James Burrow is an incredibly talented television director and creator, best known for his work on stand-out sitcoms like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Taxi, Frasier, and Friends. He also holds a record as having directed every episode of the recently ended sitcom Will & Grace.

In 2003, Burrows sat down for a very interesting three hour interview for The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation's Archive of American Television. One observation that stood out to me came out of a question regarding how the Louie De Palma character on Taxi (played by Danny DeVito) could be so immoral and yet sympathetic at the same time.

"Because of how Danny looks. Because of his size, you forgive. You forgive him being mean because in a way you know, Louie was dealt a bad card in this deck because he's short. So you forgive all the vitriol. It's a lot like Carla Tortelli (Rhea Perlman's character on Cheers). That all goes into being forgiven. That's their Achilles heel, their vulnerability. Every good character has to have that. With Sam Malone (Ted Danson's Cheers character) it was his drinking. He could be the meanest man in the world and you totally forgive him." WILL & GRACE CHEERS ACTING ACTOR FRASIER FRIENDS HOLLYWOOD LOS ANGELES THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW JAMES BURROWS SITCOM DANNY DEVITO Louie De Palma TV TELEVISION SHOW