John Barrowman Quotes

In the era of networks only, I cannot tell you the number of shows that we don't know about that did not survive. They got canceled. But there are a few that survived by accident, because they didn't have anything else to do, and they stayed with it.

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.

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

The truth is, we have this idea that late night is about creativity and being cool, but that's not our job. Our job is to get as many people watching the commercials in between our show. That's the reality of it.

'Emeril' came on the air right when a new president of NBC was taking over, and there was just a big shift going on. And then 9/11 happened, and that really pretty much killed it, because the show was already having a hard time finding an audience. I don't regret it. I had a really good time.

Life goes on, and I'm moving on to the next thing, but I hope the soaps that are still running will thrive. They have millions of loyal viewers.

I think most people who were involved with television will tell you, if given a season or given a 13-episode order and getting those episodes on the air, and if viewers don't come, I think most people will tell you they'd walk away. They feel they were given a fair shake, and if viewers didn't come, they didn't come.

I think 'Y&R's future is contingent upon the ratings. Obviously, none of the soaps are kept alive for the sake of loyalty. It's all about ratings. It's show business. Period.

Reality is a genre that seems to be here to stay. I don't know how many of the new shows will last, but the more competition you have, the harder that pie is to slice up.

I've never worked in the U.K. television industry, but my guess it that it's a tough world for directors.

As I slowly managed to take what I had learned into a transition from contestant to announcer and warm-up, I first had to prove myself on pilots. And as you know, many pilots are taped for each show that is lucky enough to breakthrough to being a series.

We always had one eye on doing Saturday night TV even when we were back doing mornings. That's where we wanted to go to get a bigger audience.

I don't know much about British TV. Actually me, I'm looking more at American ones.

I think HBO and a couple of the other cable channels in America are making some of the best television that's ever been made.

To understand this whole area, you have to stop thinking like a viewer and start thinking like a network programming exec.

I'm not a network executive, but it seems to be a time when networks take more of a gamble with higher-concept shows. And so, it's fun to be on something that's original, that's finding viewership, that's finding a great audience, and really distinguishing itself. Summer's a great place to do that.

Television is a huge industry, and actors down south are aware of it.

I love TV and am happy doing TV shows.

I've done, like, eight pilots, and every time, everyone thinks it's going to go for 10 years.

Here's what I know about the business I am in. It's all based on money. It's all based on ratings.

Every single television product has the ambition to chase ratings, every one of them. Many have other ambitions, for many, ratings are not #1. But my experience on TV, and on the entertainment side, has been entirely ratings-based. When I look at TV I look at ratings. And I never second guess ratings. Never.

In Pakistan, our medium is the small screen. We don't make many films, and hardly have theaters. A majority of people seek entertainment while sitting at home and TV gives it to them, so we excel on that part.

Generally, I am losing faith in telly, as we do have good dramas but not as many as there should be.

I'm pretty sure the last time any anchor could honestly ignore ratings was well before I was born.

One year, I did 10 or 11 pilots of TV shows that never went anywhere.