they drove the finest cars and dressed in beautiful fur. >> and a target. >> people are resentful. television on. >> hbo did a lot of its best work when it's bending a genre, takes something that's familiar and gives it some chili pepper.

>> is there any taboo that would not break? >> what's wrong with you? there is so much different story telling and so many stories being told about so many people. >> i don't think dramatic television have ever been strong. >> in coming! >> who are the heroes? >> the people who watch this show. ♪ ♪

this is the week when the major broadcast network unveiled their fall lineup of show. everyone executives know how well "the sopranos" is doing on cable. >> we are dependant on sponsors. there are so much we can do in terms of language, in terms of violence and sex. >> to a large degree a lot of executives were stannding on th edges of what was interesting. >> 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.

>> what we have learned through shows like larry sanders or oz is that is we could do serious television. >> something in the air. >> and it ain't love. >> "oz" was cutting edge of what it was willing to share with the audience. >> complicated characters and issues and the way it was presented was so unique. >> sentenced nine years. up for parole, six. >> what they were doing at hbo was wexactly what the network were doing. all of a sudden the villain is the hero. >> i toll you, i am not hungry. you won't accept food from your

own mother. >> the "soprano," the idea that a mobster is seeing a therapist. >> whatever happens to gary cooper? the strong and silent type. that was an american. he was not in touch with his feelings, he did what he had to do. dysfunction this and that. >> you have strong feeling about this. every decade you get somebody like him, somebody you can't imagine anybody else afterwards and james gandofini is that. >> did you know an italian admitted to the telephone. >> who invented the mafia?

>> what? "the sopranos" took the mystery kind of being the mobster. >> it was mundane and every bit of riveting as the "god father." >> the debate raged at hbo about whether you can have this guy like this in your league? >> david chase was adamant. this was who he is. he was right. >> oh my god. >> it's all right. >> it will only be a couple of hours.

don't worry. >> i am graduating. carmella was a wife and mother. she goes onto her husband who's got blood on them. towards the end where their marriage fallen apart. >> i used of a husband. >> you have made a fool of me for years with these horrors. >> her performance in that fight is stunningly good. >> it matters to people what this couple going through. i remember feeling a real sense of responsibility about that, 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

everyone is talking about but you have to pay to watch it. that's how good "the sopranos" was, people were paying just to see that show. "the sopranos" came along and completely reestablished what the bar was. i could not believe it. television was communicating something that you don't only see in the darkest moments and accurate moment in cinemas. >> you look at the year that american beauty won the oscars which is the year that "the sop sopranos" debut and after that the two mediums diverge. >> movies became much more focused on big tent poles

things. >> all right, we want to tell stories for grown up that don't get a big audience but get a passionate one. >> i am nearly home for christmas. >> i had an idea of doing a show about deaths. >> are you smoking? >> no. >> yes, you are. i heard you. >> no, i am not. >> forget you will give yourself cancer and die a slow and horrible death. >> i met with caroline and she said i like to do a show with a family in a funeral home and something in my head went click, what a brilliant idea. >> i am quitting right now. i promise. okay? >> i will see you tonight.

>> allen comes up with the episode, each episode deals with death and that death is dealt with at a mortuary. >> this was one of my first binge show which was long enough ago that was on somebody hit recording on vcr. >> have you been watching miss romano? >> yeah, i am watching her all night. >> are you thinking of what i am thinking? >> casket climber. >> romano. >> there was a whole new level of something going on on television. it was grittier and yet

something magical about it. >> i think what our strategy at hbo and in terms of our audiences was not everybody have to watch the show. if we have different shows for different people there is something that makes you want to come back and sign up month and month. maybe you don't watch "sex and the city" but you watch "ent "entourage." >> the show was about these four guys who was lifelong friends and say horrible things to each other but be tight and be good friends. >> i will throw $4 million at you. >> you got my balls tingling, man? >> they drive that way? >> you don't know what the line

in the sand is which makes them a morally much interesting character. >> read the "times," huh? >> read the new republic? >> what it says is you don't know what the [ bleep ] you are talking about. energizer ultimate lithium. [snowball splat and windshield wiper] the #1 longest-lasting aa battery. (man) go on, girl, go on and get help! [heartwarming music] (man) ah! (burke) smart dog. with farmers crashassist, our signal app can tell when you've been in a crash and can send help, if you want it. get a whole lot of something with farmers policy perks. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪

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"survivor" the first competitive format. i start to really understand what the show was going to be about the first 20 minutes into day one. >> there may be a blow torch in there. >> are you guys done talking? >> richard hatch was sitting in a tree lecturing about what they should do in their group. >> nobody is working towards a particular goal. not this silly stuff was where we are going to sleep. underneath her was sue hawk. >> i am a red neck. corporate world is not going to work here in the bush. >> i think i really bug some of the guys. >> whatever it takes to win here is the point.

it's a game. >> what he had no idea that richard hatch would be the best thing to ever happen to "survive k"survive er." all around the country people were on the edge of their feet waiting for the final vote to be announced. >> the winner of the final competition is -- >> "survivor," sort of legitimatize the genre. >> simon fuller came into my office and his vision was one long audition. ♪ ♪ like a virgin ♪ ♪ touched for the first time ♪ ♪ i never heard anything like that in my life ♪ ♪ she bangs, she bangs ♪ >> that's what you think we are looking for?

