James Burrows

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Where Everybody Knows Your Name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson (sometimes)"
Episode: James Burroughs
Release Date: April 2, 2025

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Introduction

In this heartfelt episode of "Where Everybody Knows Your Name," hosts Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson reconnect with the legendary director James Burroughs. Known for his pivotal role as the co-creator and executive producer of the iconic sitcom "Cheers," Burroughs shares invaluable insights into his illustrious career, his deep bond with Woody, and the intricate dynamics behind one of television's most beloved shows.

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Early Beginnings and Education

Woody Harrelson opens the conversation with reflections on James Burroughs' early life, highlighting the influence of his father, known as "The Doctor," who was renowned for fixing major Broadway productions.

Woody Harrelson (00:32): "I like to say in Thanksgiving we were the 72nd show out of 71."

James Burroughs recounts his educational journey, emphasizing his initial disinterest in show business despite early exposure.

James Burroughs (03:08): "Tell me a little bit about your, you know, your early school."

Woody elaborates on his time in the Metropolitan Opera Boys Chorus, providing a glimpse into his formative years.

Woody Harrelson (03:18): "I spent five years in a boys chorus, going down to the Metropolitan Opera and singing in Carmen and singing in La Boheme..."

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Transition to Theater and Early Directing Experiences

The discussion delves into Woody's transition from a government major at Oberlin College to the Yale School of Drama, highlighting the serendipitous nature of his directing career.

Woody Harrelson (05:56): "I was a government major, which means... I don't know what I'm going to do, so I'm going to make a job."

James Burroughs sheds light on Woody's early directing roles, including working backstage and assisting in production.

Woody Harrelson (08:26): "I was the assistant to the assistant."

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Breakthrough with "Cheers"

A significant portion of the episode focuses on the creation and evolution of "Cheers," with James Burroughs recounting pivotal moments and challenges faced during its production.

Casting and Character Development

Woody discusses the casting process, particularly the introduction of new characters to fill the void left by departing cast members.

Woody Harrelson (40:43): "So, no, you stuck in my head. I remember. I really wanted you to. I was outvoted on that."

James reflects on the chemistry between the cast and the show's initial struggles.

James Burroughs (32:05): "You really are and were and are my daddy in show business. You were so amazing."

Behind-the-Scenes Dynamics

The hosts delve into the intricate dynamics of working on a live-audience sitcom, emphasizing the balance between maintaining comedic timing and fostering a familial atmosphere on set.

Woody Harrelson (33:30): "When we said you were doing great, we had backup. The fact that the audiences... they loved the show."

James Burroughs highlights the importance of feedback and adaptability in comedy writing and directing.

James Burroughs (37:44): "You were able to tell the actors, hey, this is what the writers need... you were a great translator to both camps."

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Challenges and Triumphs

Adapting to Changes

The episode touches upon the challenges faced when key cast members departed the show, and the creative solutions implemented to keep "Cheers" fresh and engaging.

Woody Harrelson (40:08): "We thought a lot about it. And then the thing that influenced us for another bartender for Cassie..."

Award Recognition and Industry Impact

Discussions reveal the show's journey from struggling ratings to critical acclaim, emphasizing the significance of Emmy wins in boosting its popularity.

Woody Harrelson (34:05): "Because the Emmys helped."

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Personal Reflections and Lasting Legacy

As the conversation winds down, both Woody and James express deep gratitude and emotional reflections on their collaborative journey.

James Burroughs (59:35): "You're so sweet. Your turn, Woody."

Woody Harrelson (61:03): "The relationship I have with you, it still goes on... I cherish you forever."

James Burroughs praises Woody's leadership and the familial bond fostered on the set.

James Burroughs (59:34): "You were the greatest leader or papa, you know, to all of us."

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with heartfelt acknowledgments and expressions of enduring friendship between James Burroughs and Woody Harrelson. Listeners are left with a profound appreciation for the collaborative spirit and personal connections that shaped the success of "Cheers."

James Burroughs (62:41): "Thank you, Jimmy, for spending that time with us. We love you very much."

Woody Harrelson (62:50): "That was, you know, to create a child like Cheers and have it go on and live on is just amazing to me."

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Notable Quotes

• Woody Harrelson (00:32): "I like to say in Thanksgiving we were the 72nd show out of 71."
• James Burroughs (37:44): "You were a great translator to both camps."
• Woody Harrelson (61:03): "The relationship I have with you, it still goes on... I cherish you forever."
• James Burroughs (62:41): "Thank you, Jimmy, for spending that time with us. We love you very much."

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Key Takeaways

• Collaborative Spirit: The success of "Cheers" was deeply rooted in the strong collaborative relationships between directors, actors, and writers.
• Adaptability: Navigating cast changes and maintaining comedic integrity were pivotal in sustaining the show's longevity.
• Personal Bonds: The enduring friendships formed on set significantly contributed to the creative and supportive environment essential for the show's success.
• Legacy: James Burroughs' influence extended beyond "Cheers," shaping the landscape of multicam sitcoms and leaving an indelible mark on pop culture.

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For more insights and full-length episodes, visit YouTube.com/teamcoco. Subscribe and leave a review on your favorite podcast platform!

Transcript

[Ted Danson]

Where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson sometimes is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law, not available in all states.

[Woody Harrelson]

I like to say in Thanksgiving we were the 72nd show out of 71.

[James Burroughs]

But.

[Woody Harrelson]

True, true.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah. Welcome back to where everybody knows your name. Today, Woody and I are talking to someone who means the world to us, the legendary director James Burroughs. You know him as the co creator and executive producer of cheers. Of the 275 episodes that we shot over 11 years, he directed all but 35. Beyond Cheers, he directed hundreds of episodes over his storied career. Among them the pilots for Taxi, Friends, Frasier, Will and Grace and the Big Bang Theory. And in the process, he made the multicam sitcom an art form. It's hard to describe the impact he's had on pop culture and on the way we laugh. So I'll let you hear from him yourself. Meet Jimmy Burroughs. So this is who we're talking to, Jimmy. Hi, Jimmy.

[Woody Harrelson]

Hi, boys.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Yeah, I want to talk about you, but I want to start from early on. I read your book, which I love your book. I love it and what it's called.

