♪ ♪ this is the week when the major broadcast networks unveil their fall lineup of shows. and every executive in hollywood knows how well "the sopranos" is doing on cable, which is a network problem. >> i think hbo altered everything for this reason alone, is there were no commercials. >> we are dependent on sponsors. there's so much we can do in terms of language, in terms of violence, in terms of sex. >> to a large degree, a lot of executives were just sanding off

the edges of what was interesting. >> i think hbo is looking at the world and going, okay, how can we matter? for quite a long time, movies and boxing were the bread and butter of hbo. >> people watch a show because you're partly a [ bleep ]. >> i think what we've learned through shows like "the larry sanders show" or "oz" is that we could do serious television. >> there's something in the air. and it ain't love. >> "oz" was cutting edge in what it was willing to share with the audience. >> hit me. hit me. hit me in the face, brother. >> complicated characters, complicated issues. and the way it was presented was so, uh, unique. >> sentence, nine years. up for parole in six. >> what they were doing at hbo was exactly what the network wasn't doing.

they were breaking barriers. you get to "the sopranos" and all of a sudden, the villain is the hero. >> have some eggplant. >> i told you. i'm not hungry. >> now you won't even accept food from your own mother. >> "the sopranos" was david chase's invention about this mob family, something that people hadn't seen before. the idea that a mobster is seeing a therapist. >> whatever happened to gary cooper? the strong, silent type. that was an american. he wasn't in touch with his feelings. he just did what he had to do. what they didn't know is once they got gary cooper in touch with his feelings, that they wouldn't be able to shut him up. and then it's dysfunction this, dysfunction that. >> you have strong feelings about this. >> every decade, you get somebody like peter faulk as columbo or carroll o'connor as archie bunker. somebody you just can't imagine anybody else afterwards.

james gandolfini is that as tony soprano. >> i think it's supposed to be a mafia story. >> it's also about everyday life. >> did you know that an italian invented the telephone? >> alexander graham bell is italian? >> see what i'm talking about. antonio finucci invented the telephone and he got robbed. everybody knows that. >> who invented the mafia? >> what? >> "the sopranos" took the mystery out of being a mobster. ♪ i'm a fool to do your dirty work ♪ >> it was somehow more mundane than we guessed it would be and yet every bit as riveting as "the godfather." >> you were like a brother to me. >> the debate raged at hbo about whether you could have a guy like this as your lead. and david chase was adamant that you have to, this is who he is, and he was right. >> can you assure me that tony soprano isn't going to become a

sensitive, nurturing, mellowing man? >> yes. >> oh, good. >> oh, my god. >> it's all right. i'll be home in a couple of hours. don't worry. >> i'm graduating tomorrow. >> carmela was a wife and a mother, i think first and foremost. i think as long as she kept going to church, she thought i'm taking care of my soul. >> where is the rest of the money? >> it's everywhere. >> she goes home to her husband who has blood on him. there's no way to reconcile the two things. >> towards the end, when their marriage is falling apart -- >> i used to [ bleep ] your husband. >> you have made a fool of me for years with these whores. >> her performance in that fight is stunningly good. >> because she's jealous. let go of me! >> it mattered to people what this couple was going through. and i remember feeling a real

sense of responsibility about that and giving the weight to the scene that it deserves. >> what? >> you know what i don't understand, tony? what does she have that i don't have? >> suddenly here is this tv show that everyone is talking about, but you have to pay to watch it. you know, that's how good "the sopranos" was. people were paying just to see that show. >> "the sopranos" came along and completely re-established what the bar was. i honestly couldn't quite believe it, that television was communicating something that you might only see in the darkest moments and accurate moments in cinema. >> you look at the year that "american beauty" won the oscar, which is also the year that "the sopranos" debuted. almost immediately after that,

the two mediums diverged. >> i know what i must do. i'm afraid to do it. >> movies became much more focused on big tentpole things that could bring in as much of an audience as you possibly can. meanwhile, tv, which had always been a big tent medium, started going smaller and more interior and saying, all right, we want to tell stories for grownups that maybe don't get the biggest audience but get a really passionate one. ♪ i'll be home for christmas >> i had an idea of doing a show about death. >> are you smoking? >> no. >> yes, you are. i heard you. >> i'm not. no, i'm not. >> look, forget you'll give yourself cancer and die a slow and horrible death. you should not be stinking up that new hearse. >> i met with carolyn and she said, i'd like to do a show about a family that runs a funeral home, and something in my head just went click. i thought, what a brilliant idea.