>> the network was saying we don't think we can put simon on the promo. >> he'll scare little girls and we think that's our audience. >> that was the worst audition i have ever heard in my whole life. >> without him it's not going to work. it was a big fight and of course you got a lot of -- and that's what sparks the show. >> the judges have made their choices. now it's all up to. "american idol" reunited the family audience in front of the tv. ♪ nine-year-olds to 90 year olds. >> the way that this show could be manipulated and the way they can find stories, that was the core of making the show successful. >> this is the weakest romance i have ever seen. >> this romance was pathetic. was there a romance.

>> i think we decided we meant to be very close friends. >> good, i have some close friends, too. >> me too. >> costs me a lot of money. i will tell ya. "the apprentice" had its lastest effect. and today donald trump becomes a star. we tiend kind of made the whole up but yet it sells. >> you are interested in tattoos? >> weight loss? plastic surgery? >> breast augmentation or tummy tuck? hoarders? substance abuse? >> there is literally a reality show for everyone now. >> if you have to fill 40 hours

of television, with scripted shows, it costs you an arm or a leg. it does no better than probably worse than reality tv show does. >>. >> you have the straight guys. that takes kill. >> and "project runway." >> "project runway" was not an instantaneous hit. we had this crisis where is anyone going to sit around watching people sew. >> bravo played three or four episodes over the christmas holiday and all of a sudden it caught on wildfire. >> make it work. >> people have come into runway and talk chefs and they know this can change their lives. >> the osbornes. it was fun. because the whole idea of the

guy who bid the heads out of of bats and being domestic, that sparks this movement of we can put celebrities on tv and let them do what they do. >> i heard people hang out at walmart. >> why? >> what is walmart. i don't know. >> it's like they sell walls and stuff? >> what is it? >> of course that reaches its peak or depending on your opinion with the kardashians. >> i hate you all. >> welcome to my family. >> there is something about watching someone who's maybe slightly yourself but more a obnoxious. >> or a disaster. [ bleep ].

>> you stupid [ bleep ]. you evil [ bleep ]. >> there is something about watching that and going yeah, at least i am not that. >> i look over and i see -- oh my god, how do i get in? >> why are people watching that reality show? >> why they're watching the show? because they're entertained. e you are never going to meet someone that says i was watching "the bachelor's," i loved it. >> karen, it's something you love watching. it could be reality show or drama or sitcom or documentary, whatever it's. you know that's where tv comes in many forms. la vie est belle. lancôme. at macy's, the fragrance destination.

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this is a pivotal show for a lot of reason. this is a single camera comment. >> around here being smart is exactly being radio active. >> single camera comedy are funny and the fact that you can

shoot them like movie and they can be terrific every week. >> critics loved that because it was something new. something they were not expecting. >> hey, daddy, you want a date with mama? >> get in the car. >> larry bwanted to do somethin special. he would make it with a stipulation where if he didn't like it, he would buy back. luckily for us he liked it. >> you are trying to act that i am with you? >> no. i will [ bleep ] out. >> don't you dare. too actor would not get an out line for the show. they would not read what the scene was about. >> sit down.

>> yeah. >> judy. >> oh my god. >> by the way, that shelve coming down was not planned. that shelve did really come down. larry and jeff acted their way through it. >> stick your jacket. >> it's to big. >> do something. >> she's coming up. >> i think curb is a much more real truthful place where morality is a gray area and everyone is redefining it all the time. the kid is home, hysterical because her doll, judy had been decapitated. you two sickos took the head for god knows what reasons, some voodoo you are doing. >> i was talking to a friend of mine and he's a survivor and he would love to meet you. would it be possible?

>> you would take the basic premise from something that happened and exploit it. >> where is this survivor? >>. >> from the television show. >> the guy from the survivor tv show and the holocaust survivor got into an argument about who had it worse. >> we spend 42 days trying to survive, we had no snacks. >> snacks? we didn't eat sometimes for weeks or months. >> i could not work out when i was there. they certainly did not have a gym. >> next thing you know i got a pair of flip-flops. >> we sleep on the ground. >> that was larry david at his best, he managed to take a subject that no one finds palable. >> i am a survivor. >> is there any taboo that you

would not break? >> no, it was a funny idea. it's all about funny. >> yeah. >> this is the magic trick, huh? >> don't you judge me. you are the selfish one. you are the one who charged his own brother for bananas. it's one banana, how much can it cost. >> you never set foot in a super market, do you? >> what you got there? >> i am not going to be myself. it was so clever and more meta than just about any show that's ever on television. >>. >> hey, that's the name of the show. it was really smart in the eye that you can break all these rules and have a lot of

characters on a comedy who were extremely unlikable. >> ♪ >> there were a lot more important things than jokes in a comedy. jokes are not the most important thing in a comedy. >> what's the most important thing? >> character. >> busy? >> yeah, keeping up moral. >> can i have a chance? >> yes, i watched the british show "the office," it's one of the greatest cringe show of all time. >> it's not company policy. i have not gotten a sign on a door that says "white people only." >> i don't care if you are black, brown or yellow o. >> when the decision was made to

make an american version -- >> what's up? >> what's up? >> there was a lot of head shaking, the american tv they're going to ruin it. are they breathing? >> no, rose, they're not breathing. they have no arms or legs. >> no, that's not part of it. >> where are they? >> they used the same format the fr british show had. >> where is the precious heart. that show works. everybody you go to in that cast is hilarious. >> oh my god. >>. >> the document format was different and all of sudden it became something the audience is comfortable and converse sif. >> hey, parkly, you suck.