[Woody Harrelson]

Directed by.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Directed by, yeah. And of course, you know, because I don't want to get ahead of it because of all you've, you know, accomplished, but to look back at your childhood, it's just so interesting to me because, you know, your dad being a. Being the great fixer, what do they call him? The Doctor.

[Woody Harrelson]

The Doctor.

[Guest/Interviewer]

The Doctor. Like he would come in and fix, like Abe Burroughs. He'd come in and fix like 42nd street or, you know, big things that became humongous hits and that were just maybe not going well before he came along. And so you had that kind of the shadow of your father, which maybe meant, it seems to me, like you said, you were not thinking at all about getting into any kind of into show business at all, right?

[Woody Harrelson]

No, never crossed my mind.

[Guest/Interviewer]

And then so when you were in school, somehow you did. Oh, I know what it was. He got you to be stage manager for something. But that was later. But I want to talk about your school first.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, okay, sure.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Tell me a little bit about your, you know, your early school.

[James Burroughs]

Are you educated?

[Woody Harrelson]

1, 2, 4, 5.

[James Burroughs]

Yes.

[Woody Harrelson]

Good, good. I was, I went to public school In New York City, I. In the sixth grade, I auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera Boys Chorus, which I got in because I could sing My Country Tis of Thee, and I had a high soprano. And right now you see what it's become. Yeah, you know, nice soprano right now. So I spent five years in a boys chorus, going down to the Metropolitan Opera and singing in Carmen and singing in La Boheme with a group of kids and then being a super, which is extra in other operas. And so, you know, that was my first taste of being in front of an audience. And.

[James Burroughs]

And where was that?

[Woody Harrelson]

At the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Yeah, I got. If we sang, we got $3 a performance. If we were super numeraries, we got $2 a performance.

[Guest/Interviewer]

But that must have seemed like a lot for you.

[Woody Harrelson]

It was a lot, you know, and some of the opera singers that, you know, would, would talk to us before they went on, Richard Tucker and Risa Stevens and, you know, people like that. So we. So it was a thrill. And then music and art. I graduated and I went to Oberlin College and I was not involved in the theater there at all. I was not going to be in the theater. My father was a legend, and I was not going to try to compete. I was a government major, which means.

[James Burroughs]

I don't know what I'm going to do, so I'm going to make a job.

[Woody Harrelson]

Right. Totally don't know.

[Guest/Interviewer]

You were thinking maybe eventually president?

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, I was thinking, you know, because my thesis was on gerrymandering.

[James Burroughs]

An old fashioned idea that never caught on, you.

[Woody Harrelson]

Can see in my directorial skills of how I gerrymander. Right. I arrange actors in this kind of weird shape where they have no choice. And so I got out of college and that old Vietnam War was happening, and I didn't, I didn't want to do that, so I applied to the Yale School of Drama and I got in as a writer. I'm not a writer.

[Guest/Interviewer]

But hold on, hold on, hold on. You saying you don't want anything to do with it, and then suddenly you're applying to the Yale School of Drama. So you must have something piqued your.

[Woody Harrelson]

Interest because, you know, my old man, my old man, my old man helped in that area. I'm not ashamed to admit it. He knew some people up there. So I was gonna go to some graduate school, any graduate school, because I was not going to. And so I went to Yale School of Drama and then I had a course in directing that was taught by Niko Sakropoulos. You know, he started Williamstown.

[James Burroughs]

Oh. Oh, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

The Nico Stage at Williamstown is named after him. And so I said, oh, that seems interesting, you know. And so I went through three years, and then I got out. I was 25. I still had to go down for an exam, for a draft. I went down for a physical, 1965. And somehow they didn't take me, which was lucky.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Did you play crazy?

[Woody Harrelson]

No, I didn't play crazy. I went down with. Had a doctor's note that somehow influenced them and I didn't have to go. Luckily. I always think about what Bruce Springsteen said about the guy who went in my place and how weird that is. Anyway, and then I started. I drove a truck for a summer stock theater, a circuit. I would take the scenery. I was a show tech. I'd take the scenery after the Saturday night show and drive it to the next place and unload it and teach the apprentices how to run the furniture up and down the aisle because it was always in the round.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Oh, so that's direction of a sort.

[Woody Harrelson]

It is. I would sit up there during rehearsals and watch the director and go, mm, not funny.

[James Burroughs]

That's not funny.

[Woody Harrelson]

There's My Fair Lady. There are. There are wonderful jokes in that show, but. And then that collapsed. And I got a job working for my father as the second assistant stage manager on a show called Holly Golightly, a musical he wrote based on Breakfast at Tiffany's, which was prophetic because that's where I met Mary Tyler Moore. Cause she was the star, along with Richard Chamberlain. Laura Petrie and Dr. Kildare were coming to Broadway.

[Guest/Interviewer]

And you were the stage manager.

[Woody Harrelson]

I was the assistant to the assistant.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Oh, I was gonna say stage manager.

[James Burroughs]

I know that sounds like going out for coffee.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. Even lower.

[James Burroughs]

Tea. No, water.

[Woody Harrelson]

Lower. Filling the sugar packets. But my job was to be in charge of Mary and Dick, because they were coming from California. Had never. I think Mary was in a chorus when she was growing up of a Broadway show, but Chamberlain had never been on Broadway. So I was responsible for keeping them fed and, you know, making sure they made their cues, showing them, you know, making sure there are hotel rooms. So I was literally in charge of them. And then during the show, I was, you know, I remember Charlie Blackwell was.

[Guest/Interviewer]

I worked with him. Yeah, yeah. Lexi Blues.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. He's an amazing. He was a dancer for, you know, Alvin Ailey Company. He became a stage manager and he. You know, I was doing anything backstage I could cause, you know, and then a piece of scenery kind of got stuck on stage. And Charlie says to me, Dance out and move it.

[James Burroughs]

Dance out. Did you?

[Woody Harrelson]

I did. And then there was one scene where. There was one scene where there was this big party number, a big dance. And they had no way to get into the next scene. So my dad said to me, okay, I want you to come in the door upstage and say, hey, everybody, there's a party at Pearl Mestiz. Let's go. And then everybody would run off, and I burst through the door at the end of the number. There was huge applause, and I thought it was for me. And I said, hey, Avery Pearl. He's a mester at Pearl. So anyway, so that was it. And then what happened is David Merrick, who was a producer and the preeminent producer of Broadway shows back then, decided that the show was not that good, although it was sold out because of Mary and Dick. And so he wanted. He replaced my father. And so he replaced my father with a man, a writer who's won multiple awards for musical comedy. Edward Alby.

