you have to physically become the indian accent. like, i'm talking to you like this, but if i had to change, suddenly my body has changed. my hands, eyes, everything is different. >> we have to morph. and that's really what it's about. you know? tv is changing dramatically with 150 channels that might be available in the future. >> a lot of tngs y couldn't do on network televisi. >>eople a trying to do something adventurous. >> tv has a detrimental, damages, developmental effect on our young people. >> boo! >> now who was that? >> excellence is heart. it's rare. why there are few good shows and those that are good stand out. >> ooh that was cool!

♪ ♪ listen to it. oh! they know when it hits the bottom it would be 1990, good-bye to the '80s in -- >> all: ten, nine -- eight -- eight -- eight -- >> oh, well, this horrible year never end? >> when the '90s begin we're

seeing a lot of experimentation. >> five, four, three, two, one! >> and the "simpsons" in senses was inspired by not necessarily a hatred of television but a distrust of a lot of the ways in which television was talking to us. >> tv respects me. it laughs with me. not at me. >> you stupid! >> doe! >> i think the sitcoms of the '80s were such a sort of warm, safe humor. >> i love you guys. >> you see? the kids, they listen to the rap music which gives them the brain damage. >> and i think there was a real yearning for another type of humor. ♪ >> we were able to spoof fatherhood -- >> what a bad father. >> -- which at the time, and i stress "at the time," was bill cosby as the shining example.

♪ did you ever know that you're my hero ♪ >> the stuff they got away with because it's a cartoon. the father strangling the child. >> why, you little -- ah -- ah -- >> ah! >> we are going to keep on trying to strengthen the american family to make american families a lot more like the waltons and less like the simpsons. >> huh? >> we go to a completely bizarre period of time in 1992 when a sitting president is raging against a sitcom. >> ah! >> they have dealt with politics, popular culture and all kinds of issue of racism, sexism. >> don't ask me. i'm just a girl. ha, ha, ha, right on. say it, sister. >> it's not funny, bart. millions of girls will grow up thinking this is the right way to act. >> they have found a way to talk about everything that's going on

in our lives through the filter of "the simpsons." >> they immigrants. they want all the benefits of living in springfield but ain't even bothered to learn themselves the language. >> yeah. those are exactly my sentimonies. >> i think one of the governing things that's happening is a distrust of anyone who tells us that we should trust them and doesn't earn that trust. >> i'll take that statue of justice, too. >> sold. >> and when they make fun of how fox works -- >> you are watching fox. [ hypnotic voices ] >> we are watching fox. >> they are telling you don't trust us either. >> eat my shorts. >> all right. >> "the simpsons" is like shakespeare in the fact that we quote them all the time without knowing it. >> excellent. >> i wish i could create something that culturally indelible. it's unlike anything else tv has ever run.

>> "twin peaks" showed um out of nowhere at the beginning of the decade. the pilot episode of that was one of the strangest and most exciting things i have ever seen. >> i have another twin peaks county morgue with the body of another victim. what's the name? >> arnold palmer. >> it was incredible. justow slowly in the beginning the news spread around this little town that this young, beautiful girl had died and that haunting music was so dark and so beautiful. ♪ >> i've got -- come back in spy. >> what on earth is essentially

an art film doing in prime time television. >> american network television long been considered the land of the home, predictable and with trepidation that abc network launched that which was none of those things. it "twin peaks" was described that the series that will change tv. its directed by david lynch. >> david lynch was a filmmaker known for his taste in the eccentric and the memorable. >> the idea he would do network television in the '90s was crazy. >> do you watch much of it? >> well, i like -- i like the idea of television but i'm too busy to see very much of it. >> what do you think of that which you do see on television? >> well, some of it i really enjoy. >> are you being diplomatic? >> sort of. [ screaming ] >> the beautiful thing about

