Quotes & Sayings About Hbo

I just want a big HBO special or a network or somebody willing to get behind my work and promote it. The most frustrating thing for me is to have this successful act that resonates across the country, and the network guys just don't get it. Everyone sees it except them. I want to leave a mark. — Gary Owen

HBO is undeniably a leader in meaningful storytelling in a wide array of formats. I'm honored to join the REAL SPORTS team and look forward to continuing my fervor for uncovering unique and impactful stories. — Soledad O'Brien

We're closer to HBO than we are to the entire grid of cable on demand. — Ted Sarandos

If there's a new HBO series, you know there's going to be a certain level of storytelling mastery - that you can trust it. — Chris Milk

Not only these were new kinds of stories, they were being told with a new kind of formal structure. [...] The result was a storytelling architecture you could picture as a colonnade - each episode a brick with its own solid, satisfying shape, but also part of a season-long arc that, in turn, would stand linked to other seasons to form a coherent, freestanding work of art. [...] The new structure allowed huge creative freedom: to develop characters over long stretches of time, to tell stories over the course of fifty hours or more, the equivalent of countless movies. — Brett Martin

So confusing. It was some kind of magic, I knew that for sure, but I didn't understand the subtleties of it all. You'd have thought all those years of HBO and shit would have prepared me better. — Red Tash

I did the first HBO special ever in 1975 at Haverford College. Cable was new then: HBO was a Time-Life entity, with maybe 400,000 or 500,000 subscribers and maybe 50 employees. — Robert Klein

I remember before I did my HBO special, Chris [Rock] screamed at me - in a loving way, but still. He was like, "You need to do 200 shows in a row and a month straight on the road before you even think about recording a special!" And I had literally booked two weeks on the road and then went right into the recording. It put me in a panic, but it also made me work harder and made me realize that everyone works differently, and that's okay. — Judd Apatow

Klain had suffered a heartbreaking defeat. But it had led to his being played by Kevin Spacey in the HBO movie Recount, which made him semi-hemi-demi-famous. Klain delivered a frank — Anonymous

I was a big fan of 'Six Feet Under.' So, I got a bootleg copy of the first four episodes on videotape, watched them and was instantly into it. During the first episode, I was like, 'Eh.' By the time I got to the second one, I couldn't watch them fast enough. I got on the phone that night, called Time Warner cable and ordered HBO right then. — Denis O'Hare

There's three networks you want to be on: It's either AMC, HBO, or Showtime. — Aaron Paul

Certainly, if it had been anything other than an HBO show I'd probably still be in Mexico now with a Mexican wife and kids. — Adrian Grenier

Frankly, with HBO and Showtime and cable shows, the DVD box sets and all, you can have a product that doesn't make you feel like as soon as it's projected, it's thrown away. It's really a piece of art. — Louis Leterrier

There's usually a sense of humor about all of it. It is what it is. I had two characters that were equally detestable, in very different ways, that hit the airwaves, at the same time. It was a very interesting year in my career, in that way. But I have no fear, on that note. I have a new project for HBO, where I'm going to play the good guy. That's going to be fun and exciting, and shift the paradigm a bit. — Pablo Schreiber

Mick Jagger also a music connoisseur and knows everything about that era. So, you knew the music side was going to be top-notch. It's HBO. On Men of Certain Age, if we wanted a song, it would break the bank. But, Vinyl can go all-out. — Ray Romano

I spent most of my life watching HBO series wishing that at some point in my career I might be able to work with them. — Emilia Clarke

I was on a show called '12 Miles of Bad Road' with Lily Tomlin - it was an incredible HBO show. We shot 6 episodes, previewed it before the finale of 'The Sopranos;' it was written up as a 'Great New Show on HBO,' and then the whole thing was canned. Gone. Disappeared. That's when I realized anything can happen in this business. — Eliza Coupe

HBO is not an advertiser-based model, it's a subscription model. So what's significant to HBO is not necessarily the debut of an episode, it's the cumulative numbers. — Michael Mann

Well, I'm about to do another western, a pilot for HBO this fall. — Walter Hill

I tell stories so only the independents do that and they don't pay you that much. I'd rather do TV or an HBO movie. — Penny Marshall

I grew up watching PBS and wanting to be a part of it, just like HBO. — Jeremy Piven