[James Burroughs]

Funny what? Very funny man.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yes. To direct, no Joe Anthony to rewrite. And the first thing Edward did was put back Holly's miscarriage into the musical. So, God love it. I loved Edward. I would go down. There was no fax machines back then. I would go down to his house. He had a beautiful brownstone on 10th Street. And I would pick up the pages that he wrote, and I would take him uptown. And I was always. I saw the Zeus story. And then I went to Opening Night of Virginia Woolf. And there was no more memorable night in the theater.

[James Burroughs]

None.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Holy shit, that must have been incredible.

[Woody Harrelson]

I took my dad, who, you know, my dad was fidgety and everything like that. He stood perfectly. He sat perfectly still for three and a quarter hours. Nobody knew what to expect. That was. What's so dramatic. Anyway, so Edward came in, and I said to my dad, can I stay on? And my father said, yes, you can. So I stayed on. We rehearsed the new pages in New York, and rather than go back out of town, they decided to play previews in New York. So we previewed on a Monday. And it was awful. The audience. Hedwig had created the conceit that Richard Chamberlain, who was the Truman Capote character, had written his book. And that if Holly was not doing well, he could take. He could somehow rewrite her on stage. So, you know, we're doing that. And Chamberlain said, you know, to Holly, don't worry. I'll fix it. I'll write it. And the audience goes, why don't you write a better play?

[James Burroughs]

Oh, yeah. Oh, boy. Wow.

[Woody Harrelson]

And so every night after the show, Monday night, Mary would come off after the show and collapse into my arms, crying. And it happened four nights in a row, and Merrick was smart enough to close it. And it was awake on Wednesday night because we closed. And I sat with Mary in Sardis until Grant Tinker flew in from California, who was her husband. And so that's how that bond was formed.

[James Burroughs]

Two people who made a huge difference in your career.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. Oh, my God.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Well, so I guess we get to that part. I mean. Well, no, you keep going. And then what happened next?

[Woody Harrelson]

So then I was. I got a job at stage managing on Broadway of 40 carats.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Actual stage manager.

[Woody Harrelson]

Actual stage manager with Julie Harris.

[James Burroughs]

Which means you're running rehearsals.

[Woody Harrelson]

I'm running the show.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

You know, I'm calling the cues and everything like that. And then she left after a year. It was a big hit. And June Allison came in, so I put her in the show. And then June left and Zsa Zsa Gabor came in.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Oh, my gosh. So what was that like training for.

[James Burroughs]

The rest of your life?

[Woody Harrelson]

I had to wrangle Zsaza, and she was a big boost in my career because I, you know, she listened to me because I knew what was going on. I knew what she had to do, where she had to be. I rehearsed. And then my dad came in and he would see the final rehearsals and everything like that. But Josh's situation was she didn't care where the play was. If she didn't look good, she didn't make an entrance.

[James Burroughs]

Right.

[Woody Harrelson]

So there were many times there was silence on stage. Oh, Jesus. And I'd have to run up to her room and drag her out and throw her on stage.

[James Burroughs]

This is familiar.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yes. And so anyway, we became friends. You know, she really liked me, and she was gonna do 40 carats in a theater in San Diego, and they hired me to direct it, and she bailed, and they brought in Marjorie Lord, who was Danny Thomas wife on Make Room for Daddy, and I did it with her, and the owner of the theater liked it, and he made me artistic director.

[James Burroughs]

Wow. La Jolla Playhouse?

[Woody Harrelson]

No, it was called the Off Broadway Theater in San Diego in Old Town, which was kind of decrepit there.

[James Burroughs]

What year are we? Roughly?

[Woody Harrelson]

71.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Is Woody born yet? Still going on.

[Woody Harrelson]

I don't know if Woody was born yet.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, go on. We'll get up. We'll catch up to when he's born.

[Woody Harrelson]

And so at that point, I would come up to La to cast because it's only a two hour drive then. And so I would come up and I had a couple of friends up here and I would go see. I went to see the Paul Lynn show once and then I went to see Chico and the Man.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Oh, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

So I got a sense of, you know, half hour, half hour.

[James Burroughs]

And those last few.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Were those multi cameras.

[Woody Harrelson]

They were multi cameras, yeah.

[Guest/Interviewer]

But three cameras back then.

[Woody Harrelson]

Three, yes, three cameras. And so I was in Wallingford, Connecticut, then I went back to dinner theater and regional theater. I was directing Joan Fontaine in 40 carats. And I went home one night and I turned on the television. There was a Mary Tyler Moore show on, on a Saturday night. And it was a half hour show. They were doing actually 25 minutes of show in a week. And I was doing a two hour show, like 40 characters, a two hour show. I could put it on its feet in a week. And I did Never Too Late with Bob Cummings in a week, like, stuff like that. And I wrote a letter to Mary Tyler Moore and I said, do you remember me? I've been running dinner theaters. I. I ran a theater in San Diego. I'm a theatrical director. I would love to be able to come out. And I got a call from Grant Tinker about two weeks later and said, we'd like you to come out to do one show. So because of the Bond at Breakfast at Tiffany's, I had the balls to write Mary and balls.

[James Burroughs]

But you also had gotten a lot of directing experience under your belt by then.

[Woody Harrelson]

I did. They didn't. You know, I'm not Marion Grant. I'm not sure we're aware of it. But they were smart enough to know that the form that we do, the form of Cheers, is a play that is filmed. So they were smart enough to know that a director who's a theatrical director can learn the cameras, you can learn the technical aspect. You can't learn how to be funny, you can't learn how to talk to an actor. So they were smart enough, they hired a few theatrical directors that year, and I was one of them.

[Ted Danson]

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[James Burroughs]

I mean, I've never done that.

[Ted Danson]

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[James Burroughs]

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[Guest/Interviewer]

So let's talk about that first episode you directed because I guess it was a little bit of a disaster.