television is you have the chance to do a continuing story. and that's the main reason for doing it. >> i think that "twin peaks" with the initial attention it got allowed all the other networks to say, let's do something different. >> the day's coming and it ain't going to be long when you ain't even going to have to leave your living room. no more schools, bow dog georgias or sin plexes. snuggle up to your fiber optics baby and blimp out. >> trying to see how they'd do something different than five or ten years ago. sometimes that led to challenging network television cool to watch and sometimes it seemed to fall off the edge a little bit. ♪ let's be careful >> at the time steven bochco was a very successful producer of our dramas, and wanted to try

something brand new. >> this is police we have a warrant for your arrest. >> so his idea was to combine a gritty cop show with a broadway musical. >> i saw one in which a bunch of gang bangers were in jail. and they began to sing. ♪ life in the hood ain't no pie, anybody can die when the bullets fly ♪ >> i said, wait a minute. ♪ >> i thought, well, this is it. this is gawk to be great. this is going to be as innovative as anything i have ever done. ♪ he's guilty, judge, he's guilty, you could see it in his eyes ♪ he did the crime and now he's got to pay ♪ >> ah! it just -- it circled the drain. >> i'm creatively proud of it --

still. you know? i'm very glad we tried it. i don't think i'd want to do it again. ♪ mom. ♪

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you get to do the dishes.ed... bring 'em on. dawn ultra has 3 times more grease-cleaning power. a drop of dawn and grease is gone. the foughting movie is rated r. >> in 1990-91 there was not a whole lot of original programming for cable, but they were airing movies. so we needed to compete, and i

felt that if we didn't, we were going to, you know, kind of get swept out. >> ah, you son of a -- >> so i came up with the notion of doing a cops show that was r-rated. when abc's broadcast standards read other script they went berserk. ♪ oh-oh >> i was sitting with a pad and pencil drawing pictures of breasts to try to show them what we would show and what we wouldn't show. grown-ups sitting in a room, you know, doodling. >> then we started on the language. >> we heard some reporter call the low-life asshole pimp with the brains of a moth. >> and a boycott. >> channel 7, shame on you! >> such an immediate hit, that boycott lasted, oh, four weeks. >> light 'em up. >> they could use the nudity and curse words to go deeper into

the actual emotional burden of being a cop. >> i'm an asshole. >> i'm a -- an asshole. >> and this character andy sipowicz, a raging alcoholic, racist, sexist, violent. >> hey! >> created the tv anti-hero. >> i no george washington carver discovered the peanut, were ut can you pde namesnd addresses of these friends? >> you know, you are a race it scumbag. >> despite his flaws, despite his prejudices i think people identified with this pain. >> i wish there was a way to say this that wouldn't hurt you. >> there's a famous early episode where they're investigating the rape and murder of a young boy. and they find a homeless child molester who murdered the kid, and sipowicz to get the confession has to be very sensitive and good cop. >> i know this has to be tearing you up inside. but you're going to feel a lot

better if you just tell the truth. >> you can sort of see on dennis if frans' face this is killing him to not destroy this guy right now. finally he gets a convention, a signed statement. walks out of the room. goes into another interrogation room and breaks the door in two with his fist. >> ah! -- ah! >> and i'm choking up talking about it right now, because like that's how great a moment of tv that it is. >> 20 years from now the best tv dramas. what do they look like? >> i don't know. i don't know whether -- >> bolder than what we see today. >> assuredly, they will be. >> the '90s gave us several shows that didn't really explode in ratings but were very influential to other people making television. homicide is one of them. ♪ tell me with questions a night i'm living in a danger zone ♪ >> homicide life on the seet was really innovative in terms of its style. it used music in ways that

advanced the narrative. and it also used future film directors that brought a look and style to the show that really stood out on television. >> tears coming out of your eyes. >> ain't no tears coming from my eyes. >> his eyes are brimming with tears. >> they had so many african-american members in the cast on several occasions they were the only people on-camera interacting with one another and that sounds like, so? but at late at the '90s, that wasn't done on television. >> when a cop shoots somebody he stands by it. picks up the radio mike and calls it in. he stands by the body. if not, cops are no better than anybody else! >> in the '90s, television was getting more complicated, stories were starting to become more episodic, characters starting to develop and change. none of that happened on "lew & order." >> this was show that completely delivered on its fop la every time. you get a crime. >> let's roll. >> you got the investigation into the crime.