>> i'm quitting right now. i promise, okay? i'll see you tonight. ♪ i'll be home for christmas >> alan ball comes up with a show with a perfect structure. each episode starts with the death of a character and then that character's death is dealt with in a local family funeral home mortuary. >> excuse me. >> this was one of my first -- maybe it was my first binge show, which was long enough ago that it was all on somebody had recorded it on vcr. >> have you been watching mrs. romano? >> yeah, i'm watching her all night. are you thinking what i'm

thinking? >> casket climber. >> i want to go with you! >> mrs. romano! whoa, whoa. >> it was a whole new level of something going on on television. it was grittier than most shows you had seen before, and yet something magical about it. >> i think what our strategy at hbo was in terms of audiences, not everybody has to watch a show. but if we have different shows for different people, there is something that makes you want to come back and sign up month after month. maybe you don't watch "sex and the city" but you watch "entourage." >> "entourage" was originally based on mark wahlberg's life. and the appeal of the show is not so much about show business. it was these four guys who were lifelong friends who could [ bleep ] with each other and say horrible things to each other but be tight and be good friends. >> they want to throw 4 million at you. >> you're kidding. >> are you smiling?

>> yeah, yeah, i'm smiling. >> can you hear me smiling? you got my balls tingling, man. >> ari gold became the breakout character, willing to be ruthless, yet also a family man with a line in the sand and you don't really know where that line in the sand is, which makes him a morally much more interesting character. >> i read an article in "the times." "the new york times," not like the [ bleep ] they have out here. >> you read "the times"? >> no. >> you read "the new republic." >> i've heard it. >> i was reading that. it's interesting because it says you don't know what the [ bleep ] you're talking about. s that trap 99% of allergens, so they don't escape back into the air. if it's not from irobot, it's not a roomba™ motor?

nope. not motor? it's pronounced "motaur." for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. skip to the good part with walka-seltzer plus.de, now with 25% more concentrated power. nothing works faster for powerful cold relief. oh, what a relief it is! so fast! in connemara. right! connemara it is! there's one gift the whole family can share this holiday season, their story. give the gift of discovery, with an ancestrydna kit.

give the gift of discovery, most people think of verizon as a reliable phone company. (woman) but to businesses, we're a reliable partner. we keep companies ready for what's next. (man) we weave security into their business. virtualize their operations. (woman) and build ai customer experiences. we also keep them ready for the next big opportunity. like 5g. almost all the fortune 500 partner with us. (woman) when it comes to digital transformation...

verizon keeps business ready. ♪

who could have possibly guessed? a show about a bunch of backstabbing people with body odor on an island off borneo would become the tv hit of the summer. >> "survivor" was really the first truly competitive reality format. >> go! >> i started to really understand what the show was going to be about the first 20 minutes into day one. >> we'll see what we've got. >> there might be a blowtorch in there. >> we need a bathroom. >> are you guys all done talking? >> richard hatch was sitting in a tree, lecturing about what they should do as their group. >> nobody is working toward a particular goal. not the silly little stuff about who is going to sleep where. what are we going to do but why are we here.

