James Roday Quotes

We're seeing TV series that are as good as movies were in the '70s and '80s - shows like 'The Wire,' 'The Sopranos' and 'Breaking Bad.'

A lot of people always look back at 'Twin Peaks' and say that was the start of this explosion we've had in good television drama, but we did it in a time when there were still only three networks.

One of the things I've been most excited by is U.S. television drama. For my money, it's some of the greatest narrative art of our time. Each series is like a 19th-century Russian novel: you need to do a lot of work in the first few episodes, just as you do in the first 50-60 pages of those books.

I was a massive fan of 'Twin Peaks.' Massive. I don't know how any of us grew up in this age of television and weren't astounded, and saying that, I'm still shocked that that was on network television.

There's no mistaking the fact that some of the best longform fiction out there now is in American television. 'The Wire' and 'Deadwood' and 'The Sopranos.'

All the great shows owe a lot to 'Hill Street Blues.'

Without 'Twin Peaks,' there would have been no 'Northern Exposure,' 'Picket Fences,' 'X-Files' or 'Alias.' It started the movement of 'off-center' television.

I still think, most of the time, when people called shows like 'The Sopranos' or 'Deadwood' 'art' that they were correct.

I'm a massive fan of David Lynch and 'Twin Peaks.'

'The Wire's definitely one of them. 'The Sopranos' is one of my all-time favorites. Those are two big ones for me.

In TV, you can carve out a beautiful little niche like 'Breaking Bad' did. Like 'The Wire' did. Like 'Homeland' did.

I'm addicted to 'Scandal.' Joe Morton is the devil, and I love him. I am addicted to 'Boardwalk Empire.' Jeffrey Wright is the devil, and I love him.

Hill Street Blues might have been the first television show that had a memory. One episode after another was part of a cumulative experience shared by the audience.

The acting in 'Downton Abbey' has been consistently excellent across the board.

I think 'Breaking Bad' is incredible.

I'd love to do a 'Sopranos' sequel.

'Twin Peaks' is a continuing story; that comes from David Lynch and myself.

Man, 'Hill Street Blues' was on when I was 12, and I remember feeling I'd never seen anything like it. It was that far ahead of its time, with dark characters you loved.

A show like 'True Detective' is definitely a drama.

For U.S. television series, I really like 'Dexter.'

I'm delighted to be joining the cast of 'The Fall' for what is going to be an exciting and gripping second series.

I want 'Chicago Fire' to go as long as 'SVU.'

I think my favorite show of all time was 'Deadwood.'

My favorite - and I've said this before, I know - but my favorite TV show of all time is 'Twin Peaks.'

'Twin Peaks' is so phenomenal. And it worked because they struck the right tone: they brought intelligence to it, and the mystery itself was compelling.