>> you better be packing more than a dirty mouth. >> you got an arrest. >> what's the charge? >> hey, i'm asking you a question. what's the charge? >> there's no charge. this one's on us. >> then a trial. >> he's badgering you, your honor. >> overruled and you will dress the court from now on, in mccoy. >> every time you watched you got what you came for. >> tell me, doctor, all those women you ran through your examination rooms. do remember their faces or did you not even bother to look up? >> you had in "law & order" the kinds of characters that people take to heart. >> why don't you take me to lunch. one-time offer. >> and if you're an actor and you say, well, gee, you know, maybe -- maybe it's not really such a bad medium after all. >> miranda, the supreme court's decision, the whole thing legally obtained both represented by counsel. >> you get hooked in. life and death stuff.

>> we know what you did. you hear me, ryan. look at me! do you hear me? >> "law & order" was like crack. [ screaming ] >> you have to sit and watch me 50 minutes. just like -- not moving. barely breathing. there are times i've almost passed out watching "law & order." he got to get over. i need your help! >> tit was originally written a movie for steven spielberg to direct. we had a two-hour piece which kwa a reflection of michael's experiences as a medical student. >> you need a large case in case they're bleeding and need to infuse them. >> do you know how to start an. >> i v., well, actually, no. >> red, critical and black. >> got it. >> got it, right. >> and people are shouting

instructions climbing up on to the body, doing cpr, either racing off to the surgical suite. >> wanders in, tossing around medical jargon and don't stop to explain what it is. prep for a -- i think i know what that is now but only because i watched a lot of "e.r." over the years. >> you can try, but i don't think his heart would take it. >> bypass him. >> blood directly. >> the fattest way. what do you think? >> you're the attending. >> so much information was coming at you i think it made the experience feel as if you would watch it as if you watched a film. had to stay involved in it all time. >> come on, ben. you can make it. hold on, buddy. hold on! >> there was a lot of research that said that people didn't want to watch anybody have anything other than a happy outcome. >> it's not flat lined. it's a fib. another seven makes epi. >> we argued that wasn't really showing what the world was for physicians.

>> ah -- ah -- ah -- ah -- ah --ah -- ah -- ah. >> i had unbelievable amount of respect for the people who did this. because i understood how human they were. [ flat line ] i'm micah with safelite. customer: thanks for coming, it's right over here. tech: giving you a few more minutes for what matters most. take care. kids singing: safelite® repair, safelite® replace. present. you're always itthinking about it.s always what if my cancer comes back? i've been working on this therapy for 5 years now and we've getting ready to go to the clinic. my son definitely keeps me fighting. i want to the there for him when he needs me. that's what motivates me. i want to see patients have gray hair.

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we are building new airports all across the state. new roads and bridges. new mass transit. new business friendly environment. new lower taxes. and new university partnerships to grow the businesses of tomorrow today. learn more at esd.ny.gov the "90s" represent so much progress. >> rodney king. >> struck us all with great disgust. >> people poured into the it ex explode. >> the march gave me a sense of hope. >> we redefined the culture of america. you know what's awesome?

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can you sing the theme song from "cheers." >> how does it start? ♪ making your way in the world today ♪ >> go ahead, go ahead. >> it's so corny. just sing it ♪ takes everything you got ♪ taking a break from all your worries sure can help a lot ♪ wouldn't you like to get away, sometimes you want to go -- ♪ where everybody knows your name ♪ >> we decided to end "cheers" in the 11th year and over 93 million people watched the finale of "cheers" but it's a sad experience for everybody. this was our baby for 11 years, and we're not going to be around these people every day. >> you people are as dear to me as my own family. >> we had been serving fake suds forever. it was time for everybody to sip. in fact, i was sipping along with them. >> time goes by.

so fast. people move in and out of your life. you must never miss an opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you. >> we had been through so much together. you spend time with the same set of people it does become your family. >> feel pretty lucky to have the friends i do. >> i think the legacy of "cheers" is our need to belong, and i think that's what we as americans are longing for. >> thank you, guys. >> the final scene of "cheers" was really what was sam's real first love? >> you can never be unfaithful to your one true love. >> i'm the luckiest son of a bitch ob earth. and his real first love was the bar.knocking ] >> sorry. we're closed. >> how big a loss is this for nbc, anyway?

