152 Quotes by Robert Thompson

The genius of Nickelodeon is that they figured a couple things out, ... They knew that especially among the very young, it was the parent that chose to turn on the TV, so Nickelodeon came up with a program that would appeal to their targets and the parents. They had shows that were cool enough that even the older sibling would watch.

We don't care if we're playing Michael Jordan, we want to win. They wore us down. We've got to get tougher.

When Ellen came back with the Emmys (in November 2001), she was coming back to a culture that had been put on total and complete hold, ... a felicitous coincidence.

This time, you mention the word 'Survivor' and you can almost hear the crickets chirping in the background and the sagebrush blowing across the town.

This time, because there was something else a little more important in the headlines for these newsgathering operations to deal with, they virtually didn't cover this at all, ... Consequently, I would say on the order of several million people who probably would like to have watched 'Survivor' might not even have known it was on.

There are religious activities; there are wedding receptions; there are a lot of family reunions there.

The only difference is that television is such a predominant medium. ... Radio used to have sitcoms and doctor shows and cop shows and game shows and all the different genres, and television wrestled that primary entertainment away from it. But I think in terms of its impact on the medium of radio, yes, this is going to be a very big deal.

The good news is that, today, adults can watch programs that were way better than before. We can watch 'The Sopranos' and 'Deadwood' and 'Sex and the City' and other really interesting, emotionally complex shows that I would not in a million years suggest watching with anybody younger than 14.

To some extent, the Oscars and Emmys are the mother of all awards shows and are immune to that. But then, who would have guessed that Miss America would be leaving Atlantic City and playing on a cable channel that didn't exist several decades ago?