included Charmed, The Practice (2000), ER, The Lot, That's Life (2001), Touched by an Angel, Family Law, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Cold Case, Without a Trace and Mercy.

She provided the voice of Lilo Pelekai, an eccentric Hawaiian girl on the island of Kauaʻi who adopts Stitch as her pet dog, in the 2002 animated science fiction comedy-drama film Lilo & Stitch. She reprised the role of Lilo in the direct-to-video film Stitch! The Movie (2003) and the subsequent television series Lilo & Stitch: The Series, which aired on the Disney Channel from 2003 to 2006.

Chase starred as Samantha, the younger sister of Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), in Donnie Darko (2001) and its sequel S. Darko (2009). She starred as Samara Morgan in the 2002 supernatural horror film The Ring. Her performance earned her the MTV Movie Award for Best Villain in 2003.

Ms. Chase was a talented actress. She appeared in more than 50 television series and films in her career, which spanned from 1998 to 2015. We thank her for her work on television and in films. She will be deeply missed.

AMC Global Media announced that production of the much anticipated eight-episode second season of The Audacity is underway in Vancouver, Canada, with the series returning to AMC and AMC+ in 2027. The satirical drama from Emmy(R) Award-winner Jonathan Glatzer (Succession, Bad Sisters, Better Call Saul) stars a powerhouse ensemble: Billy Magnussen, Sarah Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis, Lucy Punch, Simon Helberg, Meaghan Rath, Paul Adelstein, Everett Blunck, Thailey Roberge and Ava Marie Telek.

Additionally, Miriam Shor (Pluribus, American Fiction, Younger) is joining the cast in a heavily recurring role as Randy Flemming, a shrewd and unintimidated FBI Agent who enjoys the hunt like a cat relishes playing with a mouse while Jess McLeod (Normal, She's Nonbinary) has been upped to series regular for the new season, reprising their role as Harper, the brilliant, pink-haired Chief Technology Officer of the newly formed, data-mining startup P.I.N.A.T.A..

The Audacity is set inside the bubble of Silicon Valley and takes on the warped dreams, outsized egos, and ethical lapses of the self-styled inventors of the future. In a world of jaded billionaires, psychiatrist-gurus, bio-hacked tech bros, AI labs and disillusioned teens being optimized in elite private schools, an audacious data-mining CEO (Magnussen) strives to turn insight and influence into profit and power. A darkly comedic drama that confronts reality, privacy, and the delusions fueling our ever-changing world.

Magnussen stars as Duncan Park, Goldberg as Dr. JoAnne Felder, Galifianakis as Carl Bardolph, Punch as Lili Park-Hoffsteader, Helberg as Martin Phister, Rath as Anushka Bhattachera-Phister, Adelstein as Dr. Gary Felder, Blunck as Orson Stern, Roberge as Tess Phister and Telek as Jamison Park-Hoffsteader.

Posted by Todd -- SitcomsOnline.com at 12:00 PM

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Labels: AMC, Cheers, Frasier, Friends, Obits, Taxi, Will & Grace