>> underneath him was this woman, sue hawk, a truck driver. >> i'm a red neck. corp. rot rules ain't going to work out here in the bush. >> that was the show. >> he walked around naked quite a bit. i think it probably bugged some of the guys. >> whatever it takes to win here is the point. it's a game. call it machiavellian, sure. >> we had no idea that richard hatch would be the best thing to ever happen to "survivor." >> all around the country, people were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the final vote to be announced. >> the winner of the first survivor competition is -- >> "survivor" sort of legitimized the genre. simon fuller came into my office. his vision was one long audition. ♪ like a virgin touched for the very first time ♪

>> i've never, ever heard anything like that in my life. ♪ she bangs she bangs >> thank you, thank you. [ unintelligible singing ] >> what was that? that is what you think we're looking for? >> the network was saying, we don't think we can put simon on the promos. >> no, no, no, no, no, no, no. >> he'll scare little girl, and we think that's our audience. >> one of worst auditions i ever heard in my life. >> we're like, well, that's the whole show. without him, it's not going to work. it was a big fight internally. of course we got him on and of course that's what made the show. >> well, here they are. the judges have made their choices. now, america, it's all up to you. >> "american idol" reunited the family audience in front of the tv. ♪ r-e-s-p-ec-t ♪ find out what it means to me >> 9-year-olds to 90-year-olds could root for somebody on "american idol."

it's not like it hadn't been done before. but the way the producers could manipulate drama and find stories, that was the core of making those shows successful. >> this is the weakest romance i've ever seen. this romance is pathetic. was there a romance? >> well, i think we just decided we were meant to be very close friends. >> very close friends. >> i've had some very close friends too. >> yeah, me too. >> it's cost me a lot of money, i'll tell you. >> "the apprentice" has its lasting effects even today. donald trump becomes a star. >> you're fired. >> all of it kind of reality show fake. people who worked on it have come forward and said, you know, we kind of made the whole thing up. and yet it sells. then there's just this explosion. >> you interested in tattoos? weight loss? plastic surgery? >> breast augmentation, tummy tuck, facial surgery.

>> hoarders? substance abuse? flipping your house? that's a big one. like there's literally a reality show for everyone now. >> the networks would be out of business without reality tv. >> if you have to fill 40 hours of television with scripted shows, it would cost you an arm and a leg. you'll be out of business because those scripted shows most likely will do no better and probably worse than the reality show did. >> we started seeing things aimed at gay viewers and women. so you have "queer eye for the straight guy" and "project runway." >> this is a search for the next big fashion designer. >> "project runway" was not an instantaneous hit. we sort of had this crisis, is anyone going to want to sit around watching people sew? >> i am feeling the race against time now, yes. >> bravo played three or four episodes over the christmas holidays, and all of a sudden it just caught on like wildfire.

>> make it work. >> people have come into "runway" and "top chef" and they know that this can change their lives. >> one of you is about to win the title of "top chef." >> rock and roll! >> mtv had the osborns, and it was fun because the whole idea of the guy who bit the heads off the bats being domestic and his wife and his teenage kids. >> please do not get drunk or get stoned tonight. >> that sort of sparked this movement of we can put celebrities on tv and just let them do what they do. >> i've always heard that people hang out at walmart. >> why? what is walmart? do they sell wall stuff? >> no. >> what is it? >> it's like, uh -- >> of course that reaches its peak, or nadir, depending on your opinion, with "the kardashians." >> i hate you all. >> welcome to my family. >> there's something about watching someone who is maybe

slightly like yourself but more obnoxious. >> you're so evil. >> there's a lot of baggage that comes with us. it's like louis vuitton baggage. you always want it. >> or they're, you know, more of a disaster. >> prostitution whore, you got engaged 19 times, you [ bleep ] stupid [ bleep ] [ bleep ] you [ bleep ] [ bleep ]! >> there's something about watching that and going, yeah, god, at least i'm not that. >> i look over and i see like hair being pulled, and all the [ bleep ], i'm like, oh, my god, how do i get in? >> i used to get the critics asking me why are they watching that reality show? why are they watching the show? because they're entertained. you're never going to meet someone that's going to say to you, you know, i was watching "the bachelor" last night, i loved it, but i wish i was watching a great drama. >> karen. >> i thought you would never ask. >> you don't need to call it a guilty pleasure. just call it a pleasure. it's something you love watching.

