I've done 10 or 11 pilots for network television, which is ridiculous.
When you're doing 22 shows on network television, the writers are going on vapors towards the end and, as an actor, you're just trashed by the end.
You can't say whatever you want on network television.
If you want to do a talk show on network television, you're probably going to wind up having a desk and a band, wearing a suit, and having a sidekick. Audiences want to feel comfortable.
Everybody asks me what it was like to be in my underwear for my network television debut.
It's ironic, really, because I've spent the bulk of my career making my living in a very commercial realm: network television. And yet, my sensibilities don't necessarily line up with how I pay my rent.
The fact 'Twin Peaks' had a life at all took most of us in the cast by surprise. We thought it would be too unusual for network television. The original intention was that it would be a two-hour movie. If the network didn't want to pick it up as a series, it could just show that. But ABC took a chance.
Most of the time people are aiming so low on television. They're trying to reach that common denominator, especially on network television.
It's really hard to scare people on network television. You've got to be smart about it. You've got to parcel out the scares.
When you listen to Christian radio stations - and there are thousands of them now in the United States - and when you listen to Christian television networks - and there are thousands of Christian television shows across the country - they are all politically right.
TV networks are dying. The death throes of religion give us jihads. The death throes of television give us reality shows.
If I'm going to turn on the television, it's going to be the Fox News channel.
There is no news media. There's simply a bunch of people on television and in newspapers who are ranking members of the Democrat Party.
When I was a newspaper reporter, and later a television writer, I really felt my co-workers became a second family.
Television is not the exclusive target of promoters. Is Superman really worthy of a Newsweek cover?
Ninety-nine percent of television shows, I've never seen.
Nashville was totally different than I ever dreamed. I had only seen the music business on television and been to a couple of concerts. I had no clue.
There's no difference between movies and television. None at all. Except in a lot of cases, television's much better than movies.
Web searching and cellphone use both flourish in the wee hours. Before the dawn of the web, I would stay up watching television. But there is something soporific about television: I would often nod off. Not so when I'm online. As technologies expand, these problems may only worsen.
I think 'Greenleaf' has taken television up a notch all the way across the boards - from wardrobe and everything.
