Gary S. Halvorson is an American director of television shows, series and film, best known for directing and producing the show, Friends.

Directing edit

He was trained as a classical pianist at but is primarily noted as the director of situation comedies such as Friends (of which he directed 56 episodes) and The Drew Carey Show.[1] He also made his film directorial debut The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999), a children's film.

For the New York Metropolitan Opera,[2][3] he directed high-definition theater simulcasts of The Magic Flute (30 Dec 2006), I Puritani (6 Jan 2007), Il Barbiere di Siviglia (24 Mar 2007), Il Tabarro (28 Apr 2007), Roméo et Juliette (15 Dec 2007), Macbeth (11 Jan 2008), Peter Grimes (15 Mar 2008), La Bohème (5 Apr 2008), La fille du régiment (26 Avr 2008), the 2008-09 opening night gala starring Renée Fleming (22 Sep 2008), Doctor Atomic (8 Nov 2008), Thaïs (20 Dec 2008), Lucia di Lammermoor (7 Feb 2009), Madama Butterfly (7 Mar 2009), La Cenerentola (9 May 2009), Tosca (10 Oct 2009), Aida (23 Oct 2008), Turandot (7 Nov 2009), Les Contes d'Hoffmann (19 Dec 2009), Carmen (16 Jan 2010), Armida (1 May 2010), Das Rheingold (9 Oct 2010), Don Pasquale (13 Nov 2010) and Don Carlo (11 Dec 2010).

Halvorson also directed Paul Simon's "You're The One" live concert in Paris, which aired on PBS and is available on DVD.

Filmography edit

Film edit

Year Title Notes
1984 The Quintessential Peggy Lee Direct-to-Video
1999 The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
2018 The King and I

Television edit

Year Title Notes
1976 Standing Room Only — "Vanities"
1980 Broadway on Showtime — "Little Johnny Jones"
1981 Jules Feiffer's Hold Me TV movie
1982 The Country Girl TV movie
1984 Hizzoner! TV movie
1985–93 Kids Incorporated Director (7 episodes)
1986 Solid Gold Director (13 episodes)
1987–2008 Great Performances Director (11 episodes)
1989 A Conversation with... — "Betty White"
1991 Riders in the Sky Director (11 episodes)
1991 On the Television Director (38 episodes)
1992 Roundhouse — "TV on Trial"
1992–94 Adventures in Wonderland Director (14 episodes)
1993 Xuxa Director (65 episodes)
1994 Herman's Head — "You Say Tomato"
1994 Growing Up Funny TV movie
1995 Muscle Director (13 episodes)
1995–96 Minor Adjustments Director (6 episodes)
1995–96 The Drew Carey Show Director (2 episodes)

— "Drew Gets Motivated" (1996)

— "Isomers Have Distinct Characteristics" (1995)

1996 The Wayans Bros. Director (2 episodes)

— "Goin' to the Net"

— "The Return of the Temptones"

1996–97 Roseanne Director (8 episodes)
1996–97 Muppets Tonight Director (11 episodes)
1996–98 Grace Under Fire Director (3 episodes)
1996–99 Sabrina the Teenage Witch Director (28 episodes)

Producer (13 episodes)

1997 Bouncers TV movie
1997 Teen Angel Director (3 episodes)
1997–2001 The Metropolitan Opera Presents Director (3 episodes)
1997–2004 Friends Director (55 episodes)
1997–2005 Everybody Loves Raymond Director (61 episodes)
1999 Whole World Comedy — "Pilot"
1999 Norm — "Norm vs. Norm"
1999–2000 Jesse Director (7 episodes)
2000 Don Giovanni TV movie
2001 Grounded for Life — "Lily B. Goode"
2001 Everything But the Girl TV movie
2001 The Back Page TV movie
2001 Bliss TV movie (Executive Producer)
2002 True West TV movie
2002 Faith Hill: When the Lights Go Down TV movie (also Producer)
2002 B.S. TV movie
2002–2004 What I Like About You Director (7 episodes)
2003 Regular Joe Director (unknown episodes)
2003 These Guys TV movie
2003–04 The Tracy Morgan Show Director (3 episodes)
2004 Eddie's Father TV movie
2004–05 Complete Savages Director (2 episodes)

— "The Complete Savages in... 'Hot Water' " (2005)

— "Nick Kicks Butt" (2004)

2004–06 Joey Director (9 episodes)
2004–07 Two and a Half Men Director (34 episodes)
2005 Committed Director (5 episodes)
2005 Kenny Chesney: Somewhere in the Sun TV special
2005 Lies and the Wives We Tell Them To TV movie
2005 Blue Skies TV movie
2006 Grand Union TV movie
2006 Lucky Louie — "Pilot"
2007 Rules of Engagement Director (4 episodes)
2007 'Til Death — "No More Mr. Vice Guy"
2007 Elmo's Christmas Countdown TV movie
2007 Making It Legal TV movie
2008 Do Not Disturb Director (2 episodes)

— "Dosing"

— "Birdcage"

2009 Canned TV movie
2009–2011 True Jackson, VP Director (16 episodes)

Producer (26 episodes)

2010 Telepathetic TV movie
2010–11 Better with You Director (11 episodes)
2012 How to Be a Gentleman Director (2 episodes)

— "How to Be Shallow"

— "How to Get Along with Your Boss's New Girlfriend"

2012 Duets Director (8 episodes)
2012 Yo Gabba Gabba! — "Gooble"
2012 Michael Buble: Home for the Holidays TV special
2012–13 Marvin Marvin Director (3 episodes)
2012–13 Work It Director (3 episodes)
2013 Mom Directors (2 episodes)

— "A Small Nervous Breakdown and a Misplaced Fork"

— "A Pee Stick and an Asian Raccoon"

2015 Your Family or Mine — "The Couch"
2015 The Dunes Club TV movie

Awards and nominations edit

He was awarded an Emmy[4] for "Outstanding Special Class Directing" for the 78th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, shown on NBC. In 1996, he was awarded a Daytime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Directing in a Children's Series" for Adventures in Wonderland. He has also been nominated for "Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series", for his work on Everybody Loves Raymond.

References edit

  1. ^ Roberts, Jerry (2009-06-05). Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-6378-1.
  2. ^ Greiving, Tim (2015-08-25). "Opera for the Masses Reps Cash Cow for the Met". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
  3. ^ Jacobson, Mitch (2012-09-10). Mastering Multi-Camera Techniques: From Pre-Production to Editing to Deliverable Masters. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-136-05790-8.
  4. ^ "Halvorson in 'Carnegie Hall' director seat". The Hollywood Reporter. 26 February 2008. Retrieved 2020-05-02.

External links edit