Lisa Edelstein Quotes

A show that no one thought had a chance has just finished its fifth year: Charmed. I think it's tougher for the younger networks, so I think they have a little more patience for the sake of the show. But who knows?

How many times has it happened that you're watching 'I'm A Celeb' and you're thinking 'I'm not sure about this,' then it turns into the best series.

The only way to stop the erosion in network television is to come up with shows that are very popular.

A lot of people make hay about 'American Idol's ratings and 'Empire.'

There are so many wonderful shows that come out through the year. What makes some stick is an unknown factor, you know? It's gotta be the right show at the right time. Really, you've got to have magic elements line up. But I felt that this was going to be something that was really going to ring true to people.

You know, people aren't watching a network: they're watching cable channels.

When 'Blue Collar TV' was on the 'WB,' we were their second-highest rated show, but they didn't know what to do with us. They had 'Reba,' which was number one, and we were number two, and they didn't want to be known as the hayseed network, so they kind of dropped us, even though we were pulling great numbers.

Reality TV has taken over.

We've had a chance to be seen by viewers who had never seen us before, and we've kept a lot of them.

Network's rating dependent. A show might not stick. A lot's timing. Like, my Bradley Cooper in 'Kitchen Confidential' didn't always work. Cable supports young shows. TV Land, which you can find on Hulu, Amazon, iTunes, wanted 'Younger.' They came to me.

But reality television is here to stay.

A show needs time to find an audience, and they're very quick to pull them off the air now.

'Cold Case Files' and similar shows do bang up business, which points to a certain thirst for details in the viewership, but it seems like all the news chat shows continue to force the myth that Americans can't stand detail and have no interest in an idea that can't fit on a bumper sticker.

The fact that 'True Blood' affects people in this way is incredible to me - the fact we have to go to such great lengths to hide storylines just proves the cache our show has.

The interesting thing about 'True Blood' is that its appeal is not contained to teenage girls. I get stopped in the street and questioned by 70-year-old men whose wives and daughters are making Bloody Marys and throwing 'True Blood' parties.

The best shows succeed because they tap into a national conversation.

At the end of Season 1 of 'Cheers', it was the lowest rated show in all of network television... So we turn to 'Bill Cosby'; when he came to Thursday night, he just exploded. And once the audience was there, we said, 'Hey, by the way, we also have this other great show. It's called 'Cheers'.'

Reality shows always look for the worst people.

NBC gives comedies a chance to find their legs.

Over the course of television's history, I think fans have done more to save shows and support them than ruin them.

Every show on television has a downward trend because there are so many more things to watch. You can only deal with what is the benchmark of a hit series and 'Survivor' clearly remains a hit series.

Comedy Central was a great network, but 'Chappelle's Show' took it to a completely different level. Other shows got bigger because so many viewers were watching the 'Chappelle' reruns. For BET, the 'Real Husbands of Hollywood' has that same potential.

I liken actors and movies and TV shows to football teams. We all have our favorite ones.

When you go to commercial, you want something to call the viewers back, and if you don't have a decent act out, the audience probably won't be there in the numbers you want when the show returns.

I think USA has a great handle on programming and content. They know their viewers and they know what works... Character driven programming!