Must See TV: An All-Star Tribute to James Burrows (NBC)

[chitowngirl]

The career of TV director James Burrows is celebrated by stars of "Friends," "Cheers," "Frasier," "Taxi," "Will & Grace," "The Big Bang Theory" and other past and present comedies. Included: Bob Newhart appears in a pre-taped segment.

 

People are touting this as a "Friends" reunion. He only directed 15 episodes and most of them were in the first season. It's probably only going to be a blip in the evening, considering he directed all of Will and Grace and most of Cheers. He directed 21 episodes of Caroline in the City, think that cast is going to be there? :)

Edited February 21, 2016 by chitowngirl

[BW Manilowe]

The career of TV director James Burrows is celebrated by stars of "Friends," "Cheers," "Frasier," "Taxi," "Will & Grace," "The Big Bang Theory" and other past and present comedies. Included: Bob Newhart appears in a pre-taped segment.

People are touting this as a "Friends" reunion. He only directed 15 episodes and most of them were in the first season. It's probably only going to be a blip in the evening, considering he directed all of Will and Grace and most of Cheers. He directed 21 episodes of Caroline in the City, think that cast is going to be there? :)

It's not even gonna be a "complete" Friends reunion, only 5/6 of 1. Matthew Perry's in London, doing a play he apparently also wrote in the West End, & he's been there since shortly after the whole "Friends reunion" thing started in connection with this.

[opus]

But one knew FRIENDS was the selling point and they were going to get the most couch time.

[stonehaven]

All I wanted to see was a Frasier reunion..and that barely got ten minutes....and even then, Grammer and Mahoney weren't even there in person...and the interview was so choppy, it wasn't as enjoyable as I had hoped...turned the TV off as I had enough of Friends in the 90's..they were WAY overexposed.

[dirtydi]

Enjoyed the Taxi cast talk the most.   The cast of Mike and Molly seemed genuine too.

[Artsda]

Cheers should have had more. I loved seeing Ted and Shelly walk up the stage together holding hands, they were so great as Sam&Diane.

 

Big Bang barely talked about James Burrow's. 

 

Loved seeing the cast of Taxi. 

 

Did Jon Cryer and Charlie Sheen interact? Jon Cryer sat with Big Bang. Charlie sat somewhere else. 

[Irlandesa]

Seeing Ted and Shelley up there too was one of my favorite moments of the night and yes, they deserved more airtime.  Another thing I loved?  No Kristie.  (Down with the Rebecca years!)
 

Speaking of Kristie, that was the one somewhat sour moment in the whole broadcast when Peri Gilpin told the story of how Kelsey told her "I wish Kirstie were here" when they were trying to come up with a bit to do with the "We are! We are!"  Normally when someone tells a story like that at what should be a feel good event, there's a follow-up to soften what was said but nope...not here. I did love how everyone clapped at the mention of Eddie.

 

I get that shows like The Big Bang Theory and Mike & Molly were brought on to the show to access contemporary audiences but I kind of wished they would have thrown a Wings reunion in there instead of something like Mike & Molly--even though it would have meant no Melissa McCarthy.  I adored the Hackett Brothers.

[Mama No Life]

Was it just me or did the Friends cast seem to find Matt LeBlanc annoying?

 

Also, I saw a clip earlier of a shout out to Matthew Perry, but it didn't air, did it?  I love him....my fav....but he looked rough on the intro.  I have always hated this set of veneers that gave him the lisp.

[absnow54]

People are touting this as a "Friends" reunion. He only directed 15 episodes and most of them were in the first season. It's probably only going to be a blip in the evening, considering he directed all of Will and Grace and most of Cheers. He directed 21 episodes of Caroline in the City, think that cast is going to be there? :)

I was wondering if his IMDB page was just incomplete, but given his involvement with Will and Grace and his co-creation of Cheers, you'd think they'd get a little more recognition. He only directed the Pilot of Big Bang Theory, and it showed. Still, it was fun to reminisce, and it made me want to flip through the syndicated channels and watch sitcom reruns.