it could be a reality show, could be a drama, sitcom, documentary. whatever it is, great tv comes in many forms. hello. the united explorer card hooks me up. getting more for getting away. rewarded! going new places and tasting new flavors. rewarded! traveling lighter. rewarded. haha, boom! getting settled. rewarded. learn more at the explorer card dot com. and get... rewarded! the holidays are here and so is t-mobile's newest, most powerful signal. and we want to keep you connected to those you love,

with the new iphone 11. so t-mobile is giving you an iphone 11 on us for each new line of unlimited. for yourself, or up to a family of four. keep your family connected, and hurry into t-mobile today, to get up to four iphone 11's on us. only at t-mobile. only one thing's more exciting than getting a lexus... ahhhh! giving one. the lexus december to rembember sales event

lease the 2020 nx 300 for $329 a month for 27 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. for $329 a month for 27 months. wthat's why xfinity hasu made taking your internetself. and tv with you a breeze. really? yup. you can transfer your service online in about a minute. you can do that? yeah. and with two-hour service appointment windows, it's all on your schedule. awesome. so while moving may still come with its share of headaches... no kidding.

we're doing all we can to make moving simple, easy, awesome. go to xfinity.com/moving to get started. want to know what the best thing about childhood is? at some point, it stops. >> in the year 2000, we get "malcolm in the middle." this is a pivotal show for a lot

of reasons, not least of which because it gives us bryan cranston, but because this is a single-camera comedy. >> around here, being smart is exactly like being radioactive. >> single camera comedies were funny. and the fact that you could shoot them like movies and they could be terrific every week. >> yep, class president felt really good. but later that night, i had a dream. >> critics loved that because it was something new. it was something that they weren't expecting. >> i used to see the traffic. the only thing moving is the carpool lane. >> hey, daddy. you want a date with mama? >> get in the car. >> "curb" came because larry wanted to do a special. it was, uh, film my life. but he would only make it with the stipulation that if he didn't like it, he could buy it

back. lucky for us, he liked it. >> are you trying to act like you ain't with me? >> no, i'm not trying to act like i'm not with you. >> the actors wouldn't get an outline for the show. they wouldn't even read what the scene was about. >> judy! judy! oh, my god! >> by the way, that shelf coming down was not planned. that shelf really did come down and larry and jeff just acted their way through it. >> what do i do? >> jeffrey! >> it's too big. >> do something, she's coming up! >> i think "curb" in many ways is the ultimate descendant of "seinfeld," it's in a much more real, truthful place where morality is a gray area truthful place. where morality is a gray area and everybody is redefining it all the time. >> the kid is home, hysterical, because her doll judy has been decapitated, because you two sickos took the head for god

knows what reason, some voodoo [ bleep ] you're doing. >> larry and i would play a game of worst case scenario. >> i was talking to a friend of mine. he's a survivor. and he would love to meet you. would it be possible, i mean, for me to bring him to dinner? >> of course. >> you would take the basic premise from something that actually happened and just exploit it. >> where is the survivor? >> he's the survivor, from the television show. >> the guy from "the survivor" tv show and the holocaust survivor get into an argument about who had it worse. >> i'm saying we spent 42 days trying to survive. we had very little rations. no snacks. >> snacks? what are you talking, snacks? we didn't eat sometimes for a week, for a month. we ate nothing. >> i couldn't work out when we were over there. i certainly didn't have a gym. >> what? >> i wore my sneakers out and the next thing you know, i'm

wearing flip-flops. >> flip-flops! >> we slept on the ground. >> that was larry david at his best, because he managed to find a subject that no one would find funny and make it hilarious and palatable. >> i'm a survivor! >> i'm a survivor! >> is there any taboo that you wouldn't break? >> not, not if there was a funny idea. >> it's all about funny. >> yeah. >> so this is the magic trick, huh? >> illusion, michael. a trick is something a whore does for money. >> "arrested development" was absolutely firing on all cylinders, from the first episode to the last. >> don't you judge me. you're the selfish one. you're the one who charged his own brother for a frozen banana. i mean it's one banana, michael. what could it cost? $10? >> you've never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you? >> if you got it, it's the funniest thing you ever saw. it assumed its audience was as smart as its writers. >> what have you got there?