[James Burroughs]

At first, the script.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah. Because it just wasn't coming together. And there's something in your book, which, really, I told you about this last time I saw you, but it was just like, great, because you're sitting there, and I think Mary said something like. I mean, what is this shit? Should we even be doing this? Or something like that. Right?

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, it was rough because in those days, we read the script around the table like we did in Cheers. And then we would go rehearse right away. We wouldn't wait for the rewrite. So we read the script, and I said to Grant Tinker in a sea of Danish, I get a bagel. So I had to go downstage and rehearse stuff I knew would change. And I had these actors. I had Mary and Ed and Gavin and Ted and Valerie and. And Cloris. And they were bitching. And I said, well, let's see what we can do. Let's rehearse it, and maybe a lot won't change. And the old adage of, if you have a mailman, he knows where to go on each route. And even though there might not be a letter for that person, he'll pass that. So if we set up the route, maybe it can be replied, applied to the rewrite. So I did that. And did they hear that?

[James Burroughs]

Did they.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, I. I'm not sure that I was. I was.

[James Burroughs]

That's smart, though.

[Woody Harrelson]

I was. You know, I was not. I had no credentials or anything. I was brought in by Mary. And I'm sure the cast knew that, but I had. You know, and they were bitching and. But there. There was a wonderful cast, and I. It was a show about Lou moving into Rhoda's apartment because Rhoda had left. And so Lou and Mary were living together and working together. And the last scene is when Lou decides to move out. And I told him. I said, let's play it like it's the Cherry Orchard. You know, Chekov is funny there. It's funny. Let's play like Cherry Orchard. Both of you sit on suitcases like you're moving out of the house, going to Moscow, which I think is the end of the Cherry Orchard. Yeah, I think so. I think so. And so I did that. I had invoked Shakespeare earlier in the week. I just did anything I could to make the piece better because I knew this was my chance. Yeah, I only had this one chance. I was not worried about getting my next job because I knew this was it. So I died with my boots on. I did, as a guest director, on this show, you have to play by the rules of the show. You have to listen to the actors and listen to the writers and everything like that. But you have those moments, as you know, when I rehearsed with you guys, where we can become creative, we can feel a part of the piece. So I was somewhat active in those areas. And then I was walking out to the front of the stage to begin the shoot, and Mary came out of her trailer, and she came over to me, put her hands on my shoulder and said, we feel our investment in you has worked out. This was before I shot the show. So I burst into tears because that's what I do. I wet my pants. I like to tell people from my tears, they rolled down and wet my pants, and I shot the show. It was maybe a C show, but the next day my phone rang, and the Newhart show wanted me, because that was mtm and the Paul Sands show wanted me. So that was the beginning.

[Guest/Interviewer]

And so then when you went and did. Then your next show was Newhart.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, I did a couple of Newharts.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Yeah. And so. But when you went over there, obviously a whole different environment. What was that like?

[Woody Harrelson]

All Bob was. Bob was testing. You know, Bob is. Bob is Bob. He's maybe the funniest. One of the funniest men I ever knew. Just with the. You know, this is a great story. There's a great story about. During the pilot of Newhart show, because Bob has the stammer, you know, when he's delivering the line, and it's apocryphal. But I think it's true that one of the writers went over to him and said, can you kind of do less of the stammer? And he said that stammer built me a house in Beverly Hills.

[Guest/Interviewer]

I know. It's so funny to think if someone's like, can you do less stammer to Bob Newhart?

[Woody Harrelson]

So I went over there, and he tested me, and he. At least he was a standup comic, so he liked to. We rehearsed everything twice and then showed it to the guys, to the producers. And Susie Pleshette I had known because she was in one of my dad's plays.

[James Burroughs]

Magnificent.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. Oh, God. Filthiest mouth in the world. What a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful lady. I treasured her. And so then, you know, I did a couple of those, and then I got another Mary show, and I was often running at mtm.

[James Burroughs]

And that took you. How much closer are you getting to lesson Glenn Charles at that point?

[Woody Harrelson]

The second year I was assigned to Be the resident director of the Phyllis Show. So I got a chance to work with Cloris full time, and that taught me a lot. She was. She was. She was. Clorisa's tough. Not mean spirited, but just tough. And, you know, as you know, she was a big vegan. And they're the worst, aren't they?

[James Burroughs]

Oh, horrible.

[Woody Harrelson]

That's the first time I heard about Spirulina.

[James Burroughs]

Spirulina.

[Woody Harrelson]

Not from him. No, not from her. But at least she didn't fart on stage.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, exactly, you know. Thank you. Thank you, Jimmy. So far during the podcast, this is a very closed room. He's been very good.

[Woody Harrelson]

He has.

[James Burroughs]

He's been very considerate.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Well, I chew my food now. Well, actually, I haven't been eating lately, but. But you know what I mean, I chew it up good now. Are we all farts?

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, we're all farts, but we're still back. We're onto Phyllis.

[Woody Harrelson]

So she was an actress who could do a joke nine ways and they were all funny. So when I started, I had to sit through nine ways. And then I figured out after the third way, I'm gonna say, that's pretty good. Let's do that just to move on. And I did 20 shows the first year. It was not a great show. The character Phyllis is not a center. There was no center on that show. Then I got a job doing a movie of the week with Robin, Penny, Meathead and Laverne. They were both huge stars then. Rob Reiner and Penny Marshall. And it was a story about a relationship in the Bronx in New York between Rob and Penny and I. So it was really my first one camera venture, which was scary for me. I mean, I tell the story about the first scene I'm shooting just wild shots of a baseball being hit to Rob so he can pick it up and cutaways and stuff like that. And I roll the camera and the guy starts hitting the ball and Rob hollers, you didn't say.

[James Burroughs]

But you learned.

[Woody Harrelson]

I learned. I never not said action after that.

[James Burroughs]

I remember meeting you on True. Was it true? Not true. West.

[Woody Harrelson]

Best of the West.

[James Burroughs]

Best of the West. And I auditioned. I have a little snapshot like you do in your mind. And I remember auditioning for it and didn't get it. But I think you said that you remembered me from that. So when it came time, I was doing a taxi, and I remember going downstairs to meet with you, Les and Glenn.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, we all came down to watch you. Yeah, you were playing a character that was perfect for Sam Malone.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

A gay hairdresser.

