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.
Growing up, I remember watching TV, and I didn't see a lot of people who looked like me, especially someone who passed as a glamorous model on a mainstream TV show.
I love 'Doctor Who' as a big, popular, mainstream, accessible show.
I love 'Seinfeld.' That was not alternative. You can't get more in mainstream than that.
I think it's great that 'Drag Race' is mainstream.
Anytime rock and metal can get on mainstream TV at all, it's a good thing.
I've been sort of spoiled on the TV end because HBO feels like a small institution making independent movies. There's respect for the director's contribution in a way that mainstream television doesn't really reflect, I don't think.
'Switched at Birth' has an amazing cast, including an Oscar winner and two Emmy nominees. The writing is very innovative, and the show's producers have redefined U.S. TV by launching a mainstream show which includes multiple deaf cast members whose characters communicate only in ASL (American Sign Language).
I was coming from a theater background. I had an obsession with classic film and cool, interesting, intelligent television. I didn't really understand the way the mainstream television industry worked. I just thought "The wire is so good that it's going to be a huge hit, and we'll get awards up the yin-yang forever." That's what I thought!
