Where the ‘Action!’ Is

Could that really be Jerry the Dentist calling “Action!” and “Cut!” on the set of a hit sitcom?

Well, yes and no. As an actor, Peter Bonerz will probably be forever linked with Jerry, the swinging tooth doctor on “The Bob Newhart Show” throughout its run in the ‘70s. But even in his Jerry days, Bonerz was launching something of a stealth career--as a director.

Encouraged by “Newhart Show” producers to swap the dentist’s chair for the director’s chair, Bonerz went on to direct nearly a third of that show’s episodes. He built upon his success there, moving on to direct episodes of “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “Rhoda” and “Archie Bunker’s Place.” And today, the former character actor is one of TV’s most sought-after directors of comedy--he has served as something of a director-in-residence for “Murphy Brown” the past four seasons, and he will also be helming episodes of “Home Improvement” and “Friends” this season.

“I think Jerry was pretty much the apogee of my acting career,” Bonerz, 58, says with a laugh, resting at home after a week of work on “Friends.” “But I’m very satisfied as a director. The thing is it’s a totally different kind of satisfaction. As an actor, I got immediate gratification--like being given a piece of candy. It’s a tremendous pleasure to be out there making people laugh. The pleasure of directing is more like the feeling you get afterworking out--you ache all over, but you know you’ve done something good.”

Increasingly, the aches and pleasures of directing television comedy are being explored by familiar faces from the other side of the camera. David Steinberg, whose TV performance career includes sitcoms, variety shows and a lengthy stint as substitute host on Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show,” works almost exclusively as a director now, having directed most episodes of “Mad About You” as well as episodes of “Seinfeld.”

Mary Kay Place, memorable as country chanteuse Loretta Haggers on “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,” has directed episodes of “Friends,” “Dream On” and “Arli$$.” Philip Charles Mackenzie, who appeared on “Brothers” and “Open House,” has moved on to directing episodes of “Frasier” and “Roseanne,” and James Widdoes, once part of the cast of “Charles in Charge,” now directs the casts of shows such as “Something So Right” and “Boston Common.”

Certainly not every working TV actor is capable of directing a show, but actor-directors who have mastered both sets of skills are clearly capable of distinguished work. This year’s Emmy for comedy directing went to the director of a “Friends” episode--Michael Lembeck--whose face might be familiar to many from his years as a cast member of “One Day at a Time” (he played Mackenzie Phillips’ husband).

A decade ago, Lembeck had built a solid acting career on stage, screen and TV and was respected as a leader of comic acting seminars. But it has been as a director that Lembeck has soared. He got his start on “Coach” and during the last few seasons has guided such successful comedies as “Friends,” “NewsRadio,” “Ellen” and “Mad About You.” This season he helped launch CBS’ “Everybody Loves Raymond,” directing the pilot and two additional episodes.

“When you move from acting to directing,” Lembeck explains, “you show up on your first day thinking, ‘I’ve got the job--I’ll give them my best shot.’ The first thing you discover is how much you don’t know. It’s a shocking epiphany.

“By the 34th time that day you’re asked a question you can’t answer, you want to kill yourself. You have to learn how to work with the people who do know the answers. And with my experience, I still don’t have all the answers and I’m still learning every time out.

“The important thing in TV is that the show isn’t about the director--I’m not making ‘a film by Michael Lembeck’ every week, and I have no pretensions about that. A television show is brought to life by a lot of people, and being a part of that collaborative effort is actually one of the joys of directing television comedy.”

With an Emmy on his shelf and directing offers continuing to pour in, Lembeck, 48, isn’t exactly pining for his days in front of the cameras.

“As an actor I had hundreds of jobs, and I probably loved seven or eight of them. I loved being an actor--I loved working in the theater--but nothing like the way I love directing. When I work on a show now, I’m the first one in, the last one out, and I can’t wait to get back the next day. I’ve developed the metabolism of a hummingbird, and I find it wonderful to bring all that energy to whatever show I’m directing. Granted, I have my fair share of hellish experiences--days where absolutely nothing goes right--but still, I love the work.”

