Michael Chiklis Quotes

I'd always thought that 'NYPD Blue' really would open those doors. While I think it created a much broader template for cable, I don't think it really did that much for network television.

Over the years, TV has gotten so much better, especially with the advent of cable. The bar has been raised. I think HBO really set the standard with 'The Sopranos,' and then on mainstream TV, shows like 'Lost' broke amazing ground.

Television has changed. There's obviously the generic shows, but on HBO and AMC, there are some really great series, so I'm not closed off to television. If there's an amazing role with amazing people and a great story, I'd definitely be open to it.

You have Showtime, you have AMC, you have all of these, you know, incredible networks that are now bringing forth their product without the handcuffs, if you will, of trying to sell soap to the entire country.

I don't meet many people who are talking about shows on Showtime.

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.

I think the people who probably have it the best are the people on cable like on 'Entourage', 'the Sopranos', etc. who have 13 episodes per season and breaks to do films and theatre. I think that's the most ideal life.

Working with HBO was an opportunity to experience creative freedom and 'long-form development' that filmmakers didn't have a chance to do before the emergence of shows like 'The Sopranos.'

I've got a lot of shows under my belt that are ancient history solely because they were on the air before this video revolution came along and ensured that canceled shows could continue to have a bit of a presence.

I just am a huge fan of PBS. They've taken great risks from great shows.

I'd like to do a little bit more adventurous TV. Maybe Showtime or HBO or just a little bit edgier. But I would go back to NBC, CBS, whatever.

If you had told me in the Seventies and Eighties that TV would be as edgy or edgier than most films, and more intelligently written than most films, I wouldn't have believed it. There's great stuff out there.

I'm an HBO subscriber, and I watch a bunch of great shows on HBO.

With network, shows are pulled half the time after three episodes whether they're good or they're not good. It's a numbers game. With cable, they can take a lot more liberties.

I really like the stuff that Showtime puts out. I think that 'Homeland' is phenomenal. I think 'Dexter' is amazing.

I've got one outlet now - music - and it's great to be able to sign someone that excites me. I'd like to also be able to do that with the scripts I get or books or TV shows... I'm not going to limit myself.

Cable TV has become where the best actors, writers and directors have gone to work because they are allowed to do character-driven stories.

Television really does offer still great parts for women, cable in particular.

I really was interested in doing something for a premium channel like Showtime or HBO, just because you get to really let loose. I think they let their storylines go wherever they want, and it's really a special place to work.

I've been in three sort of... I mean, I'd say they're groundbreaking series, if only because of the creators. One was 'Max Headroom', another was 'The Larry Sanders Show', and the third was 'Arrested Development'.

You look at shows on cable, and there's a lot of smart writing out there.

Tucker's Witch was the first television I'd done in a while. It was just before Moonlighting, and just before you could get a little more outrageous on TV. We had a great premise.

I think network television is really hard because it has to sail right away. HBO's so much more nurturing, patient. They think it takes a while for a show to kind of congeal and figure out what its strong spots are.

If you think about TV series, we make 16 one-hour movies a season. You don't get any opportunity like that in movies. I mean, I can't say I'll be able to do 16 movies in the next year, and so that's how I see it.

If you're in a popular TV show, you can attract attention, and I like to help focus that on stories that deserve to be told - which is what politicians do. But I would lose my autonomy, and to get things done I would have to compromise and get into the weeds of policy. I don't know if I'm smart enough.