hear that? >> the office, parks and rags. modern family is making a documentary. >> please, i am okay. i am good. >> the idea of these shows is they sit down in the couch and everybody does a confessional live -- i have gain a few extra pounds after expecting a new baby. >> some sort of molecular physiology thing. that's science. you can't fight it. >> we didn't need to explain there is a documentary. we don't need to know. i got it and it's funny. >> this year's emmy no, ma'am mitigation had been announced. >> 30 rock was the top fnominee. >> 30 rock is having a last game again. >> the most in that category.

>> why are you wearing a tux? >>. >> it's after 6:00, what am i. >> the would you describe yourself as competent. >> yes, i love cats. >> so here comes "30 rock," it's the dennest show ever joke wise. >> no, no, high depth. >> "dirty rock" had a passionate and desirable, audience watching it. it was not a highly rated show. >> television on. >> pornography. >> but critical success was a marker for where we are doing something right there. >> 25 super hot moms.

no roads. >> did one of that women turned out to be prosecutes? >> that does not mean they're not carrying meals. it's innovative. my go to toothpaste is going to be pronamel repair. the ergo smart base from tempur-pedic responds to snoring- automatically. so no hiding under your pillow, or opting for the couch. your best sleep. all night. every night. save up to $500 on select adjustable mattress sets during the black friday event. (rapping) hah i do what i want when i want it i buy my own rocks and i flaunt it stunnin', you know i'm a diamond, honey wow, i'ma celebrate this feeling feeling elevated, gotta celebrate it you know that unstoppable feeling every single time that i walk in the building ♪ walk in bold, eyes on me ♪ ♪ raining down like diamond rings, everyday ♪ (rapping) i be shinin', what you know about it?

no way around it, yeah

i had a connection to the

band brothers. my brother served in the world war and in many places airborne ended up. what he felt, 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 forever changed by what they did. >> a lot of those veterans were still alive. so we got the meet them and talk to them. >> i have seen my friends, my men being killed. and, it does not take too many days 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. every americans felt as though they had enlisted in something. after 9/11, we were all apart of something. >> historical drama has been overly rosey, when i go to the c cup board and i find no coffee and milk -- >> it was done at realism. >> who approved? >> approved the legal act. >> just the greediness.

>> liberty will reign in america. 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 at hbo. god help you if you don't have something to say. >> let's understand each other. >> i am not western district, i am not a knock off. i don't dirty people because i don't give a about prison charge. i am a police cop. >> he and ed burns who's a police officer got together and said what if we tell the whole story of the death of the american city and the the war on drugs through the eyes of cops. >> drug dealers.

>> y'all got the best kind of toys and products. >> teachers and politicians and making the entire city into a character itself. >> you follow drugs, you get drug addicts and dealers. >> but you stop to follow the money and you don't know where the [ bleep ] it's going to take you. >> the wire broke down systematic racism and poverty like no other television show had. >> get up. you are going to be late. >> it was not about hey, look at these black kids using drugs. you were in an apartment where they had no parents and trying to scrunch for food. >> where is your book bags? >> you start to get a much realistic 3-dimensional picture of what poverty looks like in a

city. >> it didn't rely on this representation representation of gangsters and cops. it was like reading a great novel for a great series of novels. >> i think the wire showed the architecture of a fuel city and the way it laired its character. particularly omar, omar was my all other facts of life that was awful. >> yeah, she stands alone. >> he had this code that he lives by that made him touchable and human. >> oh yeah, mike. >> people are also frr very rayd

of him. >> i didn't see black guys portray that way a lot. >> it's strong. it's weak, we'll sell it twice. it's a theme. >> this is the greatest tv show of all time. >> i know people always argue about that. >> it's the greatest tv show to have black people on it ever. >> w you didn't lie, you didn't cheat. >> night sttarre. that's a lot of people who likes programs like this but don't have hbo. >> there is not to be a different version about it.

tony sopranos that was found in. >> i am a different kind of a top. the pilot of the she would its fascinated. you think the show is being ca car carried -- you spruce this terry crowleyly who's an under cover cop and he attempts to take him down. >> we are talking about making any chance. he gets through the violent there were some thoughts that hbo show did well because they had no commercials. 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 and rescue me? >> and it was a whole new plain field . ♪

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we have a lot of difficulties getting the west wing in there. part of it is on part of the nbc that people don't want to deal with politics. >> running as president of the united states without putting social security at front and center. >> i think what made it so different today than any other shows i have worked on is the richness of character and words and thoughts and images that aaron sorkin rwrote. >> but, you would be disappointed if you have me. >> josh? >> six pages on dplenglish.

