He soon found himself at the forefront of television entertainment, working on Norman Lear productions and learning the craft of television directing from renowned practitioners like John Rich, Paul Bogart, and Bob LaHendro. He went on to work on
Good Times,
Night Court, and
The Golden Girls as an associate director.
While alternating between stage managing and associate directing, Shimokawa began directing, beginning with shows like
Alice and
Welcome Back Kotter. He also worked on children’s television series such as
Sesame Street, Good Morning,
Miss Bliss,
Saved by The Bell,
ALF, and
Sister, Sister. He went on to direct episodes of
Night Court,
Golden Girls, and the
All in the Family spin off,
Archie Bunker’s Place. More recently, he directed episodes of
Coach,
Reba,
Titus, and
One on One.
In 1986 and 1987, for his work as an associate director on The Golden Girls, Shimokawa shared two Directors Guild Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in a Comedy Series and received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Directing in a Children's series for his work on Sesame Street.