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Bonerz says that two of the great assets an actor can bring to directing are empathy and adaptability.

“Some directors come out of editing bays or writing rooms and aren’t necessarily great at communicating with actors. But someone who’s acted knows what other actors are going through, and that makes it very easy to communicate.

“Also, as an actor you’re used to working under a lot of different conditions, and that becomes helpful as a director, because every show is a different experience.

“ ‘Murphy Brown’ is 9 years old and has a tightly formatted way of working--every minute of the day is scheduled. ‘Friends’ is much more open to improvisation--writers are constantly changing lines or shifting whole scenes. ‘Home Improvement’ is a videotaped show which is almost shot live--it’s like capturing a play on tape.

“I think I change my notion of comedy to fit each show, mainly because you have to keep in mind who you’re trying to entertain. ‘Home Improvement’ has a more male-dominated audience than ‘Murphy Brown,’ for instance. So I bring forth my male self for Tim Allen, I let my female self come out for Candice Bergen, and on ‘Friends’ I try to tap into whatever scant residual of youth is left in me.”

Lembeck says he also finds himself fine-tuning his approach to directing as he moves from one show to the next:

“I think you have to take the temperature of each new room you work in. Every show has its own temperature--its own pace--and a week at ‘Friends’ feels very different from a week at ‘Mad About You.’

“I try to quickly figure out how everyone else likes to work and not just impose myself. But it’s still a little scary on Monday mornings when you walk onto a set and you know you’re being judged and analyzed. You can never be sure about what people are thinking about the way you work. So far,” he adds with a laugh, “people seem happy to see me.”

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The cast and crew of “Mad About You” seem very happy to be working with Steinberg, who recently returned to the show after having spent the last several months directing the feature film “The Wrong Guy,” due out next spring.

At a final Friday “Mad About You” rehearsal before taping, a relaxed, friendly atmosphere surrounds the show’s Culver City sound stage, with Steinberg a center of calm amid the buzz of activity. As camera movements are finalized and stars Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt work out the precise pacing of their dialogue, Steinberg is appealed to frequently--occasionally as “Canadian Chief”--to work out technical details and supply performance advice.

During a break in the long rehearsal day, Steinberg, 54, says he counts himself among those who have found a great deal of satisfaction on the director’s side of the camera.

“Though I enjoyed doing stand-up, and I enjoyed what I did on ‘The Tonight Show,’ I never really enjoyed acting in sitcoms, because it meant I had to give up my own point of view,” he explains. “But I love everything about directing TV comedy. I love the fact that it’s a hybrid of film and theater performed in front of a sort of stand-up comedy audience. It’s less complicated than film in terms of all the decisions that need to be made for every shot of film. But in terms of working with actors and getting the rhythm and the language and the spirit of comedy--there’s nothing like it.

“You get a high from performing I’ve never experienced directing--you’re loose, you’re up, you can’t go to sleep--but you get this warm, nurturing feeling from directing. It’s not a rush--the rewards occur in the process. You have to like the work as much as the result. It’s like acting is being the talented kid, and directing is being the proud parent.”

With a performance background that included Chicago’s Second City, Broadway and a multitude of TV appearances, Steinberg made the jump to directing with the 1981 Burt Reynolds film “Paternity.” But he says he truly worked up his directing chops when he began creating commercials in the early ‘80s. He made a name for himself directing Bill Cosby’s memorable Jell-O spots and went on to win a number of Clio awards for his work. He made his debut as a sitcom director working on Bob Newhart’s second series, “Newhart,” and quickly moved on to episodes of “Golden Girls,” “Designing Women” and “Evening Shade.”

“I thought directing sitcoms would be easy after films and commercials,” he says. “It wasn’t. It took a lot of work before I felt comfortable on the set. But I think my performing career did give me a great advantage as a director.

“When I’m working with actors and dissecting a piece of comedy like it’s a passage from the Talmud, they know I’ve been there in some way, and they listen. It’s very easy to get a point across.”

Even with more film offers being considered, Steinberg says he has no plans to leave TV directing behind.

