From KCRW, I'm Kim Masters, and this is The Business.

In an industry that constantly reinvents how shows are made and how they're watched,

legendary sitcom director James Burroughs says making a successful comedy still takes the same talent that it always has.

Anybody with an iPhone can make a show. So you have, I think, 600 shows on the air. I mean,

back when I started, there were three networks and 30 great comedy writers. Now there are 300

networks and 30 great comedy writers. Burroughs talks to Eric Deggans about why working on the

Frazier Revival was a glorious return after a few years away from directing, and he says

a call from Kelsey Grammer was reason enough to do the show. He also addresses a debate about whether

genre-bending television like Barry and Succession should be considered comedy. But first we banter.

Stick around. It's the business from KCRW.

I am joined by my partner in banter, Matt Bellany. Hello, Matt.

Hi there.

So, obviously, the big story is finally, after what is 100 plus days, we have a deal for SAG Aftera.

This was an extremely painful time, not just for Hollywood, but for anyone who had anything to do with Hollywood, florists, caterers, many, many people. Of course,

the crews, this was a brutal thing. I know that the studio side was quite frustrated at times

with the negotiating style of Fran Dresher and Duncan Crabbtree Ireland,

the lead negotiator. Fran Dresher is a bit quirky. She came in with her plushy. She'd like to talk

about Buddhism at the start. But she's a smart businesswoman. And they came away with a deal

that has the town jubilant mostly, I would say, and as they are

presenting it, a billion dollars worth of improvement and precedent-shattering provisions.

I think some of that is true because what I was hearing from the studio side in the negotiations

was that they had made this magnanimous offer.

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