Robert Thompson
Robert Thompson
fatality
Obviously, we are disappointed. We never want to see fatalities go up. Even one fatality is too many.
absolutely control expectation nobody television
Nobody had that expectation before. Television was something you had absolutely no control over.
huge
retro, nostalgia, second-time-around industry, which is huge in this country.
along coverage hollywood liberty saw september sign statue stuff ups week
The coverage we saw on September 11, and in that first week of Katrina, not only won't make this stuff go away, it ups the ante. You don't want to just see the Hollywood sign fall, you want the Statue of Liberty along with it.
certainly count few lost
There is certainly some award-show fatigue. I lost count a few years ago of all of them.
bigger high living portable revolution room second taking wider
There are two revolutions taking place. One revolution is taking place in the living room with high definition, bigger and wider screens. The second revolution is portable television.
mean ourselves people reduce whom
There are some people for whom it will always be too soon, but that doesn't mean we have to reduce ourselves to silence.
arguably background became dramas great mtv noise people took venue video voice wallpaper
Real World' took MTV from being a venue where people have video wallpaper and background noise to what arguably is one of the great dramas that became the voice of a generation,
center consensus consider cultural divisive enormous everybody facts happening lack medium miss nature provide radio realize television time total
I think we have yet to realize how much we are going to miss that. I don't think it's a total coincidence that it's happening at the same time there's an increasingly divisive nature in the country. What the consensus medium of television used to do, and radio before that, was to provide this enormous center that everybody had to go to now and then. ... Now, there is a lack of cultural consensus that even extends to what we consider the body of facts we used to debate.
bunch characters compelling essence hook people
I think that dramatically, he had kind of been used up, ... If they can put some other compelling new characters in there that can hook people with a bunch of new storylines, you in essence have got a new show.
beyond children doctor doubt legal soap time
I think it's now beyond a trend. It's now a form, just like soap operas, doctor shows, or legal shows. I doubt you, me, our children or our grandchildren will know a time without it.
basic family last learned prepared
I think we all learned not only from 9/11, but even from the snowstorms last fall, that being prepared - yourself and your family - with the basic necessities can only help.
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I think to some extent the opportunity to go and take the place of an iconic figure of rock and roll, well, what's the psychology of not wanting to do that? You'll see a kid play air guitar in a garage. It's the same thing. It's easy for these people to get teased, and some behave in ways that they invite it. But I don't think it's intrinsically sick or strange. What is colonial Williamsburg but people in historical drag?
appeal couple few grandma kids love loves network past seldom shows time tv wide
It is one of the few shows on American television, especially after you get past those first couple of weeks, where really little kids love it, grandma loves it. It's got the kind of wide appeal we used to see all the time on network TV that we very seldom see anymore.