I remember when I had my show [The Chris Rock Show on HBO], I used to run my show. It was so hard to get people to bring sketches to me. No one had ever worked for a black person before. Even the black people hadn't worked for a black person. It literally took a month or two for everybody to know: I'm really running the show. — Scott Raab

I would love to do something for TV ... I wanna do 'Kavalier & Clay' on HBO as an eight-parter. It'll be so much better as a series, honestly. — Stephen Daldry

I'm just ah, actually developing a tv show for HBO, and I'm directing a film this summer, and actually I'm doing some live shows out in western Canada. — Bruce McCulloch

From her character in the HBO miniseries: The art of politics is the art of applying the seat of the britches to the seat of the chair. — Abigail Adams

What's so valuable about HBO is they tell stories. We learn from stories. — Gloria Steinem

I would have loved to have a role in the HBO series 'Deadwood.' It was Shakespeare in the Old West. — Alex Trebek

I had one kid with the birth control pill, I had one with the diaphram and I had one with the I.U.D. I don't even know what happened with my I.U.D. It never came out. But I have my suspicions because that kid picks up HBO. — Roseanne Barr

I had been writing for the 'Late Show' for about four years when I started writing short stories. I had a blast writing the stories because I was writing in a voice more my own, as opposed to a man's. HBO ended up buying four of them. I think that had a direct impact on my decision to write a book. — Jill Davis

I was opposed to doing TV for a long time because I thought the quality of writing wasn't very strong, as opposed to film, but there's been a shift in term of the quality of scripts. HBO has attracted a tremendous amount of great writing talent. — Peter Dinklage

I am very lucky that my first film was fully commissioned by HBO. — Lauren Greenfield

The most exciting fight I have called on HBO was the first meeting between Arturo Gatti and Micky Ward. When I stood up to do the post-fight on camera, my stomach muscles were tight and sore from the tension of watching them take their lives into their hands and trade shots. — Jim Lampley

I don't think we're necessarily drawing from that specific sort of storyline, because I think we're all just super-blessed and grateful to have a show on HBO and to be working together and employed. But we are definitely speaking to things that our friends have experienced and others in our realm have experienced, for sure. — Steve Zissis

Television has changed. There's obviously the generic shows, but on HBO and AMC, there are some really great series, so I'm not closed off to television. If there's an amazing role with amazing people and a great story, I'd definitely be open to it. — Amanda Crew

I'm on record saying that HBO is the best television company in the world, and I believe they are. I think they absolutely understand how to make television that is really, really vital and interesting and visceral, and all the things that television really should be. — James Purefoy

There are only a few TV networks that really invest in production in the way that I think they should. HBO, obviously, is one of them. — James Purefoy

All the way back in 1999, when I first stumbled upon the idea of a project tracking John Dillinger and Baby Face Nelson and all the major Depression-era bank robbers, I thought the subject was too big to be a single book. Instead, with a friend's help, I pitched the idea as a miniseries to HBO. To my amazement, they bought it. — Bryan Burrough

I did a pilot for HBO, called One Percent, that they didn't end up picking up, but it was a pretty intense and dramatic piece. — Donal Logue

Ben Affleck exec-produced a documentary for HBO called 'Reporter' about my 2007 win-a-trip journey. I take the trip each year partly to encourage young people to think about global humanitarian issues: I think blogs by a student may be more compelling for that audience than my own work. — Nicholas Kristof

I don't watch TV dramas. I watch ESPN, HBO boxing, National Geographic Channel and I kind of like to get some DVDs, movies that I haven't seen and I just pop them in. — Dominic Purcell

I mean, people who watch Jon Stewart's show every night don't think he went far enough, because he couldn't do what he does on his show every night, because it's a different job. The same thing with Chris Rock. He can't come out and do a tossed-salad routine, the way he does on his HBO shows, because this is the Academy Awards. — Bruce Vilanch

When 'Sex and the City' aired its first season, people didn't know about HBO as a place for original series. People weren't saying, 'Oh I've got to watch 'Sex and the City'!' They found it later. In some ways, it helped change what people thought of HBO. — Darren Star

Politically Incorrect was the name of the show Bill Maher hosted in the 1990s. It's also an apt description of the man himself. Now host of
HBO's hit show Real Time, I find Maher to be one of the sharpest observers of American politics and life in general out there. It doesn't mean I always agree with him. I always find him funny, though. — Fareed Zakaria

