Robert Berlinger puts the actors and the script first, adapting to comedy and drama without disturbing a programme’s established style. We value that restraint, but it leaves little to identify as his alone.
Fi1m perspective
In Arrested Development (2003), the Bluths reward close attention to the performances. In The West Wing (1999), the cast makes another earnest speech worth hearing. Robert Berlinger directed episodes of both, and his willingness to work within an established style makes sense of that pairing. We value a director who gives the writing and the actors room without insisting on being noticed. His own contribution is harder to pick out.
His television career took shape with Anything But Love (1989), for which he was the primary director across all four seasons. He then directed the first 38 episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun (1996). Those are sustained commitments to comic ensembles, not just a succession of guest credits. They fit his emphasis on working closely with actors and delivering the writer’s intentions. By the time his credits included The West Wing and Arrested Development, he was applying those priorities beyond the broad sitcom.
We were won over by The West Wing because the cast gives its earnest speeches warmth. Aaron Sorkin’s series asks its actors to make public service absorbing and funny, and it largely succeeds. Berlinger’s emphasis on realising the writer’s vision is well suited to that work, where dialogue carries much of the pleasure. The speeches can still congratulate themselves, however, and directing in service of the script does not make the script beyond criticism.
Arrested Development earns our recommendation for its sharply funny family comedy, although the storytelling grows tiring in later stretches. Berlinger directed three episodes, so we would not assign him sole credit for the Bluths’ success. His adaptability is useful, though it gives us little sense of a distinct visual personality. For a director of ensemble television, that is no reason to dismiss the work. Start with the Bluths, provided a comedy that asks for close attention sounds like a good evening.
Biography
Robert Berlinger is an American television director and producer. Born in New York City, he studied theatre at Dartmouth College and received an MFA from the University of California, San Diego. He began his career directing stage productions in the 1980s before making his television debut in the early 1990s.
Berlinger directed episodes of numerous series, including multiple episodes of 3rd Rock from the Sun, The West Wing (1999), Arrested Development (2003), Gilmore Girls, Weeds, Two and a Half Men and Grey's Anatomy. He served as primary director for all four seasons of Anything But Love and directed 13 episodes of Cafe Americain.
