And give it some chili pepper. Advertising is based on one thing, happiness. Is there any taboo that you wouldnt break . Not if there was a funny idea. What is wrong with you . Theres so much different storytelling and so many different stories being told about so many different people. I dont think dramatic Series Television has ever been stronger. Theres no longer this theory of what popular entertainment must be. Incoming who are the heroes . The people who watch this show. This is the week when the Major Broadcast Networks unveil their fall lineup of shows. And every executive in hollywood knows how well the sopranos is doing on cable, which is a network problem. I think hbo altered everything for this reason alone, is there was no commercials. We are dependent on sponsors. Theres so much we can do in terms of language, in terms of violence, in terms of sex. To a large degree, a lot of executives were just sanding off the edges of what was interesting. I think hbo is looking at the world and going, okay, how can we matter . For quite a long time, movies and boxing were the bread and butter of hbo. People watch a show because youre partly a [ bleep ]. I think what we learned through shows like the Larry Sanders show or oz is that we could do serious television. Theres something in the air. And it aint love. Oz was cutting edge in what it was willing to share with the audience. Hit me. Hit me. Hit me in the face, brother. Complicated characters, complicated issues. And the way it was presented was so, uh, unique. Sentence, nine years. Up for parole in six. What they were doing at hbo was exactly what the network wasnt doing. They were breaking barriers. You get to the sopranos and all of a sudden, the villain is the hero. Have some eggplant. I told you. Im not hungry. You wont even accept food from your own mother. The sopranos was david chases invention about this mob family, something that people hadnt seen before. The idea that a mobster is seeing a therapist. Whatever happened to gary cooper . The strong, silent type. That was an american. He wasnt in touch with his feelings. He just did what he had to do. Once they got gary cooper in touch with his feelings, they didnt know they wouldnt be able to shut him up. And then its dysfunction this, dysfunction that. You have strong feelings about this. Every decade, you get somebody like peter faulk as columbo or Carroll Oconnor as archie bunker. Someone you cant imagine anyone else afterwards. James gandolfini is that as tony soprano. Did you know that an italian invented the telephone . Alexander graham bell is italian . See what im talking about. Antonio finucci invented the telephone and he got robbed. Everybody knows that. Who invented the mafia . What . The sopranos took the mystery out of being a mobster. Im a fool to do your dirty work it was somehow more mundane than we guessed it would be and yet every bit as riveting as the godfather. You were like a brother to me. The debate raged at hbo about whether you could have a guy like this as your lead. And david chase was adamant that you have to, this is who he is, and he was right. Can you assure me that tony soprano isnt going to become a sensitive, nurturing, mellowing man . Yes. Oh, good. Oh, my god. Its all right. Ill be home in a couple of hours. Dont worry. Im graduating tomorrow. Carmela was a wife and a mother. I think first and foremost. I think as long as she kept going to church, she thought im taking care of my soul. Where is the rest of the money . Its everywhere. She goes home to her husband who has blood on him. Theres no way to reconcile the two things. Towards the end, when their marriage is falling apart i used to [ bleep ] your husband. You have made a fool of me for years with these whores. Her performance in that fight is stunningly good. Because shes jealous. Let go of me it mattered to people what this couple was going through. And i remember feeling a real sense of responsibility about that and giving the weight to the scene that it deserves. What . You know what i dont understand, tony . What does she have that i dont have . Suddenly here is this tv show that everyone is talking about, but you have to pay to watch it. You know, thats how good the sopranos was. People were paying just to see that show. The sopranos came along and completely reestablished what the bar was. I honestly couldnt quite believe it, that television was communicating something that you might only see in the darkest moments and accurate moments in cinema. You look at the year that american beauty won the oscar, which is also the year that the sopranos debuted. Almost immediately after that, the two mediums diverged. I know what i must do. Im afraid to do it. Movies became much more focused on big tentpole things that could bring in as much of an audience as you possibly can. Meanwhile, tv, which had always been a big tent medium, started going smaller and more interior and saying, all right, we want to tell stories for grownups that maybe dont get the biggest audience but get a passionate one. Ill be home for christmas i had an idea of doing a show about death. Are you smoking . No. Yes, you are. I heard you. Im not. No, im not. Look, forget youll give yourself cancer and die a slow and horrible death. You should not be stinking up that new hearse. I met with carolyn and she said, id like to do a show about a family that runs a funeral home. Something went click. What a good idea. Im quitting right now. Ill see you tonight. Ill be home for Christmas Alan ball comes up with a show with a perfect structure. Each episode starts with the death of a character and then that characters death is dealt with in a local family funeral home mortuary. Excuse me. This was one of my first maybe it was my first binge show, which was long enough ago that it was all on somebody had recorded it on vcr. Have you been watching mrs. Romano . Yes, im watching her all night. Are you thinking what im thinking . Casket climber. I want to go with you theres a whole level of something going on on television. It was grittier than most shows you had seen before, and yet something magical about it. I think what our strategy at hbo was in terms of audiences, not everybody has to watch a show. But if we have