I have nothing but respect for HBO. — James Gandolfini

I'm a great admirer, fan and consumer of television. I love serial drama. I have been a major fan of HBO's series for many years. — Todd Haynes

I think network television is really hard because it has to sail right away. HBO's so much more nurturing, patient. They think it takes a while for a show to kind of congeal and figure out what its strong spots are. — Amanda Peet

I owe absolutely everything to HBO. — Emilia Clarke

It is definitely a hard show [True Blood] to jump into the middle of, but luckily we have things like HBO Go now. It's not like you've missed it and now you're stuck. And I think once guys give it a shot - and you'll be able to speak to this better than I will - there's a lot of stuff that can be interesting to guys. There's a lot of action. Plenty of people are getting their heads chopped off. — Deborah Ann Woll

I'm strictly a movie person. I mean, I watch the HBO documentaries and Netflix. — Maria Thayer

It's like, 'Sorry I passed you an STD but I really enjoy your quirky web presence.' — Hannah

I had entered Kidneyland. I was officially a patient now. Somehow, I had managed to walk through the door: WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF SICKNESS. We have air-conditioning and HBO. — Steven Cojocaru

I just love shows that don't hand everything to you, that ask you to be smarter. I think that's something really important that HBO has done to change the landscape of TV. — Patrick J. Adams

I recently finished a job, an HBO movie 'Getting On,' a very dark comedy. It comes from a British series of the same name. In this role I have no hair, no make up and no nails. I play a very small role; she is not over the top and sassy. — Niecy Nash

It starts with the writing - which is really, really good. And the production values are phenomenal. HBO and Sky have spent money on it, and you get what you pay for. This has money put into it properly - not lavish amounts - but as each season is successful, they maintain the money that's being spent to maintain the quality. — Charles Dance

I was scared to death because for the comics of my generation, HBO specials are like the pinnacle. I'm thinking of all these unbelievable comedians I've seen on HBO: Chris Rock, George Carlin, Damon Wayans, Richard Pryor and Billy Crystal. I started having a panic attack seeing my name in that list of people. It was pretty overwhelming. — Bill Burr

Nothing you see on the Internet is mine unless it comes from one of my albums, books, HBO specials, or appeared on my website. — George Carlin

Writing books isn't a drastic departure from writing for the stage. I've always written in the long format, five, eight, 10-minute pieces rather than one-liners, so since writing books, the process hasn't changed much. A piece in my live routine can end up as part of one of my HBO specials, and it can also end up in one of the books. — George Carlin

The second disk was taped at our all-night anniversary show. And some of those sets are taped at like 4:30 or 5 in the morning, when people are a little groggy and not doing what they would do if they knew it was being recorded. That said, that disk has an entirely different flavor. It's more experimental. It has more of the newcomers on it. It has people doing stuff that you won't see on Comedy Central or HBO specials. — B. J. Porter

In the U.S., HBO is a very aggressive service. — Reed Hastings

Usually the films that I do are released theatrically in foreign markets. In the U.S., they're either picked up as HBO premier films or Showtime first-runs. In today's market, in America, you need at least $50 million for your budget to go to the big show, and I'm not quite there yet. But keep watching - maybe someday I will be. — Brian Bosworth

The road I've taken to this point has not been easy. Being back on HBO is a big thing, but fighting on HBO in my hometown is huge. To be great you have to fight the best. Chad has beaten the best so these are the type fights I want to take. I will put on a great show for all the fans that come out to Oracle Arena. — Andre Ward

Let's have the type of night where it's 5 a.m. and one of us has definitely punched someone who's been on a Disney Channel show. — Elijah

Critics say Internet advertising suffers from limitless inventory, which depresses prices. These exclusive front-page sponsorships are not limitless. If HBO doesn't move quickly enough, Showtime can buy out Gawker and Jezebel for the key fall TV season. On any individual day, there isn't room for both of them; and that's healthy. — Nick Denton

I'm an HBO subscriber, and I watch a bunch of great shows on HBO. — Reed Hastings

I don't think HBO would want to do anything in conjunction with Sub Pop but I never asked either. — David Cross

I work in the '60s more than I've done anything else. I did a movie, called 'Down with Love', in the '60s. I did a movie for HBO about the Johnson administration in the '60s. — Sarah Paulson

