Tyler Perry Quotes

I consider myself a disciple of Norman Lear. And one of the things he did was topic-driven humor.

To me, it wasn't 'Star Wars' that shaped me; it was more 'Mary Tyler Moore' and, nowadays, 'Louie' and 'Girls.'

I am what I am as a writer because of Norman Lear and Spike Lee. Norman Lear in particular.

I have admiration for people who can do it well - the guys who wrote 'Cheers' and 'Frasier.' They created sort of a blissful comedic universe.

There was no real controversy with All In The Family. That came from the people on the business end.

I've met Shonda Rhimes a few times, and certainly she's an inspiration for me in television.

Everybody who's ever influenced me, from a Richard Prior to a Whoopie Goldberg to, you know, any of the voices that have resonated with me as a performer since I was a kid, you know, you couldn't really say that their work didn't have some element of political commentary in it.

Tommy Smothers is a hero of mine.

Armando Iannucci is one of my heroes. As I was growing up, he was probably the most influential comic voice that I had.

I always wanted to work with Betty White, because she is one of my heroes of all time, and I just love her.

Someone like Billie Jean King is completely my idol.

I look at a show like 'Roseanne.' That's super influential on me. It's very funny, very real, with real problems. That was a big influence, and I don't know if you see that all the time in the network world.

I grew up as a kid looking at artists like David Bowie and Prince; I really admired them.

Sitcoms, I always figured that would be an easy gig, but man, it is not.

Joan Rivers was my hero.

The most influential thing was the two Chris Rock specials that came out when I was in high school. I was obsessed with that stuff.

I liked Norman Lear's ideology that you could trust an audience to stay with you.

On 'The Simpsons,' I will say that we definitely like to comment on what's going on in the world, and we try to be funny. If we can figure out a way of being funny about it, then we've gone part of the way of accomplishing our task.

Liberace was a miracle. You talk about who he was and what he did, and then you look at who he inspired, from Elton John to Cher to Michael Jackson to Bette Midler. There are so many people that came to see him. Elvis was there, watching his shows.

My grandfather is the greatest man I'll ever know.

When you watch Robin Williams, you can see a lot of Jonathan Winters. Robin is the first one to admit that; he worshiped Jonathan Winters.

'Shameless' is going to shake up television. Any drama is good drama. Bring it.

I loved doing sitcoms.

A great byproduct of a TV show, movie, or play is when it can act as a catalyst for someone.

And besides, because of all she has accomplished, Barbara Jordan has always been a hero of mine.