Quotes About Television

'Mary Tyler Moore' was - it was my first big hit.

I am the luckiest old broad on two feet if the truth were known. It's - but it all goes back to 'Mary Tyler Moore,' 'Golden Girls,' all those - actors love to take the credit. We couldn't do it without the writers.

Back in East Texas, all three networks have stations in my hometown of Tyler, and for a town that small, 85,000, to have all three networks, they all have their own news programs, six and 10, and they're always looking for news. Back when I was a judge, they were constantly coming to the courthouse and asking for comments.

I think someone like Khandi Alexander, who's now on 'Treme,' is one of the most extraordinary actresses I've seen in years. But she's dependent on someone brilliant like David Simon to realize that and to give her a forum. Tyler Perry's not interested in that kind of nuance because it doesn't sell.

One day, my twin sister Sidra and I pranked Tyler Perry on the set of 'For Better or Worse.' I made her dress up as me and do a scene as if she were my character Angela. Tyler says, 'Action!' and my sister starts acting. It was horrible.

People forget that in the early '70s, Saturday was the most-watched night of television of the week. It was where you found 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and 'All in the Family.'

I grew up watching 'The Jeffersons' and 'Good Times' as much as I watched The Mary Tyler Moore Show' and 'All in the Family.'

If you are black on television, you are probably going to be some kind of thug, gangster, or portrayed in a negative light. If you are some type of Muslim, you are going to be blowing stuff up. If you are Hispanic, you are going to be some type of gangbanger. I've felt like this for years.

I think that 'Lost' is a bit of a dinosaur in terms of the type of show it is. The economics just don't support making a show this big and complicated profitable enough for a network.

A child's hope is that your father comes riding in on that white stallion and saves them. You can't make somebody love you the way you want them to love you, it's not a Leave it to Beaver type world. This isn't television. Life's a lot more cruel than that.

I'm just starting to realize the type of work that I want to do. Not everyone can fit into the sitcom world because it's so fast-paced, but it feels comfortable to me.

I never felt typecast because when I was in television, I was also, simultaneously, in films. I was seen across platforms, so that's why I have not been put in a category.

I was certainly typecast for a while on television because I was always being cast as the 'compassionate mother' or whatever.

Once typecast as the indispensable altarpiece of a well-appointed living room, TVs have infected every human environment. The average American household has more television sets than people.

I feel that I have not got my due in films. However, I did a lot of good work on television and that's why I never got typecast.

The nature of television is that it's a beast with a lot of opinions. I don't consider myself typecast any more than Neil Patrick Harris was as Doogie Howser or James Gandolifini is as Tony Soprano.

I believe that actors should be open to breaking stereotypes and television has now a lot to offer. So, being typecast is not my style.

It generally happens that when actors do mythology shows, they get typecast, but it didnt happen with me.

I have never feared of being typecast as I tried to do different roles on television.

Often I play, especially on television, a lot of smart lawyer people and cerebral types.

I think there are two different types of people in television. There are people who can turn it on like a switch when the cameras go on, and then, when the cameras go off, they kind of lower it down a little bit. And then there are people who are on all the time, no matter if the cameras are there or not.

My joke is that three black people watch 'The Daily Show' at any given time. So if I'm watching it, that counts, and there's only two left. It's a silly joke, but you know, different types of comedy reach different cultures.

'Black-ish' is a show that has spoken to all different types of people and brought them closer as a community, and I'm so proud of the series.

My father was a TV scriptwriter. He would perform his dialogue out loud, while my mum transcribed it at the typewriter. So I grew up thinking that plucking characters out of the air was an extremely normal way to behave.