The best episodes of 'The West Wing' that dealt with policy and stuff, in my opinion, were the ones where they were in the middle of a crisis, and they were trying to figure out how to solve problems.
From Michael Schur
I think if you're too concerned with being cool or hip or liked, you can't really make good TV because sincerity and coolness are opposites.
If a show ever tries to be cool, then it's going to be doing something wrong.
I believe in the importance of sincerity and emotion and honesty in TV, even when it's goofy comedy.
As a viewer of TV shows, I always like shows more when I just feel like the people in charge have a plan. You can just tell sometimes, 'Oh, there's a plan there. They have an idea for how this is going to unfold.'
All of comedy at some level is trial-and-error, whether it's a stand-up trying out jokes or a comedy show trying stories.
For storytelling purposes, there has to be conflict, but that doesn't mean the people have to be mean. I've never liked mean-spirited comedy.
My favorite sitcom of all time is 'Cheers.' That's a perfect example of how, like, people made fun of Cliff, but you never got the sense that they didn't like Cliff.
My favorite TV show of all time is 'The Wire,' which has the feeling of a project-based show. You draw in people from disparate parts of the world, and they have to work together to achieve a goal.
I care more about making sure the story is correct and the characters are behaving in character than I do about the individual jokes.
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