don't be afraid to make a -- i'm not going to beat myself up over that. >> it was so clever and more meta than just about any show on television. >> your average man is in a state of adolescence, arrested development. >> that's the name of the show. >> you could break all these rules and also have a lot of characters on a comedy who were extremely unlikable. ♪ >> there are a lot more important things than jokes in a comedy. jokes aren't the most important thing in a comedy. >> what's the most important thing? >> character. >> just kind of take control of the body. >> busy? >> yes, keeping up morale. >> can we have a chat? >> yeah. >> ooh! >> i've watched the british show "the office." it's one of the greatest cringe shows of all time. >> no, i don't have a great many ethnic employees, that's true.

but it's not company policy. i haven't got a sign on the door that says "white people only," you know. i don't care if you're black, brown, yellow. orientals make very good workers. >> what's up! >> don't do that! >> when the decision was made to make an american version -- >> wazzup! wazzup! >> there was a lot of head shaking. like, oh, god, american tv, they're going to ruin it. >> are they breathing? >> no, rose, they are not breathing. and they have no arms or legs. >> that's not part of it. >> where are they? >> it used the same mockumentary format that the british show had. >> dwight! >> what are you doing! >> we search for the organs. where is the heart? the precious heart. >> that show works. everybody you go to in that cast is hilarious.

>> oh, my god! >> dwight! >> the mockumentary format was different and all of a sudden it became something that you just realized the audience was very comfortable and very conversant. >> hey, park lady, you suck. >> hear that? he called me park lady. >> "the office," "parks and rec," "modern family," the conceit is they're making a documentary. >> i'm okay. i'm good. i'm good. >> the idea of these shows is you know, they sit down on a couch or they catch them in a separate part of the office and everybody does a confessional like reality television. >> i've gained a few extra pounds while we were expecting the baby, which has been very difficult. but apparently your body does a nesting, very maternal, primal thing where it retains nutrients, some sort of molecular physiology thing. but that's science. you can't fight it. >> we didn't need to explain it's a documentary because, yeah, it's a documentary, and we

don't need to know, i got it. and it's funny. >> this year's emmy many no nations have been announced. the comedy series "30 rock" was the top nominee. >> "30 rock." >> "30 rock" is having the last laugh again. last year's best comedy winner pulled in 17 nominations, the most in that category. >> why are you wearing a tux? >> it's after 6:00. what am i, a farmer? >> tina fey i always felt was the best joke writer in america. >> would you describe yourself as cat competent? >> oh, yes. i love cats. i used to have two cats. but then i moved to a place with hardwood floors so we had to put them down. >> here comes "30 roc." it's probably the densest show ever joke-wise. >> no, no high def. >> "30 rock" was a critical success from minute one. it had a very passionate, desirable audience watching it from even an advertiser's standpoint. but it was not a highly rated show.

>> television on! pornography. >> but critical success was a marker for we're doing something right there. >> all of my summer replacement shows were big hits. "america's next top pirate." "are you stronger than a dog." "milf island." >> milf island? >> 25 super hot moms, 50 eighth grade boys, no rules. >> didn't one of those women turn out to be a prostitute? >> that doesn't mean she's not a wonderful, caring milf. donald trump failed as a businessman.

he borrowed billions and left a trail of bankruptcy and broken promises. he hasn't changed. i started a tiny investment business, and over 27 years, grew it successfully to 36 billion dollars. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. i'm running for president because unlike other candidates, i can go head to head with donald trump on the economy, and expose him fo what he is: a fraud and a failure.

