Gary Shimokawa

Right from his start on the classic classroom sitcom "Welcome Back, Kotter" and the culturally groundbreaking "All in the Family" (on which he served as an assistant), Gary Shimokawa established himself as a television director who thrives on working-class themes. His role in the "Family" universe expanded when he became the chief director of the 1979-1983 spin-off series "Archie Bunker's Place," priming him for decades of helming such other middle-society sitcoms as the movie-based "Nine to Five," the law-oriented lampoon "Night Court," and the homespun family comedies "Reba" and "Titus." Shimokawa has made several notable youth-oriented departures from his usual milieu, first in the late '80s with teen classic "Saved by the Bell" and again in the mid-'90s with "Bell"'s spiritual successor, "USA High." In the 2000s, he became a fairly prominent fixture on such UPN sitcoms as "Cuts," "Eve," and "One on One." He has also helmed episodes of the good-natured marriage farce "Still Standing" and the secretarial comedy-of-manners "Less Than Perfect."