Television is a great job for a writer in the way that movies used to be, way before my time. Back when writers in Hollywood were on staff or under contract at any given studio and you'd write movie scripts and then the movies would get made within a few weeks, such that you could be a working writer in the movie business back in the '30s and '40s and '50s and have a hand in writing five or six movies a year that actually got produced. The only thing remotely like that in the 21st century here in Hollywood is working in the TV business.

I think that for me, as far as audience expectations and how you manage your anxiety, it helps to keep things in perspective.

I love cable, but not because you can show boobies and say the F-word. I love it because you have more time to think. That's the blessing of it.

The last thing in the world that I would want to know, in my own life, is when I'm going to pass away.

I've imparted that philosophy to the writers, but some of them look stuff up while some don't. Same with the editors, directors and actors. To each their own.

I'm not a big internet guy - not because I'm not interested in what people have to say, but probably because I'm too interested.

It's often the case with successful TV shows that they kind of inadvertently live on past their prime. It's best to leave the audience wanting more.