i had a particular connection to "band of brothers." my father served in the second world war and was in many of the places where airborne ended up. >> incoming! >> and what he felt was real about it was the emotions were utterly true. >> it was a bunch of ordinary guys who by way of training and volunteerism and sacrifice both saved the world and were forever changed by what they did. >> a lot of those veterans were still alive. we got to meet them, we got to talk to them. >> i've seen my friends, my men

being killed. and it doesn't take too many days of that and you change dramatically. >> the show premiered september 9th, 2001. two days later, everything changes. people were concerned, should we stop airing it, because it's a war story, and now the country is at war again? >> it turned out to be something that was necessary, because now almost every american, i think, felt as though they had enlisted in something that they had not enlisted in before. after 9/11, we were all part of something. >> we deserve long and happy lives in peace. >> historical dramas of the founding of the nation have been overly rosy. >> when i go to the cupboard and i find no coffee, no sugar, no pins, no meat, am i not living

politics? >> one of the things amazing to me about "john adams" was it was done as realism. >> a brutal and illegal act to enforce a political principle. >> just the grittiness of founding a nation. >> and liberty will reign in america. >> and trying to figure out what a president is. >> god bless george washington, president of the united states. >> it's a gift to be given 12 hours on hbo. god help you if you don't have something to say. >> let's understand each other. i'm not a western district. i'm not a narco. i don't dirty people because i don't give a [ bleep ] about a possession charge. i'm murder police. i care about the bodies. >> david simon was a newspaper reporter in baltimore. he spent a year embedded with the baltimore homicide unit to

write a book. he and ed burns, who was a police officer, got together and said, what if we tell the whole story of the death of the american city, the futility of the war on drugs through the eyes of cops, of drug dealers. >> i've got the best territory and no kind of product. >> i got the best product but could stand a little more territory. >> of teachers, of politicians. just make the entire city into the character itself. >> you follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. but you start to follow the money, and you don't know where the [ bleep ] it's going to take you. >> "the wire" broke down systemic racism and the cycle of poverty like no other television show had. >> come on, get up. it's a school day, you're going to be late. >> it wasn't just about, hey, look at these plaque -- black

kids chilling drugs on the street. you were in the apartment with them where they had no parents, where they were taking care of their siblings, where they were trying to scrounge for food. >> where's your book bag? >> so you start to get a much more realistic, three-dimensional picture of what poverty looks like in a city. >> one of the things about "the wire" that was so interesting is, it didn't rely on this traditional representation of gangsters. it didn't rely on this traditional representation of cops. it was like reading a great novel or a great series of novels. >> i think "the wire" showed the architecture of a full city and the way it layered its characters, particularly omar. omar was, by all other facets of his life, pretty awful. >> yeah, the cheese stands alone. >> but he had this code that he lived by that made him very

touchable and very human. >> hey, yo, mike. >> he was openly gay, but people also were very afraid of him. and his sexuality was not necessarily weaponized against him. and for me, i didn't see black gangsters portrayed that way a lot. >> no matter what we call heroin, it's going to get sold. if it's strong, we're going to sell [ bleep ]. if it's weak, it will sell twice as much. you know why? because a feepd, he's going to chase that plp b[ bleep ] no ma what. >> is it the greatest tv show of all time? people always argue about that. it's the greatest tv show to have black people on it ever. >> what's the highest compliment someone could pay you about the show? >> you didn't lie. that would be it. you didn't cheat. >> good night, stars. >> good night, stars. >> good night po-pos. >> good night, po-pos. >> at the time, hbo was in about 33 million homes.

fx was going to 110 million homes. that's a lot of people who would like programming like this who do not have hbo. and then we just said, there's got to be a different version of tony soprano. that ultimately was found in the script with vic mackey, who was a cop. >> i'm a different kind of cop. >> the pilot of "the shield" is fascinating because you think that the show is being set up as a cat and mouse game. vic mackey is making lots of money and you're introduced to terry crowley, this undercover cop, who has been sent to bring him down. you think, oh, that's the show. i've seen that show before. i've seen that movie before. >> we're talking about making the case that puts mack behind bars for a long time. >> then we get to the pilot and vic shoots terry in the face. >> there was some thought that

hbo shows did well because they had no commercials. so when a basic cable show like "the shield" that did have commercials found an audience, all of a sudden it just opened the door, and other original programming sprung up like "nip/tuck." >> when you stop striving for perfection, you might as well be dead. >> and "rescue me." >> you son of a bitch. >> and it was a whole new playing field. >> tommy!

ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. geico would like to take a moment to say thank you to our military service members at home and abroad for all their hard work and sacrifice. we all sleep easier knowing you're out there

keeping us safe. and on a personal note... sfx: jet engines ... i just needed to get that off my chest. thank you. geico: proudly supporting the military for over 75 years. we're portuguese? i thought we were hungarian. can you tell me that story again? behind every question is a story waiting to be discovered. this holiday, start the journey with a dna kit from ancestry. this holiday, start the journey with a dna kit i'm a verizon engineer, and i'm part of the team building the most powerful 5g experience for america. it's 5g ultra wideband-- --for massive capacity-- --and ultra-fast speeds. almost 2 gigs here in minneapolis. that's 25 times faster

than today's network in new york city. so people from midtown manhattan-- --to downtown denver-- --can experience what our 5g can deliver. (woman) and if verizon 5g can deliver performance like this in these places... it's pretty crazy. ...just imagine what it can do for you. ♪

the current crop of 18 to 25-year-olds is the most politically apathetic generation in american history. >> we had a lot of difficulty getting "the west wing" on the air, because of an unreasonable belief on the part of nbc that people didn't want to deal with politics. >> running for president of the united states without putting social security front and center is like running for president of the walt disney corporation by saying you're going to fix the rides at epcot. >> i think what made it so different than any other show i'd worked on was the richness of character and words and thoughts and images that aaron

sorkin wrote. >> i would love for people to think that i'm as quick and clever as the characters that i write. but you would be disappointed if you met me. >> josh? >> yeah. >> six pages on english as the national language. >> meetings don't just take place sitting down and talking to people. >> and as for a damn social studies paper -- >> donna. >> look at the memo. i gave you what you asked for. don't snap at me. >> we knew that was the essence of the show, this movement. >> what's wrong with everyone today? >> the challenge of doing that is, number one, lighting. if you look at that set on "the west wing," there's a lot of glass. glass is reflective. there were a lot of technical challenges that existed. but the biggest challenge by far was the performance challenge. >> 802. five votes jumped the fence. >> because beginning, middle, and end of the scenes sometimes in one take, and it was liberating and also intimidating. >> what the hell happened?

>> we don't know. >> we're finding out. >> i love "the west wing" because it's a complete fantasy of a political world that is so healthily bipartisan and it shows people intensely and emotionally grappling with the hard questions. >> 40% of americans have a gun in their home. only 16% believe gun ownership is an absolute right. only 9% believe it's an absolute wrong. there's a middle and we can win them. >> it presented both sides as real human beings who cared. >> it's not easy being my vice president, is it? >> no, sir. >> this was a valentine's towards public service that i think people were hungry for. and so this was a group of people just trying to make the world better. >> alexander hamilton didn't think we should have political parties. neither did john adams. they felt it led to divisiveness. >> "the manchurian candidate" couldn't destroy us faster than

barack obama. >> critics now claim the administration is actually pressuring certain disabled veterans to, quote, hurry up and die. >> what you saw in the media universe in the 2000s was the splintering of the political audience. in news, it splintered largely along political lines. >> you're watching fox news, real journalism, fair and balanced. >> roger ailes had the brilliant idea of creating a network for conservatives, thus fox news. >> the controversy over john kerry and his vietnam war medals thus fox news. >> the controversy over john kerry and his vietnam war medals has gotten worse. >> msnbc stumbled into the idea of a liberal counterpart. >> people watching thinking there's news in it. there was no longer a shared facts basis. we did not all go home and watch walter cronkite.