>> well, katie, i'm still here and i'm waiting for the cast members to come back. so i'd say it's a pretty big loss. >> out of the sad, sad sorrow and being scared to death that i would very quickly lose my job, i was like, what are we going to do? >> tv is changing dramatically with the 150 channels that might be available in the near future. >> there are more choices than ever beforened a it's a tough job. you have to try and get a sense of what is the audience going to really make an attachment to. >> in the '90s, cable was coming on strong. so we had to examine who are we going to be? well, we wanted to be -- smart, sophisticated comedy. >> six months ago i was living in boston. my wife had left me, which was very painful. then she came back to me, which was excruciating. >> i thought "fraser" was dead

with "cheers." [ laughter ] but we built an audience and great potential for building out the character to another place. ♪ oh -- ah -- la, la, la, la, ah ♪ >> "fraser" was find of like one-act plays. [ organ music ] >> mother and i moved here when i was a small boy after the -- tragic death of my father. i kept the pain of that loss buried deep within me like a serpened coiled within a damp cave. okay. that's it. >> we always assumed the audience was smarter than most other people did and played to that. >> just unschooled like liza doolittle. >> find the right henry higgins she'll be ready torefor a ball o tame. >> leave it to you to put the pig bag in pig milian. >> played like noever seen and

got huge laugh. >> what taking so long. >> i am analyzing my options unlike your winged approach i like to plan a strategy. like a general leading this troops into battle. [ laughter ] >> checkmate, schwarzkopf. >> i think "fraser" probably stands as the single most successful spin-off. >> the emmy goes to -- >> "fraser." >> "fraser." >> "fraser". >> at the height of must-see tv thursday nights on nbc, 75 million americans watched thursday night. that was at the time one-third of the country. >> ooh. what is this stuff? >> this sweater? it's angora. >> well, it's wonderful. >> the machine that was nbc in the '90s for comedy was untouchable. >> you're not from around here. are you? >> it generated so much

viewership and money and awards. >> you do not need this. >> this is the top of our wedding cake. >> it's -- it's not a scrapbook. it's a freezer. >> no many xl. >> we certainly associate nbc with the '90s having extremely successful sitcoms but they weren't the only network to find their way to having some success. "tgif" a block of family-oriented comedy. >> i can't take it. a i need the cake t. was not sophisticated television but these were shows that people adored. [ laughter ] >> cbs -- >> cbs was in a really bad spot. just fallen apart over the early part of the '90s, gone through a couple different network executives. >> pow!

[ laughter ] >> but then suddenly they had this hit with an unknown comic. this was the year of "seinfeld," no hugging, no learning, and this was show made as if it was produced in the era of the "dick van dyk" show. >> i love you. >> there was hugging. there was learning. >> i love you, son. >> all right, all right. >> if you work for me, your job was to go home, get in a fight with your wife and come back in and tell me about it. >> don't sleep on the couch! [ laughter ] i just cleaned down there. >> in fact, the pilot, i put in this true thing that happened to me, wherein i sent my parts a gift for the holidays of the fruit of the month club. >> did y know you sent plme a box of appeapears from a place d fruit of the month? >> that's right. how are they? >> my romother reacted as if i' sent her a box of heads from a murderer. >> oh, my gosh. >> why did you send this to me?

i can't talk. there's too much fruit in the house. >> what is happening? >> what do you think we are? invalids? we can't go out and get our own fruit? >> i tried to tell him. >> all right! i'm cancelling the fruit club. >> the real story is where the real connection with your audience is. thank god all your families are crazy, too! >> looks like you got the whole family together. >> yeah, yeah. it's dysfunction pa loose sa. palooza. ot always easy. it's a long-distance run. and you have the determination to keep going. humira has a proven track record of being prescribed for nearly 10 years. humira works inside the body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults taking humira were clear or almost clear and many saw 75% and even 90% clearance in just four months. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal, infections and cancers, including lymphoma have happened

