Ronny Chieng Quotes

On 'The Daily Show,' we get so caught up in the day-to-day news cycle. A story breaks, and then the piranhas in late night, we all jump to the headline, and we dissect it, and then we have to move on to the next day.

'The Daily Show' was amazing because I learned so much.

I think, with any topical show, it's very easy to find yourself caught up in the news cycle, and working at 'The Daily Show,' I definitely found myself in that, where we would be talking about the last 24 hours.

My first big gig was as a correspondent on Comedy Central's 'The Daily Show.' My job was to parody TV reporters and political pundits. As a result, I was often invited onto cable news shows as comic relief.

TV is designed a certain way where you have three, four days on stage and three or four days out. You're basically making a feature every seven days. You have to shoot an hour's worth.

Apparently it's cool to watch The Daily Show.

It's very difficult for designers today. How can someone produce so many shows? Now the minimum is four a year.

It's so hard to make a comedy pilot and have a cool idea.

TV is just such a fast-moving medium that you do what you can do, and what you can't do, you don't worry about too much.

I was notified on July 17 to be ready to start August 7 for an October air date. When we reached the screen we did not have a single segment ready. It was done so fast the writers never got a chance to know what it was all about.

You don't have a lot of time; you have to get it right. It's amazing how they create these episodes in such a short amount of time. They lavish a lot of care and money on each episode, and they just look terrific.

Ten episodes goes by really quickly, especially when you've got a really tough shooting schedule of seven-day episodes.

I'll always love movies. But there's something I love very much about TV, when you shoot episodes while other episodes are still being written.

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.

BBC TV gets hold of an idea and beats it to death until we're all heartily sick of it. They buy people without thinking what they're going to do with them. It's the wrong way around. What they should be doing is employing really good ideas people to come up with good ideas.

'SNL' doesn't have a traditional writer's room. On Monday, there's the pitch meeting with the guest, and I played that like it was stand-up.

I loved doing 'Frisky Business.' I didn't come up with it. I think John Oliver and the writers did.

It's impossible to make 22 or 16 great episodes every year. It doesn't matter who you are or how talented of a group you have.

I try hard not to repeat myself and not to do material other people are doing. We transcribe every other late-night show to make sure there's no similarity.

I love, for example, 'Full Frontal with Sam Bee.' I just love her show.

There are problems in doing television that have been plaguing me for years. I really like to have a lot of time, to rehearse and make things as good as they can be, but television often doesn't allow for that.

On American sets, you work 12-, 14-, 16-hour days sometimes. All that volume over a short course of time can actually be less conducive to telling a story accurately.

I think, with these shows, with 'Last Week Tonight,' with 'Full Frontal,' I think, as these shows have evolved, we all have research departments now.

I've watched 'The Daily Show' forever. So being a part of it is surreal.

Sometimes there were certain things in 'Limmy's Show' where I'd be having to come up with six episodes and as a result there was stuff in there that wasn't my favourite and I'd think, 'ach I'll shove that in this episode.'