James Burrows James Burrows Mr. Must See TV by Jay S. Jacobs James Burrows has arguably given America more belly laughs over the years than anyone else, and yet many people do not even know his name. As arguably the most prolific comedy director in television over the past five decades, Burrows has shaped such classic series as The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Bob Newhart Show, Laverne & Shirley, Taxi, Cheers, Friends, Will & Grace, Dharma & Greg, The Big Bang Theory, Two & a H

Valerie Harper as Golda Meir in “Golda’s Balcony.” Valerie Harper Good as Golda by Ronald Sklar Even all these decades later, the woman who played one of the most beloved TV characters of all time still arouses intense reactions. “Little old Jewish ladies grab my cheeks and say, ‘sweetheart, darling, they tell me you’re not Jewish. Say it isn’t so,'” says Valerie Harper, who played the insecure, wise-cracking, never-the-bride Rhoda on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and in her own

Alan Rafkin Alan Rafkin The King of Nick at Nite by Ronald Sklar “I’m still working,” sixty-eight-year-old Alan Rafkin says. “They’ll have to carry me out in a body bag.” If you had his job, they would drag you out kicking and screaming too. Alan Rafkin is a TV sitcom director. And not just another forgotten name you don’t pay attention to during the opening credits. Rafkin is king. In fact, he has justifiably nicknamed himself The King of Nick at Nite. That’s because he has