Being a good television screenwriter requires an understanding of the way film accelerates the communication of words.

Cop shows are by definition melodramatic; they're larger than life. They create very stark contrasts and conflicts emotionally. They're provocative, assuming they grapple with - to the extent that cop shows are mirrors of the culture.

When it is perceived that a show has gone awry, the pressure is staggering, and as a writer caught in that storm, it feels like you are being attacked by jackals.

Television and film are such streamlined story mediums. You can't really meander about, whereas a novel is an interior experience.

I always laugh when I listen to my old stuff. I was just trying way too much back then. Doing too many harmonies and too many runs and all the crazy stuff. Rapping all funny and animated.

One of the pitfalls of a romantic comedy is that you know how it's going to end.

Everyone in comedy thinks if you go to the U.S. you become a global star but, unfortunately, I've always been a bit anti-American - so I never did.

Comedy's all math, figuring out the timing.