 

David Schwimmer seems to have tapped into the fountain of youth that Courtney Cox and Jennifer Aniston's plastic surgeons aspire to. He looks like he hasn't aged a day since the Friends era.

[chitowngirl]

When they had everyone on stage during the closing credits, I saw Steven Weber of Wings and Andy Dick of Newsradio. He directed so many series! But-for a lot of them, he just did the pilot episodes. The Big Bang Theory falls in this category. Perhaps he helped shape the direction of the show since the original pilot was scrapped and redone, only the Sheldon and Leonard characters were kept and they were also retooled. They should have talked more about that. Otherwise, The BBT time on the couch was really wasted.  And Kaley Cuoco should have rethought her outfit. When you have to tug the hem down as soon as you sit down on the couch, it's too short.

 

I thought the Friends cast seemed really uncomfortable with each other. Even Matthew Perry's video intro seemed forced. Courtney Cox used to be so pretty. Why do actresses feel the need to screw up what is perfectly fine? Low self esteem? The desire to stay younger looking usually backfires. 

Edited February 22, 2016 by chitowngirl

[St. Claire]

It's too bad that Courtney Cox doesn't use the same surgeon as Marilu Henner. Lu looked good. 

 

I think the Taxi cast was my favorite on the couch, but I also really like Will&Grace and Cheers. #HisNameIsGeorge made me laugh. 

[absnow54]

Yes! Especially when it ended with George Wendt saying "Thanks, Lieutenant Dan!" 

[cpcathy]

Color me disappointed! I think Jimmy would have been better served by some sort of documentary, or at least half doc/half tribute. You have one of the best casts of all time and you only give them 10 minutes! (Cheers, folks). Loved seeing Ted and Shelley, though the clips they showed from Cheers were not representative of their era,  a lot of Kirstie in the clips for some reason.

[Dobian]

I was bummed that I only caught parts of this.  Between Walking Dead and conflicts with taping shows with others in the house, I missed the Cheers and Taxi parts.  Maybe it will be on demand for a bit, but won't get my hopes up.  How much was Burrows involved in Wings?  That was one of my favorite shows back in the day, and always I thought one of the most underappreciated.  I loved it.

 

Edit: I see nbc.com has it and apparently with limited commercials so I'm on board.

Edited February 22, 2016 by Dobian

[slowpoked]

Reviews are out and mostly panned this tribute, but I think most are unfair. The reviews I've seen are "Friends Reunion is a Bust". To be fair, this isn't sole a Friends reunion. They're just part of the tribute. Of course, they're the most anticipated guests, but still, it's not all about them. And the segments may have gone on longer during the actual live event, but obviously they're cut for a 2-hour special. So I think it's unfair to diss the tribute as it was one big build-up for nothing. If anything, the fault lies on the people who are disappointed because they expected too much. I don't think the tribute's promos were all that deceiving anyway. 

[cpcathy]

NBC was obviously conflicted (or, I hope they were)--on the one hand, you have a director who created the network's greatest sitcom and directed tons of others, but then, you have to sell this to the public on a Sunday night crowded with other options. They seemed to have had no choice but to say, "hey, BIG Friends reunion, people!" and I can only presume the Friends took up the last half hour (I had already deleted it from my DVR before the show ended.) I'm surprised they went with showing this at all.

Edited February 22, 2016 by cpcathy

[opus]

Anyone know why Bruce Springsteen had a moment?

[desertflower]

I thought the editing seemed choppy and the shots of the audience laughing seemed disingenuous; I swear they used a few reaction shots multiple times.

I enjoyed the Taxi cast. Even though the fashions and look of the show have obviously aged the humor still holds up well, I think.

Agreed that Shwimmer looks great, and I think LeBlanc does too. It makes me sad to look at Courtney; I'm sure she would still be beautiful had she aged naturally; but instead now you can't look at her without wondering what happened to her face.

I expected more from Matthew Perry. Maybe something was edited? Just seemed odd he had nothing to say besides name dropping his play and introducing the other Friends. At least Kelsey Grammar and Woody recorded some extra bits, despite not being there.

