This week in part two of the interview, Ken and Jim Burrows discuss the technical aspects of directing, the challenges of filming a live show, and the unique requirements of sitcom pilots. They also discuss some very interesting stories about the huge hit sitcom Friends. Some of Jim's credits include; Cheers, Friends, Wings, Will & Grace and many more.
10 comments :
Nice insight.. However,I’d love to hear their take on the casting process,because it’s the actors who ultimately do the resonating with us viewers. Would ‘Cheers’ be the same without Danson or Colasanto, or ‘Frasier’ be the same with Hyde Pierce?
Hola, Ken. This may be a FQ or not. I’m of the same mind as you regarding opening theme songs. I’m roughly your age, and I mourn them to this day same as you. So — what would be your Top 5 TV show theme songs?
BTW, Earle Hagen (perhaps the king of theme songs) once said the ‘Andy Griffith Show’ theme was the hardest for him to come up with in his whole career. The man was a genius, next to Persky/Denoff.
Howdy,Ken. This comment has nothing to do with today’s blog post, but rather something in relation to past posts about the problem/issue of how well timely issues of the day stand up to watching today, a decade or three later. And it maybe fodder for a FQ. ‘Murphy Brown’, as you've pointed out, is a good example of that. However, in contrast, there’s a broadcastTV station that has been running reruns of ‘Boston Legal’, which ran from 2004-2008, and it’s remarkable how virtually everything is still freshly relevant now, particularly the political and social elements. So — what do you think accounts for that, other than perhaps David E. Kelley and stellar casting. In other words, why does ‘Murphy Brown’ fall flat today while ‘Boston Legal’ doesn’t?
Thanks for the interview- very insightful, and makes me appreciate all has to go into making a well-made sitcom.
GREAT interview, Ken. If James Burrows ever changes his mind it would be great for Broadway.
Here is another legend - Tom Cruise.
This trailer just dropped out : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSqVVswa420
With baseball season in full swing (yes, pun intended), I was thinking about you and David's episode of The Simpsons - "Homer at the Bat" - and wondering: did you write which real MLB players you wanted to include and have portrayed/voiced first or were you offered a list of players that were interested and available?
Knowing from experience that this can be a little of a "chicken and egg" situation - which came first - so I was wondering if there were any players that weren't available or just downright passed. Obviously, one would think that players saw the opportunity to be Simpsonized as an "honor" but as you well know, athletes don't always have the best sense of humor.
After listening to both parts of the interview I believe James Burrows would be a great subject for a documentary. He would be perfect on a show like American Masters on PBS. It was interesting on how part 2 closed with a reference to George Kaufman. Not only as co-author of The Man Who Came to Dinner but also as the director of the Broadway production of Guys and Dolls. If my memory is correct it was a biography of Kaufman that served as the introduction for you and your writing partner, one noticed that the other was reading the book.
Excellent interview. Keep them rolling.
Thanks Bob
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