Obviously there are different standards and practices that are allowed on cable versus network. You just have to embrace what your network is going to allow.

I still feel driven to try to make great shows and to make each episode great.

I've always read a lot of historical books and I'm a big fan of documentaries, and I've always thought of ways to do it.

To this day, nothing makes me happier than finding a TV show I really love.

There are story-room sessions where you think about the big picture, like a novel, but once you have certain things in place, you have to treat each episode like an hour of TV, and think that maybe this will be the only episode that anyone will ever watch. You want to have some sort of beginning, middle, and end to the episode, even if you have storylines that are carrying over. You still want it to feel like a cohesive hour of entertainment. And you can't think about both at the same time.

In order to appeal to a wider audience on network in order to survive, generally your characters need to be, at a base level, a little bit more likable.

I always think it's better to take your time and go through a lot of ideas - and dismiss a lot of ideas - before figuring out where to land. It's a good way to care for your audience, too. If you spend hours and hours and days and weeks coming up with the ending, then there's a chance the fans won't figure it out on their own.