>> meetings don't take place. >> donna -- >> look at the memo, i gave you what you asked for. if you look at the set, 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 they can go 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. >> give me names. >> 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. >> they presented both sides as being human beings who cared. >> not easy being my vice president, is it? >> no, sir. >> this is a valentine toward 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 addams. they felt political parties 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 splittered largely

along political lines. >> you're watching fox news, 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 has just gotten worse. >> msnbc kind of stumbled into the idea of a liberal counterpart. >> people watch fox news thinking there's news in it. tinfoil hatters, conspiracy theorists, racists, loons and pinheads. >> there was no longer a shared, factual basis for our political views. we didn't all go home and watch walter cronkite. >> "crossfire." on the left, james carville and paul begala. on the right, robert novak and tucker carlson. in the crossfire -- >> i remember when jon stewart went on "crossfire." it was 2004. john kerry was the democratic presidential nominee facing george w. bush. and i thought, you know, watching it, i said, this is going to be a funny show.

>> can i say something very quickly? why do we have to fight? the two of you, can't we just say something nice about john kerry, right now. >> i like john. i care about john kerry. >> and something about president bush. >> he'll be unemployed soon. >> anyone who enjoyed paying attention to the news and watched "the daily show" will forever remember jon stewart going on "crossfire" and reading those guys the riot act. >> you're doing theater when you should be doing debate. which would be great. it's not honest. what you do is not honest. what you do is partisan hackery. and i'll tell you why i know it. >> you had john kerry on your show and you kiss his throne and you accuse us of hackery? >> absolutely. >> you got to be kidding me. >> you're on cnn. the show that leads into me is puppets making crank phone calls. what is wrong you? >> comedians and satire when done right will take on hypocrisy no matter where it comes from. >> i think the vice president

and is his wife love their daughter. i think they love her very much. and you can't have anything but respect for the fact 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 that's what people like about "the daily show." >> there is an upcoming election, evidently. i didn't know that. >> you're our chief political correspondent, stephen. every two years we elect a brand-new house of representatives, a third of the senate. it's called the midterm elections. >> i only vote when the big kahunas are up. el presidente. i can't be running around every two years voting. i have a life. >> i could not have lived without the "the daily show." >> colbert then becomes the

companion show, so compelling to watch. this hilarious pseudo conservative dumb guy. >> and who are the heroes? the people who watch this show. average hard working americans. you're not the elites. you're not the country club crowd. i know for a fact that my country club would never let you in. >> one of the things about being on "the colbert report" and stephen would say it himself, was, he was playing a character. >> the book is "the nine: inside the secret spooky world of the supreme court." >> stephen had to respond in real time to the guests as his character, not as himself, 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? these guys are supposed to be -- 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.

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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.

>> at the time, 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 your breath. >> "24" was really the first binge show, if you think about it. there were a lot of people in the later years of "24" that would only buy the dvds. >> you think he'll come after you? >> yes. >> and a lot of the subtleties and complexities, it's a, my god, this is blowing my mind, i can see it because i just watched three in a row.

>> "battlestar galactica" was a show from the '80s. years later, sci-fi channel looked at it and said, what if we take it seriously? >> madam president, we have to eliminate the olympic carrier immediately. >> there are 1,300 people on that ship. >> "star wars" feels like fantasy and fable in the best possible sense. this felt like war. >> do it. >> the photography was shot very much like world war ii combat cameramen work. >> fire on my mark. >> no frackin' way, lee. lee, come on! >> it was as if someone was floating in space with an old world war ii film rolling and oh, here comes a cylon, i want to get this shot.

i really was riveted by it. >> it's classic sci-fi in that it's using the robots and the spaceships and the clones to comment on the world we live in right now. >> i can't die. when this body is destroyed, my memory, my consciousness will be transmitted to a new one. >> the cylons look and act and feel like humans. by the time you get to the middle of "battlestar galactica," you don't know who you're rooting for anymore. >> what other secrets are wrapping around that mechanical brain? >> it was like "west wing" in space. >> madam president, without you we wouldn't have made it. >> it was just a very rich world. it felt lived-in. it felt real. and the stakes could not have been higher. >> i think "lost" is the first huge cinematic tv show i saw. i remember gathering at a

friend's house to watch. and it was long enough ago and the internet was still young enough and social media was i mean -- it was what, friendster? >> j.j. abrams' ambition for the "lost" pilot was grandiose. he always talked about it as making a movie every week. i think when we say the word "cinematic," what we really mean is opening it up a little more but also the ambition of an action set piece. j.j. was very aggressive. he was like, if you want me to do this pilot you're going to need to give me the resource in order to do it and i want to shoot it as a movie, and then we have to keep that bar up. >> you start off, you think, this is just a survival drama. here's these people, the plane is crashed, how are they going to get by, how are they going to find food, et cetera? >> we hunt.

>> and on top of that, there's this whole mystery, where are we, why can't we get a rescue signal, why is there a polar bear, what is going on here? >> the show averages more than 15.5 million viewers each week and spawned countless web locations where millions of avid fans can obsess. >> the fan base is saying, when are you going to answer these mysteries? personally i started feeling hamstrung story-wise almost instantly, because we had to do 25 hours of "lost" in the first season. so we started communicating to abc, we're going to run out of flashback stories. >> call it, jack. >> you call it. >> and abc was adamant in saying, no, like the show is a hit show, people love the flashbacks, don't worry, you guys are great at it, just keep it up. >> you okay, freckles? >> at the beginning of the third season of the show, we had our

characters locked in cages. and i think looking back on it now, damon and i are like, that's metaphorically how we felt, we felt we were locked in cages. >> around halfway through the third season, abc says, okay, we will let you end the show. we're like, yes, thank god. they said, after ten seasons. >> "desperate housewives" and "lost" launched the same year. it was a huge boost for the network. they had a huge show that everybody was talking about. >> in truth, i spent the day as i spent every other day, quietly polishing the routine of my life until it gleamed with perfection. >> i had a lot to say about women who go into the iconic roles of wife and mother and are unfulfilled. >> i think the good news it brought is women who are not perfect, who are not young, are viable. and the fan base was amazing.

there were t-shirts, i remember going into a store and there was "i am lynette, are you saying i'm a bad mother?" >> ma'am, you need to get back in your car please. >> i am gabby. "i am susan." "i am bree." >> are you at a bar? >> we stood on the shoulders of those who came before, you know, strong women characters in television. but in the wake of "desperate housewives," a lot more shows with older women came on the air. >> what you doin'? >> knocked myself out, naked. >> oh. >> and then i fell. so how are you? kisses... ...that led... ...to this one. celebrate every kiss, with kay.

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it is game day, people. and i have never felt this kind of electricity, not in years. this town of dillon, texas is on fire. >> i loved "friday night lights." i grew up in colorado. it's set in texas, but i knew every person who was on that show. and they weren't on the air anyplace else. >> let's get them! >> the pilot of "friday night lights" is one of the best pilots of any television show ever. the energy is almost the fact jason street is the greatest

quarterback that dillon high school has ever had. >> i've been scouting quarterbacks for notre dame for 27 years. your son may be the best i've ever seen. >> 35 or 40 minutes into the episode, while trying to make a tackle, jason street is hit and he's paralyzed. it is devastating because you get just far enough into the episode to think that maybe the bad thing will not happen to this person. but then the show wouldn't be the show. >> i am going to stay in dillon. i'm going to be a father to this baby. and to this family. i'm going to coach high school football and you and i are going to stay together. and that's the way it is. yes? >> no. >> what do you mean, no? >> you've got to go to austin. this is your dream.

>> that's what i'm telling you. >> what we wanted it to feel like was that the audience was just being invited in to a very small town, very intimate setting. >> i don't want to be responsible, nor do i want to have this baby be responsible for you not living out your dream. >> that's what i'm saying. you are my dream. >> i have walked with you all these years to get to this place. you and i together. >> this is about just a couple trying to actually be in a marriage and make it work instead of what we always see on television. and then i felt a very strong, deep desire to not just have her be the sideline supporting wife. >> it looks to me like on your sojourn, tim, you missed two biology exams and what looks like a pretty important term paper. in your english lit class. >> i don't know what a sojourn is.

>> it's going to keep you together. that's what a sojourn is. the rest of it you can look up. >> "glee" was a really interesting show, because it was about high school. and they take pop songs that are already out there and make them part of the story. ♪ i'm dancing with myself ♪ >> it's about these misfits in high school and they're in the glee club. there's a lot of themes about, a, not fitting in, but b, homophobia. ♪ i'm through with playing by the rules so someone else is game ♪ >> it was so specific to my childhood. whoever thought that, you know, a bunch of misfit show choir losers would become a global thing. i never did. ♪ don't stop ♪

>> i think "glee" and ryan murphy really got the general public understanding that, oh, there is a person behind this, and there is a person's sensibility that is driving this show. >> now be like a sister. >> this is the point at which the showrunners are almost as famous or more famous than some of the people on their shows, because we care so much about the creative process. >> so is it the drama and the story that usually comes first? >> yes. >> and then the medicine later? >> the theme and the drama of every episode comes first. then we try to find medicine that relates to or reflects that theme. >> mr. and mrs. glass, i understand how difficult this is. >> no disrespect, but like hell you do. >> you're going to have to make a decision as to how you want to proceed. >> you mean my baby's life or my own? >> yes.

>> "grey's anatomy" is what a great story telling shonda rhimes is. >> i love you. in a really, really big, pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, unfortunate way that makes me hate you/love you. so pick me. >> people like shonda rhimes, these are the people who are just the lifeblood of broadcast networks. and in shonda's case, it's fantastic because finally a woman, finally a person of color is doing this. >> anything that opens door for more women and more african-americans and more diverse casting and more diverse crew is a good thing. >> shonda stood up and said, yes, i'm going to be a showrunner and i'm going to be a juggernaut. >> i'll put 20 on a total meltdown. >> 50 says he pulls the whole thing off. >> that's one of us down there. the first one of us. where's your loyalty? >> above and beyond the cultural

aspect, which is important and great, we need to remember that she created a bunch of shows that are terrific fun to watch. >> you can do this.

wouldn't to mess this up again. >> me neither, okay? we're done being stupid.