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a new era-of-technology and competition is forcing network heads to resalmon how they do business. >> new networks, ge buying nbc, capital cities abc and loews tisch brothers buying cbs and all want their money's worth. >> we'll now have the strongest network. we'll have a stronger defense piece. this is going to be one dynamite company. >> there's a danger that news will be mixed up with the rest of television and considered just another profit center. >> late 1920s, to early 1980s, the sense was we'll give some of the broadcasting time to public service. 1990s journalism in the country changed a great deal. you couldn't talk about public service. it was, what are the ratings

going to be? what are the demographics going to be? what is the profit going to be? well -- sensationalism sells. >> in a plea bargain 18-year-old amy fisher got up to 15 years in prison for shooting the wife of her alleged lover. >> so intense is the interest in this case there are three -- three, made-for-tv movies now in the works about it. >> you make money off sex. you make money off death, off crime. >> the press calls the case the beverly hills mansion murders and the story reads like one of the unsold scripts that circulate here in hollywood. >> we enter into the world of the television news soap opera. >> a story of basic instincts. anger and fear. >> i was scared, and i just wanted him to leave me alone. >> and so broadcast journalism loses its purity and it becomes much more shoddy, sensationalistic, and it all comes together with o.j. simpson. ♪

>> i'm larry carroll in los angeles. the los angeles county district attorney has just filed murder charges against orenthal james simpson, o.j. simpson. >> i have to interrupt this call. we're going to a live picture in los angeles. police believe that, that o.j. simpson is in that car. >> the o.j. simpson story starts with the chase and then goes on to his arrest and then culminates with a trial which goes on and on and on, and is televised day after day after day. >> this is going to be a long trial. there's a lot of evidence to come in. >> the o.j. simpson case was such a national phenomenon that those of us who were covering it just lived this case 24 hours a day, because there was so much demand for people talking about it. >> as simpson struggled to slide the gloves on to his hands and turn to jurors saying, they're too small, prosecutors were incensed. >> the trial was on television during the hours that had

traditionally been the time for soap operas. >> he appears to have pulled the gloves off, counsel. >> and o.j. was very much a soap opera. >> he's impeached by his own witness. >> i asked that you put a stop to it. >> excuse me, mr. bailey. stand up and speak when it's your turn. >> no question that the best tv show of the '90s was the o.j. simpson trial and everybody on it was riveting. >> nbc news in-depth tonight pt the simpson trial finally winding to a close. >> we, the jury, in the above entitled action find the defendant orenthal james simpson not guilty of the crime of murder in violation of penal code 187a. >> the verdict of the o.j. simpson trial viewed by 150 million people. it's more people than watch presidential election returns. >> that's crazy. >> because there was trial footage every day, cnn saw its audience increase like five times.

the success of cnn was not lost on other people. and so there were competing forces coming in to play. >> how delighted we've reached this moment when we can firmly announce the starting of a fox news channel. >> unfortunately, with cable news and the ability or the need to be on the air 24/7, where you're trying to get as many eye balls as possible at one time to gravitate towards those stories that are sensational, you know it brought us the ability to go too far. >> is the jonbenet ramsey murder investigation turning into a media circus? >> yes, it's tabloid. on the other hand it's a tabloid era. where the fear comes into it, i think, larry. it's the fear that says, gosh, if we don't cover it big time our competition is. when they cover it big time, a big jump in ratings. if year going to survive, last,

we got to do it. >> you also see is a whole army of commentators, people who make their business talking about the news. >> what i say is what we should do, is we should bomb his capability of producing oil. take out his refineries, his stations, his wells. >> they don't have any capability of producing oil. >> they're certainly selling a lot of oil -- >> networks were doing good journalist but became much or centralized on profits. much easier to somebody pontificating than somebody out in the field reporting. >> i don't know if any is true but i heard the father went down, opened this basement room which the fbi bypassed. >> every single sentence on cnn perhaps on cnbc, on fox, on msnbc begins with the words, i think. but after a while, people get confused by what is speculation, by what is innuendo, by what is fact.

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easy to use chase technology, for whatever you're trying to master. isaac, are you ready? yeah. chase. so you can. in the mid-1990 its if you took a look add the list of the 50 most watched shows on cable top would be nickelodeon. "rug rats." "blues clues." >> don't you know cartoons will

ruin your mind? >> "ren and stimpy" had surreal high-concept humor to it. this is the beginning of the splintering of the television audience and the splintering of the family audience, really. i mean, because -- sno ♪ happy, happy joy, joy kids watching nickelodeon, dad watching sports. mom's watches lifetime, all in their own separate universes watching television. >> by the time of the '90s mtv wasn't merely a music channel. they were having great success incorporating music but also were shows and programs that stood on their own. yes! [ laughter ] >> that was cool. >> certainly "beavis and butt-head" established what mtv uld be. the show was about people making fu of music videos just like people in the audience were doing.

>> what? check out his neck. >> yeah. ha, ha, like all of these bones and stitches that are moving around. >> yes! >> my manager would call me, like, hey. you got this big bump because you were on "beavis and butt-head" last night. >> i sit there like a doughnut watching these guys. >> that's what it for. >> i find them endlessly entertaining because i know and you know and the world knows these guys are always, will be and cannot be anything but idio idiots. >> that's right. ♪ia,ia,ia da, da, da, da ♪ >> mtv has a detrimental, damages developmental effect on the sexuality, morality, spirituality on the -- maybe even the physical development of our young people. >> ooh, ooh! ah -- ah -- >> now we hit the '90s and once you can go for an audience of 5 million and have a successful show, you can say, i don't care if the parents don't like this.

>> can i tell you something, miss ellen? >> of course, wendy. >> don't [ bleep ] with me. >> what? >> you heard me. stay away from my man, bitch, or i'll whip your -- back to last year! >> and greg parker, matt stone two of the funniest people i ever met and their success story is prove if you stay true to yourself, you don't have to do anything else. >> people think, oh, youame and did this show and now you're big sellouts. the tth is, we were sellouts to begin with. >> perhaps there is no stopping the corporate machine. >> ah. >> we were sleeping at friends' houses, had no money and one fox executive had seen a cartoon we made in college and said, make me another christmas video i can send out as a chris mitt card a miss card, gave like $700 and make a short seeking --

>> i've come seeking retribution. >> he's come to kill you because you're jewish, kyle. >> ah? >> it went around the tv community like wildfire. >> i mean, it was the funniest thing you'd ever seen in your life. >> go, santa! >> somebody showed me the short. >> go jesus! >> i thought it was hysterical. so i called and said, get them in here right away. >> what -- >> oh, my god. they killed kenny! >> you bastards! >> "south park" was able to be topical. >> "south park" really, really detests hypocrites. >> christians and republicans and nazis. oh my! >> well, okay, mrs. kartman, i'll legalize 40th trimester abortions for you. >> ho, ho, ho, ho, ho. [ laughter ] >> could you imagine back then that these people would ever get on network television? or any kind of television? >> ah! >> ah. >> it's a miracle.

"south park" is a miracle. [ cheers and applause ] >> t earl '90s the hbo shows start to come into their own. >> now, then, have i always had these breasts? [ laughter ] >> a lot of people want freedom, they don't want to go back to the networks, which are saying you can come to us when you'll make more money, but you'll also have content restricted. you can go to cable and have no restrictions. not make as much money but have freedom of expression. almost everybody who works in this medium that's what they want. a lot of this truly you can't get anywhere else. >> the kind of fantasies is people's imagination. >> hbo turned to people who said, i can't do that on television, but you can do it on hbo. >> white people don't trust black people.

[ laughter ] that's why they won't vote for no black president. like a black brother will [ bleep ] up the white house. like the grass won't be cut. [ laughter ] dishes. ied up. cousins running through the white house, basketball going on out in the back. >> and the late '80s, hbo was just gaining ground for series. >> by the '90s, hbo had started to begin its explosion. >> when we started doing dream on, one of the things that hbo said to us was -- it's got to be something that couldn't be on network tv. ♪ oi that was shocking for us, even as writers. we were like, oh, my god, we can do are that on tv.

>> tell me what you want. >> call 9 11! prs where are mom and dad? 'saved money on motorcycle insurance with geico! goin' up the country. love mom and dad' i'm takin' a nap. dude, you just woke up! ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ ♪ i'm goin' up the country, baby don't you wanna go? ♪ it's a good thing we brought the tablets huh?

yeah, and i can watch the game with directv now. oh, sorry, most broadcast and sports channels aren't included. and you can only stream on two devices at once. this is fun, we're having fun. yeah, we are. no, you're not jimmy. don't let directv now limit your entertainment. xfinity gives you more to stream to more screens. >> you have watched letterman, you've watched leno, but what about larry? larry sanders, that is. he's the tv alter ego of comedian garry shandling.

>> garry shandling wanted to do a show that deconstructed the kind of show "the tonight show" was. >> pretend like you're talking to me. we're off the air. >> okay. blah, blah, blah, blah. >> the larry sanders show was kind of cathartic because in the world of the show there was a network. >> you want me to [ bleep ] your budget? that what you want me to do? >> it became this fun house mirror thing where you could use stuff from your misery, your career as fodder. >> don't take this as a threat but i killed a man like you in korea, hand-to-hand. my boy doesn't want to do any more commercials. >> larry sanders to me was, aside from being a brilliant television show. >> can you say, hey now. >> h now. >> it was my everyday life. >> i'm here for three good reasons. last show. big ratings. movie coming out. bim, bam, boom.

>> "the larry sanders show" was very unique in that it was very deadpan. and really groundbreaking in its day. >> i think it made people really go, that's the level of work you may be able to do on a cable network. >> "oz" comes on in '97. it's set in this penitentiary. wow, what a strange show that was. >> in "oz" sometimes the thing you can't up the are more than the thing us can. hatred, loneliness are more real to me than a shank and a soul. >> it was jaw-dropingly violent. it was a men's prison. it probably should be. but you know, it kind of announces the idea that hbo is going to get serious about doing scripted dramas.

>> it's finished. it's over. >> but hbo really in my mind comes to its own in 1999 with "the sopranos." ♪ ♪ woke up this morning ♪ got yourself a gun >> "sopranos" was one of the shows that was like a benchmark. it changed a lot of things for everybody. >> throw out the handbook. tony soprano, the lead actor in a drama, he killed a man. we watched him. he took his daughter on a college tour. >> pretty, huh? >> yeah. >> it was just a melding of a guy and a world -- >> [ bleep ] you doing? >> and a behavior that promoted all the feelings that you would have for a guy that you love in a guy that you hate. you know?

>> "sopranos" came on tv and it really showed us the future whether we realized that was going to be the future of television or not. >> this husband of yours, carmella, how much we love him. he's the best. >> like a father to me. >> just make sure nothing happens to him. >> that character in that show was a great inspiration to a great many shows that came after it including one that i worked on. >> you know what i want, tony? i want those kids to have a father. >> they got one, this one, me. tony soprano. and all that comes with it. >> oh, you prick. >> some of my favorite shows of all time aired in that decade and everybody was watching them. there was still that communal sense from the earlier decades of tv but it was being applied to shows that were reaching higher a fther, and they were great. >> because there was so many channels and because so much

storytelling was going on, you started to get more variety of stories being told. >> get the skull film, schedule a c.a.t. scan and schedule the resident. >> objection! >> it showed us women in their depth and began to show us much more of a range of the african-american community. >> some of my favorite shows of all time aired in that decade and everybody was watching them. there was still that communal sense from the early decades, but it was being applied to shows that reaching higher and farther and they were great. >> i think if parents would spend less time of what they were watching on tv and what's going on, this world would be a a much better place. >> they were relying on it as a sole educator of their kids.

>> totally, dude. good point, man. >> quick, jump through the window.