[James Burroughs]

Right. Which, you know, was Sam Malone's backstory. That's funny.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. So, no, you stuck in my head. I remember. I really wanted you to. I was outvoted on that. You know, thank God Ed liked Joel Higgins because he was more Western.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

You know, so.

[James Burroughs]

Than the kid from Arizona. But I know. Never mind.

[Woody Harrelson]

Believe me, I know. Sedona, right?

[James Burroughs]

Flagstaff. Yeah. But I remember walking, and I'll do my little story, and then we have to talk about Woody's entrance into your life. Um, but I remember one I maybe had met twice, and maybe the third time, I read for you and everything you all said, when you don't, don't take another job without checking us first. And I went, my heart pounding, so does this mean I've got the part? And you went, no, no, just. It doesn't mean that, but just check with us before you take something. And I walked out the door. And there were two doors in your office back then. I walked out the back door and looked to my left, and there was, like. Every actor in Hollywood was lined up, coming up the stairs to meet you guys.

[Woody Harrelson]

We couldn't. We didn't have the ability to hire. We had the ability to take it in front of NBC. So, you know, we knew. You didn't read with Shelley before that.

[James Burroughs]

No, not before that. But then you started pairing people up.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah.

[James Burroughs]

And I say this, and it sounds like I'm being humble, but I got Cheers because I happened to work well with Shelley Long. Shelley was, in my mind, the way, besides every wonderful actor and character and the writing and all of that stuff, Shelley was unlike any character you'd seen on TV since maybe I Love Lucy, I think. And she really kind of was a magic spice to that show. She really was.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, you're right. I mean, without her, we don't get to year two. He was good, but the chemistry, you and Shelley just blew everybody away.

[Guest/Interviewer]

So the first season, like, literally the bottom of the ratings pyramid on the.

[Woody Harrelson]

Ratings, I like to say, in Thanksgiving, we were the 72nd show out of 71.

[James Burroughs]

But. True, true, Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

I don't remember what show we put on that night, but we were desperate.

[James Burroughs]

You guys were great. I have to say, even when we were not even. We didn't even know what radies meant, meaning we could lose our job or something. But you all would talk to the cast going, you're doing great. Just focus on what you're doing. The work is great. And you never let us worry about ratings. It was you know, I'm sure you all did, but you never passed that on to the cast.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, you. When we said you were doing great, we had backup. The fact that the audiences, you know, because doing it in front of a live audiences, they loved the show. They laughed and they left at Georgie, they left at Johnny, they left at Rhea, they left at Teddy, and they left at Shelley. They just. They loved those characters and they had never seen them before. That's when you know you have something special.

[Guest/Interviewer]

But when you started the second season, was it then popular because of the rerun season?

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, it was kind of popular.

[Woody Harrelson]

Kind of popular.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Not like it just started creeping up the ratings or something.

[Woody Harrelson]

Because the Emmys helped.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Oh, I see.

[Woody Harrelson]

The first year. The beginning of the second year in September are the Emmys.

[James Burroughs]

Shelley won.

[Woody Harrelson]

Shelley won. I won. The show won. The Charles brothers won. Rhea, probably.

[James Burroughs]

I think it was everybody but me. I think it was how it was phrased on purpose.

[Woody Harrelson]

You didn't win till the ninth year.

[James Burroughs]

I know.

[Woody Harrelson]

Was it the ninth year?

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, I was nominated nine times. My phone calls home in the car to my kids. No, no, didn't. No. I'm sorry, but I'm fine. Things are great. Love you. You know, like. But you know what's so weird is you by about the seventh time, I lost, but people said, yeah, but I'm sorry you didn't win, but what if you won, like three of them already? Because no one is paying attention to anything except their own little world. That's all you think about. You really are and were and are my daddy in show business. You were so amazing. You took me to my first football game. You introduced me.

[Woody Harrelson]

Baseball game.

[James Burroughs]

Baseball game. See, I still haven't figured that out.

[Woody Harrelson]

Sam Malone was a relief pitcher and he had never been to a baseball game.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, and you taught me also. Just if you want to get into the character, just touch your crotch. Rearrange. Watch.

[Woody Harrelson]

Freddy, I told you, remember when Freddie Dreier was on the show? I said, watch him.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah. And he did touch himself periodically. Before Michael Jackson, he was touching himself a lot. And I did that. And I also discovered you got a close up that way because you couldn't use the shot of me touching myself. But it did help.

[Woody Harrelson]

No, because there was this inner athlete trying to get out, you know, I mean, you know, you were a farceur for Carnegie Mellon. Yes, I was. But you had the ability, your great ability was to throw away a joke, which was so important for Sam Malone.

[James Burroughs]

I think shooting in front of a live audience teaches you how you better have something better to do. Your character in your little world you're in, your character better have something more important than the joke. Because if the joke fails and you're sitting around waiting to see how the joke did, you're screwed.

[Woody Harrelson]

Right.

[James Burroughs]

So you make the joke secondly, important to whatever it is you're doing.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. You cut lemons for how long?

[James Burroughs]

Until I got bored and just washed shot glasses.

[Woody Harrelson]

But being in an action is so important.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Because, you know, the joke is a surprise. So much of a surprise coming out of the action.

[James Burroughs]

Before we get to Woody, one more thing that I think you, we've all experienced, anyone who's worked with you as an actor, is that the writing community and the acting community are both very fragile ego, creative souls. And a lot of times, if you don't have a Jimmy Burroughs between those two camps, then feelings can get hurt very easily. And you were able to tell the actors, hey, this is what the writers need, and you need to respect that. And you were able to tell the writers, you know, don't worry, the actors got it. It'll be okay. You were a great translator to both camps that I think made our tenure on Cheers just incredibly pleasant. With writers.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. I mean, it is a writer's medium and I do break down those walls, which is so important.

[James Burroughs]

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[Ted Danson]

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[James Burroughs]

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[Ted Danson]

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[James Burroughs]

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[Ted Danson]

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[James Burroughs]

Coach coach Nikki Colasanto. Nikki died at the end of our third year. And it felt like the heart and soul because he was the kind of heart and soul, his character of the show. What are we gonna do? Because we just lost that innocence and the heart and soul of a show. Then what did you start doing as soon as you realized you were gonna have to.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, we, we. We thought a lot about it. And then the thing that influenced us for another bartender for Cassie. Another bartender was the fact that the show that preceded us was Family Ties. And Family Ties had a huge star in Michael J. Fox.

