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.

Support the show: http://www.stagespodcast.net