James Burrows Movies

Four friends, including a mom re-entering the dating pool (Alyssa Milano), look to each other for romantic advice and support. ~ Fred Mitchell, Rovi

Fox's Back to You was a tailor-made vehicle for two sitcom favorites, Frasier's Kelly Grammer and Everybody Loves Raymond's Patricia Heaton. Grammer was cast as vainglorious TV news anchor Chuck Darling, who after publicly humiliating himself with an internet tirade lost his job with a prestigious big-market station, and found himself right back where he started at Pittsburgh's WURG-TV. While Chuck had been away from Pittsburgh, his former co-anchor Kelly Carr (Heaton) had become a star and "news diva" in her own right. Now Chuck and Kelly were forcibly teamed again by the WURG management, and neither was happy over the arrangement. Much of the series' humor arose from the backstage squabbling between these two giant egos, which often focused on Chuck's reputation as a womanizer and Kelly's habit of playing "Ms. Know-It-All". Like most sitcoms of this nature, Back to You boasted a large supporting ensemble: Josh Gad as neurotic news director Ryan Church, Fred Willard as dunderhead sports anchor Marsh McGinley, Ayda Field as well-endowed weatherperson Montana Stevens, Ty Burrell as accident-prone field reporter Gary Crezyewski (pronounced Kre-Shoov-Ski), and Laura Marano as Kelly's 10-year-old daughter Gracie. Originally titled Action News, Back to You made its network bow on September 19, 2007. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Created by the same team responsible for Will & Grace, the NBC sitcom Four Kings was set in New York, the home of a quartet of lifelong male friends: doofus Barry (Seth Green), irritatingly lucky Ben (Josh Cooke), rising young executive Jason (Todd Grinnell), and air-headed stoner Bobby (Shane McRae). After he inherited a large and luxurious apartment from his late grandmother, Ben intends to use his new digs as a home for himself and his current girlfriend. But when she turns out to be selfish and shallow, Ben invites his three pals to move in with him instead. "Bros Before Hos!" was the rallying cry for the "Four Kings," though their male bonding did not prevent them from squiring lovely ladies whenever the opportunity arose. Scheduled as a lead-in for NBC's Thursday-night hit My Name Is Earl, Four Kings debuted January 5, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Will and Grace was supposed to have been cancelled at the end of its seventh season, but somehow managed to hang on for an eighth and final year. To improve its flagging ratings (the series had dropped from ninth place in 2001 to a miserable 61 five years later), NBC moved the show to a new timeslot, sequestered among the network's most successful sitcom offerings. As a ratings gimmick, two of the episodes--including the season opener--were telecast "live", a ploy that had worked wonders for such previous offerings as ER and Drew Carey. The festivities begin as gay attorney Will (Eric McCormack) tries to keep the snobbish but emotionally fragile Karen (Megan Mullally) from finding out that her wealthy ex-husband Stan, believed dead, is actually still among the living. At the same time, Will's erstwhile straight roommate Grace (Debra Messing) toys with the possibility of compromising her values by beginning an affair with her old flame Tom (Eric Stolz), who happens to be married. Also, Will's flamboyantly gay pal Jack (Sean Hayes) launches the latest phase of his checkered showbiz career as host of his own TV series, "Jack Talk". This last-mentioned device seems to have been contrived purely for the purpose of spotlighting Season Eight's most highly publicized celebrity guest star Britney Spears, gloriously miscast as an ultra-right-winger with whom Jack is forcibly teamed on the air. Other well-known actors passing through during this season are Andy Richter as one of Grace's blind dates, Richard Chamberlain as an elderly homosexual whom an altruistic Will "adopts", and Debbie Reynolds, who after a long absence returns as Grace's overbearing mother. This is also the year in which Will enters into a new romance with James Hanson (Taye Diggs), whom he meets at a Sound of Music singalong, and with whom he shares his first serious onscreen kiss (a piquant moment which, like the Britney Spears appearance, was noisily overhyped by the NBC publicity department). Though Will eventually returns to his police-officer boyfriend Vince (Bobby Cannavelle), Grace generously offers to marry the foreign-born James so he won't be deported--only to discover on the eve of the wedding that she is pregnant, the result of a one-night stand with her ex-husband Leo (Harry Connick Jr.)! Likewise receiving a visit from Mr. Stork are Will and Vince, the proud parents of baby Ben--actually the issue of a most surprising sperm donor. Season Eight's various and sundry loose plot strands are neatly wrapped up in the series' now-famous final episode, set twenty years in the future. Though Will & Grace was clearly on its last legs, the series still managed win two more Emmy awards, making a total of sixteen. The lucky recipients this year were supporting actors Megan Mullally and Leslie Jordan, the latter cast as Karen's perennial adversary, closeted Republican Beverly Leslie. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer, and Angus T. Jones essayed the title roles in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. The swinging-bachelor lifestyle of commercial-jingle composer -- and chronic gambler -- Charlie Harper (Sheen) was sorely disrupted when his Malibu beach house was invaded by his uptight brother, Alan (Cryer), and Alan's ten-year-old son, Jake (Jones). Given the childish hedonism of Charlie and the domestic immaturity of the soon-to-be-divorced Alan, young Jake turned out to be the true "grown-up" in the Harper household. Also seen from time to time were Marin Hinkle as Alan's ex-wife Judith (who may or may not have been gay); Melanie Lynskey as Charlie's erstwhile lover and next-door neighbor Rose; and Holland Taylor (replacing the pilot episode's Blythe Danner) as Charlie and Alan's control-freak mother, Evelyn. Created by Lee Aronsohn and Chuck Lorre, Two and a Half Men opened to excellent ratings on September 22, 2003. For the show's ninth season in 2011, Ashton Kutcher replaced Sheen in the cast, as a new character -- internet tycoon Walter Schmidt. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Fans of Will & Grace were taken aback by the series' fifth season, in which plotlines bordered on the ludicrous and the main characters became more wildly inconsistant--and much, much, more abrasive. For starters, longtime friends and roommates Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) (he's the gay lawyer, she's the straight interior designer) have a bitter falling out when she decides not to bear his child by artificial insemination, choosing instead to impulsively marry a handsome Jewish doctor named Leo Markus, played by singer-composer Harry Connick Jr.) (the fact that TV journalist Katie Couric is present at the ceremony would seem to prove beyond doubt that the marriage was preplanned as a fall-sweeps ratings stunt, rather than a logical outgrowth of Grace's character). At the same time, Grace's business partner Karen (Megan Mullaly) goes into full harpie mode when her wealthy incarcerated husband Stan throws her over for prison cafeteria worker Lorraine Finster (Minnie Driver), reducing Karen to homeless destitution (for a while, she lives in the family limo!) And Stan's flamboyantly gay buddy Jack (Will Hayes) morphs from harmless eccentric to menacing stalker when he spots Kevin Bacon (one of several celebrities playing themselves) strolling down the avenue. Guest actors this season include Gene Wilder, whose performance as Mr. Stein, the long-missing, hyperneurotic senior partner of Will's law firm won the actor one of the series' four Emmy awards for 2002-2003 (another Emmy went to star Debra Messing, and about time!); Rosanna Arquette as a masseuse who evidently has the "hots" for Grace; Dan Futterman as Grace's gay cousin Barry, only recently and very awkwardly "outed", who briefly becomes the object of affection for both Will and Jack; and Madonna as Karen's new, high-maintenance roommate. As the season winds down, Stan starts divorce proceedings against Karen, who is incensed to find that Will is representing her husband (HER attorney is a greenhorn played by Macauley Culkin)--but the courtroom proceedings are interrupted by some shocking news about Stan. Everything comes to a head in the season's cliffhanger finale, which takes place during an ocean voyage, wherein Grace weighs the possibility of moving to Guatemala to be closer to husband Leo. . .until she finds out about Leo's sexy coworker (Nicollette Sheridan). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Moving out of the apartment she shares with gay lawyer Will Truman (Eric McCormack), straight interior designer Grace Adler (Debra Messing) personifies the old adage "gone but not forgotten" when she moves into the apartment next door to Will's as Will & Grace begins its second season. Meanwhile, in an effort to avoid a scuffle with the INS, Will's flamboyantly gay pal Jack (Sean Hayes) moves in with his much-older immigrant bride Rosario (Shelley Morrison), former maid of Grace's filthy-rich business partner, the selfish, superficial, squeaky-voiced Karen Walker (Magan Mullally). Major developments this season include Will's brief and frustrated period of unemployment, and a run-in with his otherwise supportive father George (Sydney Pollack), who has gone to great lengths to cover up his son's sexual orientation by telling his friends that Will and Grace are married. Also, Jack tries to belatedly break the news to his hyperjudgmental mom Judith (Veronica Cartwright) that he's been "out" for years; and Karen faces the possibility of losing her cushy home and limitless bank account when her fabulous wealthy, grotesquely overweight husband Stan (who remains an unseen presence) has a heart attack. The season ends with Will trying to act as peacemaker in the battle of wills between his law partner Ben Doucette (Gregory Hines) and his once-again-roommate Grace, with surprising results; and Rosario, far from grateful to Jack for keeping her from being deported, demands a divorce. Will & Grace closed out its second season by winning three Emmy awards, one for "Outstanding Comedy Series", and two for supporting players Sean Hayes and Megan Mullally. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This TV sitcom probes the personal problems of New York City ad copywriter Conrad Bloom (Mark Feuerstein), a single guy surrounded by women, including his ex-girlfriend Molly (Lauren Graham), sister Nina (Ever Carradine), co-worker Shelley (Jessica Stone), demanding boss Faye (Paula Newsome), and Conrad's irritating widowed mother Florie (Linda Lavin). In the pilot episode, Conrad struggled to get attractive Allison (Christina Moore) into bed. Premiered September 21, 1998 on NBC. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

This TV sitcom revolves around three divorced New Yorkers -- nutty Andy (Mitch Rouse), who manufactures artificial fruits and vegetables; charming nerd Phil (Peter Gallagher), who still yearns for his ex; and spiteful, misanthropic Phil (Brad Whitford), a business manager for athletes. These guys play a lot of golf and log long hours at the neighborhood restaurant, where they vacillate between cynicism and self-pity. Filmed in Los Angeles, this series premiered September 30, 1998 on ABC. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi

In the first episode of a two-part story, an argument leads Ross (David Schwimmer) and Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) to put their relationship on temporary hold. Elsewhere, Chandler (Matthew Perry) and Joey (Matt LeBlanc) fall for Chloe the Xerox Girl (Angela Featherstone), who wants both of them -- but at the same time? And love hits a language barrier when Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) dates a foreign diplomat. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi