While lacking the name recognition of fellow sitcom auteurs like Norman Lear, Garry Marshall and James L Brooks, Jay Tarses must be counted among the major voices to emerge in the genre over the last two decades. As a writer-producer, he has worked on some of the most acclaimed sitcoms in recent memory. As few of them lasted more than a season or two, however, a typical Tarses comedy was more likely to be a critical darling or cult favorite rather than a ratings powerhouse. His most characteristic sitcoms, including "Buffalo Bill" (NBC, 1983-84) and "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd" (NBC,