Decisions Are Made By Those Who Show

Larry David Called Me And Said, "you Can Never Watch The West Wing Again. Either The Show Is Going To Be Great Without You And You're Going To Be Miserable, Or The Show Is Going To Be Less Than Great Without You And You're Going To Be Miserable." So I Had Them Send A Tape Of The First Episode That I Didn't Do. I Put It In The Vcr And I Don't Think I Got 15 Seconds In Before I Leapt Up And Slammed It Off! It Felt Like I Was Watching Somebody Make Out With My Girlfriend. I've Never Seen A West Wing Episode In Seasons Five, Six Or Seven.

Toby: All Right. It Couldn't Have Gone Far, Right? Sam: No. Toby: Somewhere In This Building...is Our Talent.

But Hbo Is Less Interested In How Many People Are Watching Than In How Much The People Who Are Watching Are Liking The Show. They Didn't Set Up Their Business Model To Make Writers Happy. It's Just A Nice Unintended Consequence.

Trying To Guess What The (mass) Audience Wants And Then Trying To Satisfy That Is Usually A Bad Recipe For Getting Something Good.

Well, I Must Tell You I Write The Scripts Very Close To The Bone. So I'm Writing Episode Seven Now And Couldn't Tell You What Happens In Episode Eight.