>> okay. you and me, all right? this is it. >> this is it. unless we're on a break. don't make jokes now. >> by the time "frazier" and "friends" went off the air, there was a feeling among the networks that the multicamera format filmed in front of a live studio audience -- >> so i guess this is it. >> -- was getting kind of tired and getting kind of stale. >> you guys play the most important part. the live studio audience. >> now, there is no form of television that makes as much money for the networks as multicamera tv shows. we write a four-camera show. we write it, direct it, perform it, rehearse it like a play in

front of a studio audience. when someone gets a laugh on that stage, they actually hold, as you do not in real life, as you do not in single camera, you are holding for that laugh. >> it's an abstract. >> not abstract enough. >> you've done an amazing job. >> it looks like something, though. what does it look like? >> if you get close, you can even touch it. >> i'm fine. >> this is bugging me. where have i seen this before? >> we started studying what phil rosenthal was doing with "raymond." he was embracing the very best of what the genre could do. which was interesting characters. he provided me with a very, very

loud reminder that i didn't need to fix anything. i didn't need to knock any boundaries or walls over. i just need you to embrace what was there. >> i had been in so many shows that had failed spectacularly that i became known as the show killer. ♪ men, men, manly men ♪ >> that's not a great thing to be known as in show business. >> on the sly, i had him come in and read for me, and he was brilliant. >> how much is a hooker? >> what? what are you going to do with a hooker? >> well, i would like to pay her to have sex with me. >> how much are you looking to spend? >> as you know, i am a bit of a bargain hunter. >> unfortunately they don't stock hookers at the 99 cent store. give me a number. >> okay. well, what could i get in the $200 range? >> crabs.

and carjacked. >> i have an enormous sense of pride to have done a multicamera sitcom that people really took to their hearts for 12 years. >> okay. let's start in first position. jake, do you know first position? >> is that like missionary position? >> i mean, that was the longest that a sitcom had been on broadcast television in the history of broadcast television at the time. i think "big bang" is going to beat it. but still, that's amazing. >> two people talking is the essence of a four-camera sitcom. lighting is not really an issue. there is no music that's going to help the material. >> checkmate. >> there is no specific effects. >> again? >> hopefully good words with good actors. >> it must be humbling to suck

on so many different levels. >> "big bang" had this weird hurdle, it seemed, not only are you fighting the natural fight that every show does about getting an audience, trying to stay on the air and keep your job, yadda yadda. >> make way for the fastest man alive! >> see, this is why i wanted to have a costume meeting. >> but then there was also this weird wave of energy coming in like, you're in a genre that's passe, we're done with this, we don't want to see this anymore. >> and the emmy goes to -- >> jim parsons, "the big bang theory." >> with multicam, you hear the other people laughing. it ignites something that's innate in all of us, that's primal in us, the desire to gather in a group and hear a story. >> lauren, look. live from new york, it's saturday night!

>> so every generation has their favorite "saturday night live," right, and it's usually the one that was on when they were in high school. so the people that were in high school during the 2000s won the jackpot. because over the course of that decade, you see some of the most extraordinary people come through that show. >> we should mention that although the waters above appear calm, below the surface there is a frenzy of activity. >> one of the hallmarks of "snl" is you need somebody to play the president. and will's dubya was stellar. >> will ferrell's george bush was a loveable dummy. >> a lifesaver over here. >> can i get those antlers?

>> there you go, son. >> i like those. >> and more cow bell was a will ferrell point. >> cow bell was fantastic. not only because it's a great concept but because will really gets to be will. >> the last time i checked, we don't have a whole lot of songs that feature the cow bell. >> i got to have my cow bell, baby. >> i'll be doing myself a disservice and every member of this band if i didn't perform the hell out of this. >> "snl" in the 2000s is a great time for women. >> it's my birthday! >> because there's a strong group of women that play off each other really well. >> are you part indian, are you cherokee? look those cheekbones, what are you, souix? are you chippewa? >> i believe diplomacy should be the cornerstone of any foreign policy.

>> and i can see russia from my house. ♪ i like waterfalls ♪ ♪ i like butterflies ♪ ♪ i like rainbows ♪ ♪ i like chasing cars ♪ >> you are seeing creativity and wacky left field things that you wouldn't have seen before. ♪ >> andy sanberg and the lonely island guys really helped make the transition for "snl" into the digital era. that's when things started to go viral for "snl." ♪ i'm on the phone, everybody look at me because i'm sailing on a phone ♪ >> who could forget "in a box," come on. ♪ make them open the box ♪ ♪ put your junk in that box ♪ ♪ that's the way you do it ♪ eks!

