I want to convey that I'm crazy about the Kardashians - but I'm not sure which is which.

I have a lot of respect for people who are great at ad-libbing, and for writers and directors who are able to create a scene in which that works.

It's nice that HBO is in business with the audience and not with the advertisers. There's a difference.

Develop your own compass, and trust it. Take risks, dare to fail, remember the first person through the wall always gets hurt.

But HBO is less interested in how many people are watching than in how much the people who are watching are liking the show. They didn't set up their business model to make writers happy. It's just a nice unintended consequence.

To use a basketball metaphor, West Wing cast was a group that liked to pass as much as they liked to shoot.

I do enjoy the fact that we don't have a king or queen; we have a person with a very unusual temp job for a few years. My favorite moments on the show were always showing the intersection of the person and the job. Any time Bartlet from the West Wing could be something other than the president - a father, or a husband, or a son, or a friend.