>> i remember when john stewart won't cross fire. john kerry was the democratic presidential nominee facing george w. bush. >> why do we have to fight? the two of you? say something nice about john kerry right now. >> i like john kerry. >> and george w. bush? >> he'll be unemployed soon. >> i think anyone who paid attention will forever remember him going on cross fire and reading those guys the riot act. >> what you do is partisan

hackory. the show that heeds into me is puppets making crank phone calls. what is wrong with you? it will take on hypocrisy. >> i think the vice president and his wife love their daughter. i think they love her very much. and you can't have anything but respect. that they're willing to talk about. the fact that they have a gay daughter. >> yes. we admire your love for your gay daughter! >> if they've stepped in it. a trusted comic will bring that to the forefront. and i think that's what people like about the daily show.

>> every two years we elect a third of the senate i can't be running around every two years. i have a high of. come bert becomes the companion show. so compelling to watch. this hilarious pseudo conservative dumb guy i know for a fact my country club would never let you in. >> one of the things being on the colbert report, and stephen would say it himself was -- he was playing a character.

stephen had to respond in real time to the guests as his character. which was an incredible feat of acting as well as kind of quasi journalism. >> that's a big part of the book, is how much do the justices' political views play a role in how much they decide cases. >> why would political views go into it? except the activist judges, the four liberal activist judges, i could understand that, because they're activist judges. but the conservative judges are not activists. they're inactivists. >> they, umm -- yeah, i guess you're exactly right. >> what i remember is the moment that barack obama was named president of the united states. >> cnn projects that barack obama is the next president of the united states of america. it is now official.

he has passed the 270 electoral votes. >> when you watch the tape, you can see that colbert begins to cry. and that character can't cry because that's not what that character does. and jon stewart, he loves colbert so much as a human being, he covers for colbert. >> 297 for barack obama. 139 for john mccain. for yourself, or up to a family of four. keep your family connected, and hurry into t-mobile today, to get up to four iphone 11's on us. only at t-mobile. i am all about livi♪g joyfully. hello. the united explorer card hooks me up. getting more for getting away.

rewarded! going new places and tasting new flavors. rewarded! traveling lighter. rewarded. haha, boom! getting settled. rewarded. learn more at the explorer card dot com. and get... rewarded! of a lifetime. it's "progressive on ice." everything you love about car insurance -- the discounts... the rate comparisons... and flo in a boat. ♪ insurance adventure awaits at "progressive on ice." tickets not available now or ever. wow! giving one. how did you guys...? >>don't ask. the lexus december to rembember sales event get 0 percent apr for 60 months on all 2019 models. experience amazing at your lexus dealer.

the very interesting statistic, people, their favorite shows, be it "csi," be it "er." the most faithful fan watches that show two out of four weeks. >> there was general fear and anxiety, and they had the data to back it up, that shows that became increasingly serialized would lose viewership over time. >> lex, don't! >> because of the audience misses an episode, they would be inclined to stop watching it because they would feel like, i missed one and now i don't know what's happening. >> there had been amazing shows that had been serialized. they never had syndication value because you couldn't revisit them. but there's almost no better hook. it's like a book you can't turn down, you go, i'm going to watch a little bit more. >> "24" was set to debut in november of 2001.

the pilot climaxes with an assassin blowing up a passenger jet in midair. fox orders this. fox schedules it. 9/11 happens. suddenly the show which seemed like this goofy thing about keifer sutherland chasing after middle eastern terrorists becomes the most timely show on television because that is all that anyone in america can talk about after september 11th. >> the name for the series comes from the idea that it's 24 episodes in a season. each episode is one hour in a day. and jack bauer just has the worst days. >> we are running out of time. pull the trigger. >> please don't make me do this. >> i know how hard this is for you but if you care about me at all, you'll pull the trigger. >> i'm sorry, i can't. >> pull the trigger, damn you! >> the commercial breaks in that show were almost welcome so that you could catch yo bat