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welcome to [ bleep ]

welcome to [ bleep ] deadwood. >> david milch said i have a great idea about ancient rome. >> cops in ancient rome in the time of nero. >> because we're already doing

this show about rome. >> thieves will be strangled. deserters will be crucified. >> david basically took the underlying theme of his rome show and put it in "deadwood." >> no law at all in deadwood. is that true? >> at the time of nero, there was a lot of order and no law. and "deadwood" was a similar environment. >> maybe you don't value keeping your [ bleep ] cuts inside your belly enough. >> those are the days behind us. >> no, those are the days to my [ bleep ] left. >> ian mcshane's character steals the show, lock, stock, and barrel, away from anyone else. you want to go into that saloon and have a drink and try to engage him in conversation. then you say to yourself, if i say something wrong, will i get my guts cut out with a bowie knife? he's a fascinating character in

that he scares you and attracts you at the same time. that's kind of a rare thing. >> can we see your fangs? >> i always said daddy hated vampires. but we don't. >> i think that "true blood" was an enjoyable beach read with blood all over it. >> you could say, it wasn't meant to be taken seriously, it wasn't taking itself seriously, except it was such a big allegory for what was going on with the gay community, with aids, with political backlash. it's like, there's monsters all over. but the scariest, most deadly characters in the whole show are the human beings. >> showtime looked at tony soprano and they said, you want

an antihero? how about a mass murderer who is the hero of our show? >> "dexter" is about a blood spatter expert who is secretly a serial killer. >> soon he'll be packed into a few neatly wrapped hefties and my own small corner of the world will be a neater, happier place. >> he was raised by a policeman to channel his sociopathic impulses to only kill other killers. so he is a bad guy but also a good guy. >> i kill reprehensible people. i mean, the idea of the show is that you're invited to identify with and maybe even root for a serial killer. >> that's right. >> he kills horrible people. if i were just killing people willy-nilly, i think all bets

would be off. >> where's the fun in that? >> in the 2000s, the antihero really rose to prominence. >> my nephew has the same gun. don't point that there. >> nice work. >> and i think they were popular because they were surprising. >> you're a free woman. >> you struck a deal? >> the d.a. dropped the charges. >> thank you. >> a show for me that was incredibly memorable was "damages." >> now where's the tape? >> it really was about following the twisted relationship of patty and ellen. >> what are you looking at it for? >> fraud. conspiracy. obstruction of justice.

>> mr. nye tells us i may have reasons of your own for wanting to take down ms. hughes. >> yes. i do. >> i was just so taken with the fact that there was this incredibly dark, unapologetically, morally compromised lead character who was a woman. >> i told pete to have you killed. >> it was sort of the beginning of a real emergence of rich women on television. >> all right. sure, take my last one. this will help. >> is this cab free? >> are you [ bleep ] nuts? >> i have heard nurse jackie referred to as an antihero. she was at the mercy of her addiction that always got her

attention. but beyond that, she really cared that there wasn't money in the budget for extra blankets for someone off the street and she would go and steal it from another department. she really wanted to be a good nurse. and she wanted to be married and she wanted these kids and she wanted to be a good wife and mother. >> why do you always have to work? >> yeah. >> and there was no way she could do all of them. >> mommy! >> edie falco for me can do no wrong. here she is as the female antihero who has her own show. she's the one whose morals are questionable. >> my back, my back! >> she's having an affair. >> can't talk. love you. >> she's stealing drugs and is she an unfit mother and all those things.

yet you feel for her. i love that women now get to be -- get to be the antihero and not just either the villain or the good girl. ♪ i want to know how you ever seen the rain ♪ >> i think that's something that the decade gave us, which is a move toward television really reflecting what america looks like. ♪ this is how we shine... at zales. the diamond store.

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amc. people forget amc stood for american movie classics. then suddenly they figure out, let's stop paying for these other movies, let's make our own content. >> i was called in 2005 to come in and meet with the head of amc, because they were looking to do scripted programming for the first time. a manager said, oh, i have this great script set in the advertising world in new york. it's been around for eight years. and nobody's bought it. everybody's passed. >> advertising is based on one thing. happiness. >> don draper is a master of the universe ad executive in mid-1960s manhattan. but he's stolen the identity of

the real don draper due to an incident during the korean war. he's living another man's life but battling his demons at the same time. we're seeing him rise and fall over the course of the 1960s. in a lot of ways, the most interesting arc of the show is peggy olson's career. she goes from this little church mouse secretary to a really tough and bold and confident career woman. >> i like the way she's handing out the pops. >> who knows what to do and will try to get it even during a really sexist period for the industry when it was so hard for women to get anything. >> peggy, can you get me some coffee? >> no. >> the female characters in "mad men" are great because they each represent different aspects of when women were going through at that time. >> you glide around that office. >> i had this incredible experience of reading "the feminine mystique" and "sex and

the single girl" in the same week. >> daddy! >> the heel heroes of the show were the women. >> i'm here all day, alone with them, outnumbered. >> what about carla? >> it's not her job to raise our children. >> it was incorporating the music of the times, the images of the times, the history of the times, and the attitudes of the times. >> what color panties are you wearing? >> what! >> blue! who had blue? >> can i walk you home? >> "mad men" had absolutely no nostalgia for the period. it showed that people were jerks and adulterers and connivers even back in the glory days of

the 1960s. >> what are you doing? >> how they communicated the kennedy assassination was actually exactly as it came to pass. >> they drew their pistols but the damage was done. >> everything stopped. nothing seemed important ever again. and it just so happened to be the weekend that roger's daughter was getting married, it was a big wedding. [ crying ] >> i would put "mad men" and "sopranos" as the most important shows in the history of television . >> i was about to turn 40 years old. and this was about 2004, two years after the end of "the x files." i was at sea, wasn't sure what to do next.