[James Burroughs]

Right.

[Woody Harrelson]

So we figured we should go younger. So we. They wrote a part. I think Charles brothers wrote the script. I don't remember.

[Guest/Interviewer]

I thought it was Holly Perlman.

[Woody Harrelson]

Heidi.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Heidi Perlman. Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Maybe Heidi wrote it. But anyway, the Charles brothers were involved in creating this kind of wide eyed Iowa kid that looked like a scarecrow. And they named him Wardy. And we found a guy. We found a guy we loved, a guy named. I think his name was John Pilgrim. He looked a little bit like, oh, this is real.

[James Burroughs]

You found an actor?

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, we found this guy we love this guy named John Pilgrim. He would look like a scarecrow.

[James Burroughs]

Do you know this story, Woody?

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, he looked like a scarecrow. And then we did more auditions. I'm not sure why, but we did more auditions. And then all of a sudden a guy walked in the room and he was not a scarecrow. He was kind of burly and big and thank God he was dumb. That was, you know, and he read and he blew us away. And that was one Mr. Harrelson. And I think we then brought you in to read with him. And you. What was your opinion of him?

[James Burroughs]

Same.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, yeah. You never read with John Pilgrim, did you?

[James Burroughs]

No. Just effortlessly.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yes.

[James Burroughs]

One of us kind of feeling blue as nose, right? Yeah, I think so.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Well, I don't think you were there. That was when I first walked into the Lori opened them. You know, I read for. You know, and I didn't. I'm not worried about anything. I'm going back to do the Neil Simon play in Broadway. Bloxy Blues.

[Woody Harrelson]

Bloxy Blues, Yeah.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Yeah. And so I don't. I'm fine. If I don't get this, I'm going back To. That was my dream. So I was kind of relaxed, but I was following. It seemed more labyrinthian then, but I felt like I was following her through a couple of doors. And I don't know, I guess it wasn't. But open when we were open. That when she opened that door, I didn't know the next door was where everybody was. And I just happened to be blowing my nose and the whole room laughed. It's like the perfect entrance, but I didn't even plan it. And Jimmy said, I knew you had the part right then.

[James Burroughs]

That's great.

[Woody Harrelson]

Effortless is a good word for him. It was a godsend on Cheers, as, you know, replacing people. We were extraordinary.

[James Burroughs]

Yep.

[Woody Harrelson]

I mean, we were extraordinary. And even with the characters we brought in just for one or two episodes, they, you know, not to replace anybody. They expanded like one Kelsey Grammer.

[James Burroughs]

Kelsey, yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

You know, it was a four show. It was a four show arc to get Diane back in the bar.

[James Burroughs]

Right.

[Guest/Interviewer]

And what was that? The second or third?

[Woody Harrelson]

Third year.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Third year. And then. And you only had him on for four. You had our clan for four.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, to get Diane. He was the guy who said to Diane, go back and confront your demons. Go back to the bar and face Sam. And so he had one of the great entrances ever on Cheers. Cause he's sitting on the bar, at the bar, and you don't know it, and all of a sudden he pops up. But the minute he spoke.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, he's so talented and he was so good. Oh, my gosh.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Classically trained.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. And then Mr. Woodhead, in the fourth year, I had him jump over the bar.

[James Burroughs]

Was that episode one?

[Woody Harrelson]

I think it was episode one.

[Guest/Interviewer]

I remember you saying, can you jump over the bar? And I said, maybe that drove him crazy, didn't we?

[James Burroughs]

We turned my jump over the bar into a comedic bit because I couldn't.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yes.

[James Burroughs]

I couldn't jump over it. So, yeah, it kind of drove Sam crazy. That was my relationship with Woody for a long time. Trying to outdo him at anything and failing miserably.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, you had less testosterone.

[James Burroughs]

Thanks. Still do, bud. Thanks. But thanks for bringing it up. Really appreciate it.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah.

[James Burroughs]

I mean, there are creams now, though.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, there's not enough cream for you, honey.

[James Burroughs]

Oh, okay.

[Woody Harrelson]

Because I use it all.

[James Burroughs]

Okay, that's good. Good save. Good save.

[Woody Harrelson]

No, he jumped over the bar, and that was a light to us all, you know, and not only in the show, but in the behavior of everybody in the show, the cast. We brought a young soul onto the stage who created havoc Right. And the best havoc. Any. The best havoc a director of that show could ever want because it kept you guys amused, it kept you guys happy. Because my job in Year four.

[James Burroughs]

You mean Woody himself? Not Woody the character.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, Woody himself.

[James Burroughs]

Oh, my God. Yes, it's true.

[Woody Harrelson]

Because in year four, my job is not to tell you how to do the jokes or anything like that, but it's to stop you from being bored.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

Because if you guys are bored, you know you're not going to do it. So, I mean, he introduced a challenge. A challenge and a way of life that was just, you know, great for the show.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, it's true. We would wait. We were. All the guys were turning 37 and you were like 24 or 25. And 37 is when you realize you're no longer 25 as a man. So we were just. First off, we wanted to beat him. When it became blatantly clear we couldn't beat him in anything. Basketball, leg arm wrestling, whatever, chess. All of a sudden it was like, well, practical jokes, you know, if you had a good practical joke and George and John and Kelsey were sitting there, you'd go, no, this is too good. I have to wait for Woody. I have to try to fuck Woody up. And it was that kind of energy, you know, that you brought into the bar you really did to.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Still in my memory is the most idyllic, amazing experience, you know, Like, I can't imagine a better experience for an actor, period, you know?

[James Burroughs]

Me too. We were blessed.

[Guest/Interviewer]

It was great. Jimmy and you just. You just the greatest leader or papa, you know, to all of us. And you just. You made it so fun, you know, and it wasn't, you know, like, you would never. You were never strict, you know, you'd let us kind of get a little out of hand, but you, you know, you'd. As long as we delivered on the Tuesday. You know what I mean? We shot on Tuesday.

[James Burroughs]

You used to call us like comedy commandos. You just have to go in and do it right once in front of the camera.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Right, right.

[Woody Harrelson]

But you also had to do it in front of. In the run throughs.

