Jim Rash Quotes

I don't know much about writing a show or being a show-runner on a show, but I can only imagine that when you first cast a show and you first do a pilot, there are so many components that you're throwing into the mix and you're not sure how they're going to develop.

When you're making a television show, it's about the story and arc of the show rather than any particular episode or director.

Every show finds its groove, I would say. The first season is the season to figure out the dynamics, the workflow.

No great television show has ever rested on just one person. They're all about great ensembles and storytelling.

Now that I know what goes into making a pilot, keeping it on the air, and keeping your fans, I'm at a point now where I do a pilot and just hope for the best. If it doesn't work out, it doesn't work out.

I know the movies that I've liked, and I know the experience that they've given me, so the goal is always to try to create a movie that I would like myself and that would knock me out, challenge me or intrigue me in some way. That's been my criteria for figuring out what I want to do, or also when I'm writing something or creating a scene.

I think it's not uncommon for new television shows to spend certainly the first year, but without a doubt, like, the first eight or ten episodes, kind of figuring out what the show is.

I don't think you can really make television based on what you think audiences want. You can only make stories that you like, because you have to watch it so many times.

Usually when you're doing a season one, you're trying to find the show.

I think one of the reasons for the success of 'Breaking Bad,' and now for 'Better Call Saul,' is that we have been blessed by AMC and Sony with enough time to figure things out.

Honestly, the life of a serial character on television, I'd love to write an essay about it.

It's better to write a pilot rather than write a spec show. In some cases, you have to do both, but more often, writing a pilot and having an original voice is more important.

In terms of directing a feature, I'd want the story to be right - you know, it's a year of your life, and you have to be focused on one thing, so I want it to be a story that I really, really care about and will enjoy making.

A great director is someone who makes you feel like you're moving forward.

'The Fosters' is such a fun show to shoot, and I always look forward to getting the new script because we keep pushing the boundaries.

The greatest thing that you have when you're a showrunner is this opportunity to create worlds.

Alexis and I actually shot the very first scene of 'Gilmore Girls.' What I thought was fast was nowhere near what has become known as 'Gilmore pace.'

Great writing makes great television.

Whenever we start a new TV series, there's also a lot of question marks, and part of that is finding who you are.

One of the jobs of a director is to ask questions. One of the jobs of the director is to stand in for the audience until they get there.

Matthew Wiener on 'Mad Men' writes the entire series before they start shooting, and if you have that, then what you can do with character and story is not at all unlike what you can do in a novel.

I don't want to do a history lesson. I don't think cinema should be about that. Cinema should be about emotions.

The best way to make a show that's going to resonate is to make a show that you'd love.

Spielberg read the 'Understudy' and decided that was the voice he wanted to write 'Smash.' He wanted a story that had humanity and humor and high-stakes dreams.

I look for good scripts, not anything. It should inspire me, and the audience should like it.