Tom Shales Quotes

I haven't watched a lot of television, but when I was kid, I watched 'All in the Family,' and I liked Archie and Edith a lot.

I always wanted to be known as the Norman Rockwell of television, and 'Happy Days' represented the part of me that wanted to make mainstream America laugh.

I call the '70s the "golden age of television"; in the early '70s there were sensationally good shows.

I love '30 Rock.' Absolutely love it. It's a game-changing show.

'I Love Lucy,' the first classic, really belonged more to the Wacky Woman genre than the domestic sitcom; 'My Little Margie' and 'I Married Joan' were among the shrill, coarse imitations.

The stories on 'The Cosby Show' transcend time.

I'm at a little loss in terms of my Leave It To Beaver expertise, since I never watched an episode of the show - so the cast in the pilot could have been Martians or they could have been the regular cast for all I know.

Happy Days, which we did for 11 years, we did with three cameras in front of a live audience. Very special. We had a party every Friday night. The boys, Ron, Henry, they grew up on that show.

You know all those young people watching Comedy Central love 'Frasier.'

We lived a lovely, middle-class, suburban life in Philadelphia. And I really thought that the TV programs of the '50s, like 'Father Knows Best' and 'The Adventures Of Ozzie And Harriet' Nelson were documentaries filmed with hidden cameras in our neighborhood.

I love Matt LeBlanc in 'Episodes' - he's very good. And the 'Modern Family' cast just cracks me up.

What I love most is television, and I would love to work on a sitcom.

I think the sitcom is the format for television. It's the essential form, and it represents more of the canon of TV, which is why I latched onto it.

I watch the comedy shows like 'Married With Children,' 'Friends,' 'Family Guy,' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond.'

I'm a big 'Cosby Show' fan.

I love 'Seinfeld.' That was not alternative. You can't get more in mainstream than that.

I think 'The Big Bang Theory' is one of the greatest written TV shows of all time.

My favorite TV shows are Orange Is the New Black, House of Cards, Modern Family, and Veep.

I gravitated toward being a funny guy. I liked the radio comedians. I lived in the Golden Age of radio, and the Golden Age of television came along when I was still in my early teens.

As a kid, I was always inspired by the comedy of Carol Burnett. I loved Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon's 'Mama's Family'.

I like 'Only Fools and Horses' and 'Father Ted.'

One thing I won't do in television is a sitcom. I find that world to be so neurotic and bizarre.

'Fresh Off the Boat' will be syndicated. This show and these characters will live forever in the pantheon of classic family sitcoms.

I have got quite an eclectic taste in TV so I would like to bring back 'The Young Ones.'

I think Seth McFarlane is brilliant, and I think 'Family Guy' should get an Emmy for sure.