[James Burroughs]

Well, a little bit, because towards the end, yes, in the beginning, but by the eighth, ninth year, so many people were out of town. Woody would call up and be in Berlin because the wall's coming down. John Ratzenberger would be pissed. He'd go up and harvest his apples up on Vachon. And so most of the run throughs would have second and third ads reading the script to just be a body on The Brian. Yeah, Brian. And I remember some new writers turning to you and going, how the fuck. How do we know if this works? And you were able to say, eh, it's funny. Don't worry about it. It'll be all right.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah, because if, with you guys, if a joke didn't work, it was not your fault, it was the joke's fault. And to be on a show, which I've been on a few, where that's the situation is the greatest gift in the world, to know that you have actors who, if the joke is right, they'll be able to deliver it. So it makes it more difficult for the writers because the joke has to be better. But it's great to hear that feedback from the audience.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, we were spoiled because, you know, the worst thing you can hear, I think as an actor is. No, no, just. Just say it. It's funny.

[Guest/Interviewer]

But also, I loved when the joke didn't work on the. On the night, on the Tuesday night, and you'd see all the writers and you gather around in a circle and just like, sure, what about this? You know? And then, boom, get a joke. It might take, you know, 10 minutes. Okay, we got the joke. Let's try it again.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. The interesting thing about Cheers is we shot it on film. So we had four film cameras rolling simultaneously. So we never did every scene twice. We never did that on Cheers. I would go back and get a shot. I missed, but just a little section, or I would go back and get a joke. Now, when you were on Will and Grace, we were not using film anymore. It was cards. So we could do the scene twice, they would change the jokes. That didn't work. But you do the scene twice, it didn't cost anything. But on Cheers, we had to be economical. Cause they were always harping on us for using too much film.

[James Burroughs]

I think the first five or six years, we were. Almost all of us were on our toes and it was like, we're doing a play. You know, don't mess up your lines. Just really work hard so you can do it like a play. And then as time went on, we started messing up lines more and more and more to the audience's delight, I think.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah. And I would just back you up. And, you know, and I mean, the end of the first year, we did a two parter. You remember the two parter with your brother who we never see?

[James Burroughs]

Is it the wedding? No, it's not the wedding.

[Woody Harrelson]

Your first year two parter, where Sam's brother comes and he's got the Big crowd around him. Big crowd around him. And you never see him. He goes in the back room. And all the whole cast goes in the back room except for you. And each one comes out and has a scene with you independently. Right. And it was a two parter, and the evening lasted 2 hours and 15 minutes.

[James Burroughs]

Wow.

[Woody Harrelson]

Wow.

[James Burroughs]

So that's a wow you.

[Woody Harrelson]

No, that's a wow you.

[Guest/Interviewer]

It's incredible.

[James Burroughs]

All right, I'll take the wow me.

[Woody Harrelson]

Yeah.

[James Burroughs]

But then, didn't you have a two parter wedding?

[Woody Harrelson]

Woody's wedding. Oh, my God.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ted Danson]

And that was like a farce.

[James Burroughs]

French farce.

[Guest/Interviewer]

That was farce. Yeah, that was great. You had the doors that.

[Woody Harrelson]

I know.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Remember? It was like a door to the kitchen.

[Woody Harrelson]

And then we had a door. No, that's swinging doors this way to the living room. Swinging doors to the kitchen. And we had every cliche of farce. We had a drunk minister, we had dogs. We had a dumbwaiter. And that was a show. We shot the first half at the Cheers bar, took the entire audience, walked them over to another stage where Kelly's Kitchen was. The kitchen for.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Really?

[Woody Harrelson]

Yes.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Do you remember that?

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, I do. I do remember.

[Guest/Interviewer]

We went to another stage.

[Woody Harrelson]

Went to another stage. Cause we couldn't fit that whole set on. And you guys, you guys bitched at me during that show. Cause I rehearsed you a lot. Yeah, because it was.

[James Burroughs]

But it was exciting. Yeah, yeah, it was exciting.

[Guest/Interviewer]

It was exciting.

[James Burroughs]

And I don't think that took forever.

[Guest/Interviewer]

To shoot either, because the timing of it was so precise with the. With the farce. I guess it's always like that. You got to. The joke is, you come through the door at this moment, you can't miss your.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah. Hey, can we talk? We haven't been able to talk to Shelley yet and we hope to Shelley Long, who played Diane. But she was astounding when she decided to move on. I remember thinking, oh, my God, my dance partner just left. Does that mean I'm going to tank here? What is this going to mean? You all were probably up against it a little bit. But tell me how you got into Kirsty and how that all came to be.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, we were a seed, too. We were brokenhearted. You know, you're breaking up Sam and Diane, which has become, in the vernacular of the television business now. You know, people talk about doing Sam, Diane, relationships, so it's in the vernacular. We were stunned. We, you know, we didn't know quite what to do. But believe it or not, we went back to the original conception of the show. And when I was pitching the show with the Charles brothers, before we ever shot the first episode, we decided that it would be good to. We loved the character of Sam Malone, an athlete, and we loved the fact that this guy, Sam Malone, would work for a woman.

[James Burroughs]

So we love the fact that Sam would work for a woman.

[Woody Harrelson]

Sam would have to work for a woman.

[James Burroughs]

Oh, I've gotcha.

[Woody Harrelson]

Sam would have to work for a woman. And so we went back to that concept and Glen Ellis went off to write, and we, you know, they came back with the character of Rebecca, which was literally. Because when we talked about doing Cheers originally, we talked about Sam working for a woman in the Suzanne Pleshette mode.

[James Burroughs]

Right.

[Woody Harrelson]

That kind of woman.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

So the boys wrote the script and they created a character for Rebecca. And we told Jeff Greenberg, we need.

[James Burroughs]

This character, a great casting director.

[Woody Harrelson]

And Jeff Greenberg said, kirstie Alley.

[James Burroughs]

Oh, wow.

[Woody Harrelson]

Right away, he knew right away that's what he said. And so she came in. She came in to read, and she walked in the door and Glenn, Les, and I all went, booa, which is your line when you first see her.

[James Burroughs]

And I never got that right.

[Woody Harrelson]

You did get it right.

[James Burroughs]

Really?