I think some clips of Wings would've been nice.

[cpcathy]

It was definitely edited down, I had seen a clip with the Cheers cast, where they were talking about how Jimmy's laugh is so loud you can hear it during the episodes. That would have been a cute story to show!

[Sarahsmile416]

Well, I for one was disappointed as well. I did like Friends, but found the interview forced and not fun at all. Like most others, I enjoyed the Cheers interview segment and the Taxi interview segments the most. And seeing Ted and Shelley walk up holding hands was wonderful. I too loved the #hisnameisGeorge segment. I may be darning with faint praise a bit here, but I give props to Charlie Sheen for coming!

My disappointments: my love for Patrick Warburton aside, I thought the shill for his upcoming show was stupid. The Frasier reunion was disjointed, though I liked the bit with the song. Wish John Mahoney had been there though!

My biggest disappointment - not seeing The Mary Tyler Moore Show cast at all - after all, that's where he started. At least Bob Newhart came on to say a little something. Couldn't we have skipped BBT and Mike and Molly and done a little more with the older shows?

Though, I admit, I turned in about ten minutes late, maybe I missed something.

[Thumper]

I only caught the last 45 minutes; didn't care about Mike & Molly, but saw Friends and Frazier actors. I too thought Peri Gilpin's comment that Kelsey Grammer complained "if only Kirsite were here!" (or something like that) was VERY interesting! Dish, girl! I love David Hyde Pierce(sp?) and the song bit was very funny.

Hoping to catch the earlier part of the show at another time.

[chitowngirl]

Anyone know why Bruce Springsteen had a moment?

That was weird, wasn't it?

 

I'd love to see an Inside the Actor's Studio with James Burrows.

[Browncoat]

I'm glad I recorded this last night and watched tonight, so I could skip the boring bits (like Patrick Warburton's pitch) -- I was able to reduce a two-hour show to one hour and 10 minutes!  I was disappointed that Cheers for one didn't get more time, and that hardly any mention was made of Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and Wings.  Makes me wonder what the entire ceremony was like.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Browncoat

[Sarahsmile416]

I'm glad I recorded this last night and watched tonight, so I could skip the boring bits (like Patrick Warburton's pitch) -- I was able to reduce a two-hour show to one hour and 10 minutes! I was disappointed that Cheers for one didn't get more time, and that hardly any mention was made of Mary Tyler Moore, Bob Newhart and Wings. Makes me wonder what the entire ceremony was like.

Seriously! At the end, they played "Love is All Around" but they couldn't bother mentioning the very first show he directed. Come on! They acted like he started with Taxi.

[cpcathy]

I think they could have added more clips as well, like perhaps, the ones Jimmy won Emmys for? He won one for Showdown, the episode of Cheers which has to be one of the best directed half hours I've ever seen!

[Dobian]

Finally cuaght up with the whole thing.  I agree it was odd especially with MTM that they didn't mention anything.  Huh?  Interesting moment in the Taxi segment, Judd Hirsch remembering Andy Kauffman and Tony Danza slipping in, "and Jeff".  Seemed like no one except Danza wanted to remember Jeff much.

[WendyCR72]

I think the older shows got short shrift because, like it or not, the special was trying to attract the coveted 18-49 crowd, preferably the younger end. Because of that, the more recent shows, some still heavily in syndication and popular, a la Friends and The Big Bang Theory, got more time. And I think Mike & Molly made the cut because of Melissa McCarthy and her film career.

 

It may not be fair, but I think that's what this (edited version of the) special was all about.

[Sarahsmile416]

Finally cuaght up with the whole thing. I agree it was odd especially with MTM that they didn't mention anything. Huh? Interesting moment in the Taxi segment, Judd Hirsch remembering Andy Kauffman and Tony Danza slipping in, "and Jeff". Seemed like no one except Danza wanted to remember Jeff much.

Wow! I missed that mention of Jeff. I was thinking it was interesting (though not particularly surprising) that nobody mentioned Jeff. Though, I guess Danza did..,