different shows for different people, there is something that makes you want to come back and sign up month after month. Maybe you dont watch sex and the city but you watch entourage. Entourage was originally based on Mark Wahlbergs life. And the appeal of the show is not so much about show business. It was these four guys who were lifelong friends who could [ bleep ] with each other and say horrible things to each other but be tight and be good friends. They want to throw 4 million at you. Youre kidding. Are you smiling . Yes, im smiling. You get me smiling. You got my balls tingling, man. Ari gold became the breakout character, willing to be ruthless, yet also a family man with a line in the sand and you dont really know where that line in the sand is, which makes him a morally much more interesting character. I read an article in the times. The new york times, not like the [ bleep ] they have out here. You read the times . No. You read the new republic. It says you dont know what the [ bleep ] youre talking about. Im tryin keep it up. Youll get there. Whoahoahoa 30 grams of protein, and one gram of sugar. Ensure max protein. You need insurance. But its not really something you want to buy. Its not sexy. Or delicious. Or fun. But since you need both car and home insurance, why not bundle them with esurance and save up to 10 . Which you can spend on things you really want to buy, like. Well, i dont know what youd wanna buy because im just a guy on your tv. Esurance. Its surprisingly painless. The cnn original series the 2000s is brought to you by volvo. Who could have possibly guessed . A show about a bunch of backstabbing people with body odor on an island off borneo would become the hit of the summer. Survivor was really the first truly competitive format. Go i started to really understand what the show was going to be about the first 20 minutes into day one. Well see what weve got. There might be a blowtorch in there. We need a bathroom. Are you guys all done talking . Richard hatch was sitting in a tree, lecturing about what they should do as their group. Nobody is working toward a particular goal. Not the silly little stuff about who is going to sleep where. What are we going to do but why are we here. Underneath him was a woman who was a truck driver. The corporate world aint going to work in the bush. That was the show. He walked around naked quite a bit. I think it probably bugged some of the guys. Whatever it takes to win here is the point. Its a game. Call it machiavellian, sure. We had no idea that Richard Hatch would be the best thing to ever happen to survivor. All around the country, people were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the final vote to be announced. The winner of the first survivor competition is survivor sort of legitimized the genre. Simon fuller came into my office. His vision was one long audition. Like a virgin touched for the very first time ive never heard anything like that in my life. She bangs she bangs thank you, thank you. [ unintelligible singing ] what was that . That is what you think were looking for . The network was saying, we dont think we can put simon on the promos. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Hell scare little girls and thats our audience. One of worst auditions i ever heard in my life. Were like, well, thats the whole show. Without him, its not going to work. It was a big fight. Of course we got him on and of course thats what made the show. Well, here they are. The judges have made their choices. Now, america, its all up to you. American idol reunited the family audience in front of the tv. Respect find out what it means to me 9yearolds to 90yearolds could root for somebody on american idol. Its not like it hadnt been done before. But the way the producers could manipulate drama and find stories, that was the core of making those shows successful. This is the weakest romance ive ever seen. This romance is pathetic. Was there a romance . Well, i think we just decided we were meant to be very Close Friends. Very Close Friends. Ive had some very Close Friends too. Me too. It cost me a lot of money, ill tell you that. The apprentice has its lasting effect even today. Donald trump becomes a star. Youre fired. All of it kind of reality show fake. People who worked on it have come forward and said, you know, we kind of made the whole thing up. And yet it sells. Then theres just this explosion. You interested in tattoos . Weight loss . Plastic surgery . Breast augmentation, tummy tuck, facial surgery. Hoarders . Substance abuse . Flipping your house . Thats a big one. Theres literally a reality show for everyone now. The networks would be out of business without reality tv. If you had to fill 40 hours of television with scripted shows, it would cost you an arm and a leg. You would be out of business because those scripted shows would do no better and most likely worse than the reality shows did. Aimed at gay viewers and women. So you have queer eye for the straight guy and project runway. This is a search for the next big fashion designer. Project runway was not an instantaneous hit. We sort of had this crisis, is anyone going to want to sit around watching people sew . I am feeling the race against time now, yes. Bravo played three or four episodes over the christmas holidays. And all of a sudden it just caught on like wildfire. Make it work. People have come into runway and top chef and they know that this can change their lives. One of you is about to win the title of top chef. Rock and roll the osbornes, it was fun. The whole idea of the guy who bit the heads off of bats being domestic and his wife and teenage kids. Please do not get drunk or get stoned tonight. That sparks this moment of, we can put celebrities on tv and just let them do what they do. Ive always heard that people hang out at walmart. Why . What is walmart . Do they sell wall stuff . No. What is it . Its like, uh of course that reaches its peak, or nadir, depending on your opinion, with the kardashians. I hate you all. Welcome to my family. Theres something about watching someone maybe slightly like yourself but more obnoxious. Youre so evil. Theres a lot of baggage that comes with us. Its like Louis Vuitton baggage. You always want