Television showrunners are a foolishly optimistic bunch.

Mythologies become exhausting burdens, from a writer's perspective.

I have a bad habit, in the shows that I run, of killing off the people that I love.

There are so many shows out there, so you really need to work hard to separate yourself and cut through the static.

If I had a worldview, and I don't know if I do, but if I did, it's one that's intensely humanistic. [That worldview] is that the only thing that matters is family and personal connection, and that's the only thing that gives life meaning. Religion and gods and beliefs - for me, it all comes down to your brother. And your brother might be the brother in your family, or it might be the guy next to you in the foxhole, it's about human connections.

A show is going to be good and fun to work on, if the research is interesting.

I like to tell stories that have beginnings, middles and ends.