“When you look at the best sitcoms today, it’s top-of-the-line comedy--often at a level that’s very difficult to get in films. I think that right now, if Preston Sturges or Howard Hawks or Frank Capra were around, they’d be working these great sitcoms--’Seinfeld,’ ‘Mad About You,’ ‘NewsRadio,’ ‘Frasier.’ The quality of the writing and the level of humor and the excellence of the performances--it’s stunning. It doesn’t astonish me how bad it gets on bad shows--what astonishes me is how good it gets on the good shows. And it’s wonderful to be a part of them.”

Some actors are constructing dual careers, balancing directing assignments with their acting roles. Mary Kay Place, 49, is currently on the set of “Rainmaker”--based on the John Grisham novel--working as an actress under the direction of Francis Ford Coppola. Acting hasn’t lost any of its appeal to her, but she is equally excited at the prospect of more directing work.

“The way it goes for me is that whatever comes up that’s interesting, I do--whether it’s directing or acting. I suppose I pay a certain price for continuing to act, because it’s easier to get the great directing jobs if that’s what you do all the time. But at the same time, I feel like I learn a lot about acting when I’m directing and a lot about directing when I’m acting.”

When Place first got the urge to direct, she began taking production classes at UCLA in between acting gigs. But it wasn’t until she got some practical experience on real sets that she discovered the rewards--and perils--of directing.

“Well, I directed a ‘Lassie’ episode where the dog kept getting sick; that was a tough week,” she says with a laugh. “And on an episode of ‘Baby Boom,’ I worked with a dog and a pair of little twins--I was deeply in prayer that day.

“But on ‘Friends’ and ‘Dream On,’ I’ve experienced the real fun of directing, which is in shaping the rhythm of the comedy. It’s up to you to shape the rhythm of the camera movements, the movement of the actors, the pace of the dialogue, the tone of the show. That’s thrilling. And it’s comparable to the thrill of acting, but it’s also very different. There’s so much more responsibility. As an actor you want to serve your character, but as a director you want to serve the story, serve the actors, serve the crew--there’s a lot of serving going on. My job description for a director would be ‘servant / leader.’ ”

The roles of servant and leader couldn’t be any more entwined than they have been on the setof “Murphy Brown,” where Joe Regalbuto, who plays the ever-excitable Frank Fontana, also served as director for a recent episode. Regalbuto, 47, directed episodes last season--including those that featured high-profile guest turns by Newt Gingrich and Elizabeth Taylor--and will direct more this season, but he says it has been hard getting used to being actor and director on the same set.

“It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but it definitely felt odd at first,” he says. “Especially on a show like this that’s become successful because it has such great chemistry between the actors--I didn’t want to spoil that by stepping out of it to direct.

“There’s always been a lot of give-and-take between us as cast members, and we’ve always been open to suggestions, and as director I was given a lot of support. But I think actors know within 20 seconds whether or not a director has any idea what’s going on. So I felt I was being tested. I wanted to be confident about directing, but I couldn’t let it go to my head--I couldn’t storm on the set and say, ‘Damn it, Candice, I’m in charge. Stand over here.’ ”

Comparing the job satisfaction of his acting and directing work, Regalbuto says that while the joy of acting is more visceral, directing has some decided perks:

“I still think the actor’s job is tougher. That’s you out there on the line. And there’s nothing that compares with the feeling of getting a laugh--of really being on as an actor. But when things don’t go well, actors tend to think, ‘It’s my fault.’ When I’m directing and things don’t go well, I now have the luxury of being able to think, ‘Those damn actors.’ ”

Whereas the most rewarding moments for actors can easily be found in an audience’s laughter or applause, the best part of the director’s work seems harder to pin down. For some of TV’s most successful comedy directors, the greatest attraction of the job is that it’s so difficult to master.

“It never gets easier,” Steinberg says, grinning. “No matter how long you’re with a show--no matter how many episodes you have under your belt--every Monday there’s a whole new set of problems, and nothing you did last week is going to help you.”

“It’s a given,” Lembeck says. “Every show is going to bring new obstacles. But I dream about those obstacles. I can’t wait to get to them.”