[Woody Harrelson]

I practiced it because Glenn pitched it. That was Glenn's line.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

So she walks in, we go, bua. She reads. I don't think she read with you.

[James Burroughs]

No.

[Woody Harrelson]

Because she was stunning.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

And so we. Then, you know when you're house hunting, the first house you see.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

So we went and looked a couple other people like that. And then we read on stage with you and Rhea and her, right?

[James Burroughs]

I think so.

[Woody Harrelson]

Do we have another actress? We just had her.

[James Burroughs]

I don't remember that. No. No. I never read for any. I thought she had it by the time I read.

[Woody Harrelson]

You read with her, right?

[James Burroughs]

Yeah.

[Woody Harrelson]

And you read with her. You read with her on stage. Then we all went up to the room after that. And you came in the room, and Rhea came in the room, and I remember you saying, I want to hug her, which was the antithesis of the character that we created, that the boys created. And so we hired her. And then I think I got the story right. In the rehearsals for the first show with her, she walks into bar, and she's so mean, you know, she's so mean to you, you know, it was not funny and, you know, it was crazy and not funny. And so we rewrote it the second day. We made her a little less mean. We had a rehearsal, you know, still wasn't funny. And then she tried to go in the office door, and it wouldn't work. She turned it like this.

[James Burroughs]

Kirsty, the actress.

[Woody Harrelson]

Kirsty the actress, right? And she started crying, and everybody went, oh, my God, there you are. There you are.

[James Burroughs]

Woman on the verge of a nervous breakdown at all times.

[Guest/Interviewer]

And the happy accident.

[Woody Harrelson]

The happy accident, you jumping over the bar, and that was it. I get teared up when I think about it, because it was a seminal moment in my life. And we wrote to that. Yeah, we wrote to that. We wrote and we wrote a relationship where you were never gonna get her into bed, Right?

[James Burroughs]

And it was always a triangle. She was always. She was interested in somebody rich. I was trying to get her into bed, right?

[Woody Harrelson]

And then there's that great moment where you. You know, where you take the fireball.

[James Burroughs]

That's my favorite physical moment. You tell it, I'm finally gonna bed her. And she says yes. We're in her apartment. She goes in to change something more comfortable. And I. My. As I try to take my pants off, my zipper or something is stuck, and I can't get my pants off. So I grab a fire poker, stick it down my pants, and sit there trying to jack it, pry it open, you know? She was a marvel.

[Woody Harrelson]

She was a marvel.

[James Burroughs]

She really was. Hey, I know that every damn near every actor in town has worked with you. It feels the exact same. We do, which just kind of pisses me off because you so effortlessly left us and went on and made new.

[Woody Harrelson]

Best friends, but I never left you.

[James Burroughs]

I love you so much. I'm so grateful for everything you did for me. And it wasn't just cheers. You introduced me into such a high level of, you know, how to be in this business. And I cherish you forever.

[Woody Harrelson]

You're so sweet.

[James Burroughs]

Your turn, Woody.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Ditto. No, no, Jimmy, I love you. You've made such an enormous impact on my life. And all those times back then, I cherished them, you know, and I cherished the way you looked after everybody and just always made it fun and. And great, you know, and just to watch you do your thing, you know, Like, I used to be amazed to watch you, like, when you're doing the filming, a lot of times you look down, you're not even looking at that. You're listening. You were very acoustic about it sometimes, and you'd. And then just see you come over to one of the. You know, one of the cameras and just push it forward like two feet.

[Woody Harrelson]

You.

[Guest/Interviewer]

You know how you do that? And, you know, when we're just fucking up a job up, up, up, up, up. You know, and so that the audience wasn't going to hear the punchline before it was ready to be. And, and, but just the, the overall, just genius of how you did that and did it so seemingly effortless, making us all just feel great and like a family. You made a family. You were the patriarchal figure in this family. And thank you for, thank you for all of that, dude.

[Woody Harrelson]

Well, thank you for the compliment. You guys were my first too. I mean, I had done Taxi before, but this was our baby, Glenless and my baby. And so it was a first for us, for the three of us and for you guys too, and for everybody in that show. And it was, you know, to have a, to create a child like Cheers and have it go on and live on is just amazing to me. And to have a family like I had on that show, which set the predicate for all my shows. You know, I can't work on a show where everybody is not a family, where, you know, the fish stinks from the head and the head is sitting here to my right, but there was no stink coming out of them. And so I can't be on a show where that happens. I can't be on a show where there's crabbing and everything like that. Cause that's not how I work or how for me, the way to make the best show is for everybody to be on board and don't care about anything. And I think especially you two guys, you're seminal in my life. The relationship I have with you, it still goes on. Obviously you didn't lose my number. I'm on this podcast, but I have such fond memories and I love you both.

[James Burroughs]

Yeah, love you too, Jimmy.

[Guest/Interviewer]

Love you, buddy.

[James Burroughs]

That was the one and only Jimmy Burroughs. Thank you, Jimmy, for spending that time with us. We love you very much. That's it for this week. Special thanks to our friends at Team Coco. If you enjoyed this episode, send it to a loved one. You can always watch full length video by visiting YouTube.com teamcoco. As always, subscribe on your favorite podcast.

[Ted Danson]

App and give us a great rating.

[James Burroughs]

And review on Apple Podcasts if you'd like. See you next time. Where everybody knows.

[Nick Leow]

You'Ve been listening to where everybody knows your name with Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson Sometimes. The show is produced by by me, Nick Leow. Executive producers are Adam Sachs, Jeff Ross and myself. Sarah Fedorovich is our supervising producer. Our senior producer is Matt Apodaca. Engineering and mixing by Joanna Samuel with support from Eduardo Perez. Research by Alyssa Grohl talent booking by Paula Davis and Gina Batista. Our theme music is by Woody Harrelson, Antony Genn, Mary Steenburgen and John Osborne. We'll have more for you next time, where everybody knows your name.

[Unknown]

How do you make an Airbnb a vrbo? Picture a vacation rental with a host. The host is dragging your family on a tour of the kitchen, the bathroom, the upstairs bathroom, the downstairs bedroom, and the TV room, which, surprise, is where you can watch tv. Now imagine there's no host giving you a tour, because there's never any hosts at all. Ever. Voila. You've got yourself a vrbo. Want a vacation that's completely and totally host free? Make it a vrbove.