frankly, i was having trouble getting employed. my buddy tom had been on "the x files" too. he said, we should put a meth lab on the back of an rv, see america, make some dough on the side. he's got a warped sense of humor more. when i heard that idea, i thought to myself, you know, what if i really did that, what would it take? and then i thought, well, i made money doing bad, why would i make money? we pitched "breaking bad" to not even a handful of places. some people liked it, some people not so much. it had kind of been dead for six months or a year or something like that. suddenly i hear, would you like to go meet the folks at amc, they're interested in doing "breaking bad."

>> surprise! >> when we were making a decision to be "breaking bad," we absolutely were looking for an antihero show. and we wanted a guy that was going against the grain. >> dad, come check this out. >> yeah, i see it. >> come on, take it. >> they always tell you, you need to have a good one are did sentence pitch. i came up with, we're going to take mr. chips and we're going to turn him into scarface. what we were really going for was change. walter white says it in the first hour of the show. >> electrons. they change their energy levels. molecules. molecules change their bonds. >> "breaking bad" was a study in change. the change that happens to one character as he devolves from good to bad.

>> you know the business. and i know the chemistry. >> there was definitely a shift after "mad men" and "breaking bad" that the phones started ringing and a ton of feature people wanted to start making tv shows. >> can you pass the butter, please? >> and it now really has taken over what the indy feature was. now it's being made in the tv sphere. >> walter. you've been busy.

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while it's tempting to play it safe, the more we're willing to risk, the more alive we are. in the end, what we regret most are the chances we never took. >> there's old showbiz axiom. you have to get off the stage before somebody says, hey, you should get off the stage. >> endings are hard in general. and i think "the sopranos" was able to accomplish this thing that everybody in television is

trying to accomplish, which is, do something that nobody's ever seen before. >> tony is meeting the family at a restaurant and we're listening to a journey song and watching as one by one the family members come in. and there's these sinister people lurking around. >> you were wondering, is tony going to survive this, was tony going to be shot? what was going to happen? >> you're cutting to the meadow, parking a car, all these things that are completely normal but they're imbued with this dread. >> nothing is happening. they're enjoying a family meal and listening to journey. it's building and it's building. >> the long black, which everybody said, did i just lose my hbo signal, what's going on there?

i actually thought it was like the chord at the end of "sergeant pepper" in which nine pianos hit this long major "bong" and it goes on and on and on and on and on. that black was sort of like what the series needed in order to communicate the fact that it is now officially over. >> as for "sopranos" creator david chase, he got whacked in the headlines. he got whacked by the "new york post" cartoonist that showed fans getting whacked. and chase literally got whacked online. >> we were talking to a couple of television critics about how amazing it was. they were like, oh, there's a lot of controversy about the "sopranos" finale. we were like, what? they said, yeah, some people just absolutely hated it.

they're discussing whether tony is alive or dead. we were like, that's all the things that made it brilliant. and right then we realized, we're completely and totally [ bleep ]. >> if you've been fortunate enough to be successful, they've gone along for a long ride with you. and the viewer has a through line for every character in the show that you could never possibly have. >> you know i love you, right? more than anything. >> of course, honey. >> so it is a fool's errand to try and please anyone but yourself when you're writing a series finale. >> finales have become increasingly important. if you don't do a really good finale to a really good series, a series can sort of lose its luster. but "six feet under" comes up with a perfect ending and the

show is actually enhanced a little bit. the end of "six feet under" has the daughter just driving away in the car and music starts to play. it's seya's "breathe me." and she looks up in the rearview mirror so she's looking backwards. but then the show looks ahead. ♪ >> that season ended and everybody died. and i thought it was brilliant. >> the work on tv is as good as any work that's on a big screen. and so that hierarchy of film and television i think has been

changed dramatically. partially because of the great work that people did at hbo and also because of the work they did at a lot of other places. >> i've waited a long time for this. >> coming up as an actor, film was the thing. tv was like, less than. >> i say [ bleep ]. >> so to suddenly be in an era where we could tell these rich stories. >> entrance has been gained. >> and really create the suspense of them and the trajectory of them. >> get over whatever it is and do your job. >> in ways we couldn't necessarily in film. i do think that led to where we are now, where everybody wants to do tv. >> sit down, you guys.

>> no! >> you can't sit there. >> why not? >> that's where sheldon sits. >> he can't sit somewhere else? >> no, you see, in the winter that seat is close enough to the radiator so that he's warm yet not so warm that he sweats. in the summer, it creates a cross breeze by opening windows there and there. >> perhaps there's hope for you after all. don't touch that dial. we're about to flip it for you. >> in five, four, three, two. >> tv is changing dramatically now with 150 channels that might be available in the near future. there.