it. Or theyre, you know, more of a disaster. Prostitution whore, you got engaged 19 times, you [ bleep ] stupid [ bleep ] [ bleep ] you [ bleep ] [ bleep ] theres something about watching that and going, yeah, god, at least im not that. I look over and i see like hair being pulled, and all the [ bleep ], im like, oh, my god, how do i get in . Got the critics asking, well, why are people watching that reality show . Why are they watching the show . Because theyre entertained. Youre never going to meet someone thats going to say to you, you know, i was watching the bachelor last night, i loved it, but i wish i was watching a great drama. Karen. I thought you would never ask. You dont need to call it a guilty pleasure. Just call it a pleasure. Its something you love watching. It could be a reality show, could be a drama, sitcom, documentary. Whatever it is, great tv comes in many forms. The end of your first year. Nice im thinking about a scuba diving trip. Woman ooh gasp or not. You okay . Yeah, no, im good. Earn miles. Well match em at the end of your first year. [narrator] do you remember that day . That day you met your hero . Ms. Bird, do you think i could be a champion like you . Of course you can. And you can call me sue. [jibber] jibber jabber, coming through salutations, famous female of orange round ball. Would you like an autograph . [jabber] excuse me. crowd muttering [woman] is that paper mache . Its you. [woman] wow. [narrator] jibber jabber ruins everything. Is it . [woman] i am confused. [narrator] at Symetra Life Insurance Company were cutting through it, to help you choose the Retirement Benefits and Life Products that work best for you. The Retirement Benefits and Life Products the shawn mendes verizon up concert was surreal. We were right in front of him. Dead center. Front row. Ill never forget that day. vo the network more people rely on, gives you more. Like big savings on our best phones when you switch. Thats verizon. Nothing feels like connecting with the people that matter. Holiday inn. Holiday inn express. Were there. So you can be too. For a dos equis. Dos equis. Every now and then i get a little bit hungry and i also need a side of nachos. One more round nachos. Every now and then i order dos. And i need dos equis tonight. And id also like some hot wings. Make your summer jams even hotter. With dos equis. Keep it interesante. With dos equis. Take me to your best friends house going around this roundabout oh, yeah want to know what the best thing about childhood is . At some point, it stops. In the year 2000, we get malcolm in the middle. A pivotal show for a lot of reasons. Not least of which because it gives us Bryan Cranston but it is a single camera comedy. Around here, being smart is like being radioactive. Single camera comedies were funny. And the fact that you could shoot them like movies and they could be terrific every week. Yep, class president felt really good. But later that night, i had a dream. Critics loved that because it was something new. It was something that they werent expecting. I used to see the traffic. The only thing that moves is the carpool lane. Hey, danny, you want a date with mama . Get in the car. Curb came because larry wanted to do a special. It was, uh, film my life. But he would only make it with the stipulation that if he didnt like it, he could buy it back. Lucky for us, he liked it. Are you trying to act like im not with you . No, im not trying to act like youre not with me. Dont you dare do that. The actors wouldnt get an outline for the show. They wouldnt even read what the scene was about. Judy judy oh, my god by the way, that shelf coming down was not planned. That shelf really did come down and larry and jeff just acted their way through it. What do i do . Jeffrey its too big. Do something, shes coming up i think curb in many ways is the ultimate descendant of seinfeld, its in a much more truthful place. Where morality is a gray area and everybody is redefining it all the time. The kid is home, hysterical, because her doll judy has been decapitated, because you two sickos took the head for god knows what reason, some photo [ bleep ] youre doing. Larry and i would play a game of worst case scenario. I was talking to a friend of mine. Hes a survivor. And he would love to meet you. Would it be possible, i mean, for me to bring him to dinner . Of course. You would take the basic premise from something that actually happened and just exploit it. Where is the survivor . Hes the survivor. From the Television Show. The guy from the survivor tv show and the holocaust survivor get into an argument about who had it worse. Im saying we spent 42 days trying to survive. We had very little rations. No snacks. Snacks . What are you talking, snacks . We didnt eat sometimes for a week, sometimes for a month. We ate nothing. I couldnt work out when we were over there. I certainly didnt have a gym. What . I wore my sneakers out and the next thing you know, im wearing flipflops. Flipflops we slept on the ground. That was larry david at his best, because he managed to find a subject that no one would find funny and make it hilarious and palatable. Im a survivor im a survivor is there any taboo that you wouldnt break . Not if it was a funny idea. Its all about funny. Yeah. So this is the magic trick, huh . Illusion, michael. A trick is something a whore does for money. Arrested development was absolutely firing on all cylinders, from the First Episode to the last. Dont you judge me. Youre the selfish one. Youre the one who charged his own brother for a frozen banana. Its one banana, michael. What could it cost . 10 . Youve never actually set foot in a supermarket, have you . If you got it, its the funniest thing you ever saw. It assumed its audience was as smart as its writers. Dont be afraid to make a im not going to beat myself up over that. It was so clever and more meta than just about any show on television. Your average man is in a state of adolescence, arrested development. Thats the name of the show. You could break all these rules and also have a lot of characters on a comedy who were extremely unlikable. There are a lot more important things than jokes in a comedy. Jokes arent the most important thing in a comedy. Whats the