When famed sitcom director James Burrows works on a set, he says that he proudly enacts the “fun clause” in his contract. “Life is too short to deal with obnoxious leads,” he adds. “So as long as the writing is good as the cast is fun, I’m going to enjoy the experience.”
But a Santa Claus? Well, that’s a different Christmas story.
“I’m a Jew,” he says matter-of-factly. “I don’t care.”
And yet, over his illustrious half-century career, the 11-time Emmy winner has helmed a dozen Christmas sitcom episodes. We’re talking classics, including a memorable installment of Frasier that once ranked No. 1 on a list of the 100 greatest Christmas TV episodes of all time. Some of these Burrows-stamped holiday installments are surprisingly touching; others are flat-out hilarious. All of them proudly celebrate the yuletide spirit in their own unique way.
“So many Christmas episodes have been done,” says Burrows, who recently worked on the 2025 Hulu sitcom Mid-Century Modern. “What helps is if you have an interesting or innovative idea. You don’t want to be saccharine or sanctimonious, like on The Waltons. It’s tough — some years on Cheers, we didn’t even do Christmas episodes.”
That live studio audience helps too: “If you’re doing a multi-camera sitcom, you have to make them laugh,” says Burrows, a proud “theater rat” who notes that his dad, Abe, was a playwright. “Every Friday night taping was like the opening night of a sitcom. And if you didn’t have an audience laughing their asses off, then it’s not going to be funny when you put it on the air. If you do a joke on one of my shows and it’s not funny, go back and change it.”
Given that he’s directed 1200 episodes dating back to The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1974, Burrows admits that it’s nearly impossible to pinpoint specific memories. If anything, he has a penchant for Thanksgiving-themed episodes, including Cheers’ iconic “Thanksgiving Orphans” from 1986 (that culminated in a food fight) and Will & Grace’s “Moveable Feast” from 2001. But in honor of the season of giving, he ran down some of his greatest holiday hits for The Television Academy.
Taxi, “A Full House for Christmas” (Airdate: December 12, 1978)
Photo credit: Paramount+
Dispatcher Louie (Danny DeVito) gets a holiday visit from his ne’er-do-well, Las Vegas-living brother Nick (Richard Foronjy). After taking the staff’s money with his poker expertise, Louie gets revenge by recruiting Alex (Judd Hirsch) to one-up Nick in a high-stakes game.
Audiences loved Louie De Palma because of his stature. He’s mean as all get out. But audiences forgave him because of the life he lived — same with Carla on Cheers [played by DeVito’s then-wife, Rhea Perlman]. Off-camera, Danny and Judd got along great. They were both New York theater actors. So were Marilu [Henner], so was [Jeff] Conaway. Andy [Kaufman] was not. Tony Danza was a boxer and had the most to learn, although he had incredible stage presence. They were all wonderful actors, and I got tested a lot. But it was my job to mold them into an ensemble, and they did round into a group of people who loved each other. Literally, every Friday night after the show, there was a party.
I’m not sure how much the actors learned from me, but I learned a lot about how to deal with people because of that show.
Cheers, “Christmas Cheers” (Airdate: December 17, 1987)
Photo credit: NBC/Paramount+
New bar manager Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) schedules all the employees to work on Christmas Eve. In a bid to get on her good side — and possibly more — Sam (Ted Danson) buys a pricey last-minute gift for her from a female stranger.
When we were first discussing doing Cheers, we thought it would be great for Sam to work for a woman. But then Glen and Les Charles wrote the character of Diane Chambers [Shelley Long], and all hell broke loose. Ted and Shelley had this incredible chemistry in their read together at the audition. They blew the other two couples out of the water. So when Shelley left, we made a point of not hiring another waitress. And we literally went back to the original concept of the show, and that’s how we got Rebecca. She was a wonderful character.
This episode was actually a co-direct with Thomas Lofaro. What happened was that I got a really bad lung infection and started coughing up stuff you don’t even want to know about — I only made it three days. Tommy was my assistant and stepped in, and he filmed the rest of the show.
Frasier, “Miracle on Third or Fourth Street” (Airdate: December 16, 1993)
Photo credit: NBC
With his holiday plans derailed, a glum Frasier (Kelsey Grammer) agrees to work a Christmas Eve shift and then eats alone at a diner. Upon realizing he doesn’t have his wallet and can’t pay for his meal, the sympathetic diners come to his aid without realizing he’s a local personality.
This story was actually based on Ed Weinberger, who was one of the writer-producers on Taxi and Mary Tyler Moore. I think [writer] Chris Lloyd brought up the incident in the writers’ room. These people literally all paid for Ed’s meal, and then he had to get into his Bentley.
Kelsey just plays pomposity to the level of being incredibly funny. You'd never hate Frasier, even though he has flaws. You know, when the Charles boys wrote the part of Frasier Crane, the first person we offered it to was John Lithgow. He turned us down. I always say to Kels, “You'd be doing theater in New York if Lithgow didn't turn us down.” He’s just a comic genius with the way he can spin a line.
Will & Grace, “All About Christmas Eve” (Airdate: December 12, 2002)
Photo credit: NBC
Grace (Debra Messing) has an extra ticket to a performance of The Nutcracker on Christmas Eve, prompting her to decide between best friend Will (Eric McCormack) and new husband, Leo (Harry Connick Jr.); Jack (Sean Hayes) and Karen (Megan Mullally) enjoy drunken revelry.
The show was more theatrical and outrageous than any other show I’d done. There was no subtlety, not even a little bit. Those four actors were playing in rarified air. So whenever we had a guest star, I would take them aside and tell them “What you see in rehearsal with these four characters is 50 percent of what will happen on show night — and if you don't come up to their level, you're going to be on the cutting room floor.”
For Harry, you have to remember that I directed an episode of Cheers with him [in 1992]. He played Woody’s cousin who was infatuated with Rebecca. The piano by the jukebox was moved downstage for the first time so he could play. So I knew Harry had the comedic chops. His mother was Jewish.
Mike & Molly, “First Christmas” (Airdate: December 13, 2010)
Photo credit: CBS
Christmas exchange time! Mike (Billy Gardell) buys his girlfriend Molly (Melissa McCarthy) an expensive diamond bracelet for Christmas, but she refuses to accept it because it’s so pricey. Her idea of gifting him with a leather jacket bombs, too.
I don't think anybody was aware of how wonderful Melissa was going to be. There was an early episode where she fell off an exercise ball and then had to scramble to get back on it. I said to myself, “A-ha, this girl is really funny.” But I loved the whole cast. Billy was working as a stand-up comic for years, and it was great to give him a shot. He was actually in a pilot that I did years ago, called Queens.
We also had Swoosie [Kurtz] and Reno [Wilson] and Katy [Mixon] and Louis [Mustillo]. I had a ball on it. This was a Chuck Lorre show, and he is amazing. We started on Dharma & Greg [in 1997], and then I did the pilot for Two and a Half Men and The Big Bang Theory. He’s kept the sitcom alive all these years. God love him.
