Michael O'Rielly Quotes

The overall effect of the Kid Vid rules has been to force networks to prioritize less popular content. Some of this programming attracts reliable viewership among older children, but younger children largely aren't watching.

Broadcasters have a responsibility to serve the public interest and protect Americans from objectionable content, particularly during the hours when children are likely to be watching.

In terms of language, yeah we get bleeped and blurred and things, but in terms of content, I would probably say we're getting away with more here than we could get away with in Britain. And that surprised us so much!

I think a lot of the problem is that at 8 o'clock there's nothing on for kids.

Obviously sex and nudity sells, but that's what people go to cable for but that's not going to happen on network daytime television... so I think it really is always going to come down to story. How do you make a story interesting enough so people will tune in? That's always going to be it.

If you operate a TV or radio station, you have to have a license. It has nothing to do with fundamental freedom. It has to do with protection of the average citizen against abuses.

There are obviously legal restrictions on what you can do on TV in the States, as there are everywhere.

I want my channel to be a place people go even if they don't care about Lilly. I don't want them to have to know about Lilly or care about me as a person to enjoy my content.

I respect the rules of TV, the rules of keeping things commercial and interesting and pop-y and fun.

While I originally sought broader reforms to the Kid Vid regulations, what we have ended up with is a reasoned and balanced compromise. In the end, this effort takes modest but important steps toward a freer television market, and it's a deal for which nearly all sides can claim some measure of victory, especially the children.

It is inconceivable that CNN's morning show or any other show could be anything but horribly boring. Why? Because they won't let anyone take risks.

Once I fix what kids watch, I'll be moving on to everything else.

You never know what you have until you put it in front of an audience. That's the truth. That's the truth of filmmaking and that's why you make movies, for an audience to, hopefully, enjoy it.

If you're not connected emotionally to a story, then you're dead. You're as a filmmaker really just opening the door for people to lose interest and their minds to wander, for them to start picking it apart. That's what people will do, people will naturally tear stuff apart because they're trapped with it, they paid money for it. And they came into it wanting to love it. So all you can really do is piss off the audience. Unless you do things right.

You never know how things work and what exactly is going to grab an audience. Sometimes even the best material and the best collection of people interpreting that material just for some reason doesn't fly with people. There are a lot of TV shows or movies that maybe aren't as good as others that do work when it comes to finding an audience. It's a mystery, that whole thing. If somebody figured it out, this would be quite a great industry.

That's my real message: I work very hard. We're an honest presentation, we try to give people entertainment and information at the same time, and it's working. I don't see any need for big drastic changes in our presentation.

I think cinema is better today that you can be more daring with what you do. If you do it well. With that comes a responsibility not to bore people with vulgarity and all that stuff. To know how to do it right, know how to lay it out there.

I love when a TV show, or entertainment in general, makes me feel something; be it positive, be it negative, be it happiness, be it awkward, uncomfortable if it can make me feel, it's done it's job.

If America's tv and movie producers are unwilling to clean up their act... when it comes to sex, bloodshed and violence in their programming... the government stands ready to step in.

They're intimidating the networks and levying these fines, so the networks are not sure of what they can or can't do.

People have curiosity, they have intelligence, they have interest in understanding their peers. But producers and directors of cinema have decided that the seats in the theaters have been made to transform people's minds to lazy minds.

I'd love to develop and star in my own children's show, write children's books, do children's albums, movies, DVDs, etc.

At a certain point the audience shouldn't worry about catching every word and understanding every twist and turn, because at a certain point that's pretty much impossible.

I’ve always believed that the way you affect your audience is more important than how many of them are there.

My objective is to satisfy [my] audience so they come back the next day.