Randy West Quotes

When I was in advertising, I did a great deal of work on television commercials. A co-worker and I wrote a screenplay, which led to a few more screenplays, and some were optioned by production companies. I was advised to move to California but didn't want to make the move. I decided to use another form of storytelling, so I wrote a novel.

I was a novelist first. But in the mid-'80s, I did work in television for ten years. And yes, that was frequently the reaction to my scripts. People would say, 'You know, George, this is great. We love it, a terrific script, but it would cost five times our budget to shoot this.'

You can never get enough of 'Jeopardy.'

I write 'Broad City,' so I connect it to me.

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

I'm biased, but I think 'Jeopardy!' is the best game around, and getting more eyeballs on it is great in my book.

I never considered game show host as a career, but it's fun because I get to inject some of my comedy into it.

Hosting a game show is quite interactive and non-fictional shows are a part of entertainment.

Jeopardy' is an institution, and people know what to expect from it and what the game's about.

I actually worked on the pilot of 'The Chase' and wrote the questions on it.

I feel very grateful for Sybil. 'Fawlty Towers' was very hard to make, but it was very stimulating.

To get a game show into production is as challenging and as intellectually demanding as it is to write a novel or screenplay.

I got on the quizzing circuit, that's how I heard about the existence of 'The Chase'.

Writing is the life blood of everything in Hollywood. Without writers, there are no scripts, no acting work.

I am constantly thinking of different ideas and formats for TV shows. I am in a place where anything is possible if you want to do it.

Every single path is so different, but I would definitely say that the idea of what a writer is or should be is not a thing anymore. Everyone is redefining publishing, writing, and storytelling in general.

In Sydney, I gave what was billed as a masterclass to bright students of writing at the University of Sydney. But the term 'masterclass' was possibly over-egging the pudding. All I could do was pass on some lessons from my own life, and the most obvious is that if you want to be a writer, you must first have been a reader.

There are a lot of good writers in TV!

I decided the things I enjoyed were quizzes and television, so I decided to find a way to combine them.

You wouldn't think it would make a ton of sense, but I've been on Jeopardy! for over 20 years now, so it's kind of like going home.

'Portlandia' is 100 percent improvised, and I came into this business not knowing anything.

Write a story a great writer would write. Because part of becoming an artist is pushing through all the disbelief of those around you, deciding that you are a writer when you have no idea what a plot is or whether what you've written is any good, or anything.

You know, 'Jeopardy' has been on the air for 30 years, I don't see why HQ can't run for 30 years.

I just like to write. You can't play basketball 16 hours a day, so it's just working out, working on your body, take a nap, watch some TV, watch some games, and write.

You know, another thing people don't realize is that there's a ton of luck in 'Jeopardy.'