I realize I'm not different. I want what everyone wants. I want what they all want. I want all the things. I just want to be happy. — Hannah

At HBO, they seem to be well-informed. They make what I think are really quite mature films. — Bruce Beresford

HBO exists because people must have a place to say "f***" on television as many times as they can. — Tom Snyder

On a recent HBO special, Roseanne Arnold, who, incidentally, collects Barbies, excoriated what she considered to be Barbie's middle-class-ness. Why didn't Mattel make, say, "trailer-park Barbie"? But to many upper-middle-class women, all post-1977 Barbies are Trailer Park Barbie. Ironically, given the knee-jerk antagonism to Barbie's body, it is one of her few attributes that doesn't scream "prole." Her thinness - indicative of an expensive gym membership and possibly a personal trainer - definitely codes her as middle- or upper-middle-class. In Distinction, French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu notes that "working class women . . . are less aware of the 'market' value of beauty and less inclined to invest . . . sacrifices and money in cultivating their bodies." Likewise, Barbie's swanlike neck elevates her status. A stumpy neck is a lower-class attribute, Fussell says. — M.G. Lord

I had a prior deal in place to do a miniseries for HBO, so I'm not done with TV. But I basically want to stay in movies. — David Chase

I saw on HBO they were advertising a boxing match "It's a fight to the finish". That's a good place to end. — Mitch Hedberg

Working with HBO was an opportunity to experience creative freedom and 'long-form development' that filmmakers didn't have a chance to do before the emergence of shows like 'The Sopranos.' — Martin Scorsese

One of the differences between HBO and other television is that they demand the same coverage that you would have in a feature film. We need to have all the shots in order to make it as rich and as stunning as it looks. We can't cut any corners. — Mark Addy

I've entered the looney bin," I told another unwitting customer, this one female.
"It's always like that around here," the customer replied. "That's why I come, it's like walking into a sitcom that could only air on HBO. — Kristen Ashely

'Rome' was one of my favourite shows, and I wish HBO had given it three more seasons 'cause I would have loved to continue watching it. — George R R Martin

The DVR thing has rocked my world. Being on the road, I used to not keep up with any shows. Now I got a DVR, so I'm watching everything: 'CSI: Miami,' my favorites 'Criminal Minds' and 'The Mentalist.' I like some of the HBO stuff, 'Entourage' and 'Eastbound & Down.' My wife got me into the 'Grey's Anatomy' deal, so I'm watching that. — Jason Aldean

'24' and 20th Century Fox and Sky TV are not responsible for training the U.S. military. It is not our job to do. To me, this is almost as absurd as saying, 'The Sopranos' supports the mafia, and by virtue of that, HBO supports the mafia.' — Kiefer Sutherland

Television has - particularly at the HBO level in the United States - become a completely new genre. Something like Deadwood or The Wire is a whole new thing - there was no equivalent to that medium before. It's like a new way of telling stories. — William Gibson

Over the years, TV has gotten so much better, especially with the advent of cable. The bar has been raised. I think HBO really set the standard with 'The Sopranos,' and then on mainstream TV, shows like 'Lost' broke amazing ground. — Nestor Carbonell

I had read the scripts that Nora Ephron had written as a movie about Mike McAlary. We were never able to make it at HBO because we couldn't cast it properly and when I left I called Nora and said, "Look, I actually think that the movie luckyguyindustry has changed. It's very unlikely that you'd be able to make this as a movie. I actually think it's a play." — Colin Callender

To a bystander like me, those who made 190 million pounds deliberately underselling the shares of HBOS, in spite of its very strong capital base, and drove it into the bosom of Lloyds TSB Bank, are clearly bank robbers and asset strippers. — John Sentamu

I will knock out Vernon Forrest in two rounds whether I have a cigarette or not. I know a lot of people want to see me fight more rounds. So, if HBO wants, they can pick two sparring partners for me to fight after I knock out Forrest. That way, the audience can see me fight 12 rounds. — Ricardo Mayorga

I love the NBC comedies. I DVR 'Parks and Recreation,' 'Community,' 'The Office,' '30 Rock.' I love most of the HBO shows. I love 'Archer.' 'Archer's a great show. I'm big on Netflix; I've seen every episode of 'Freaks and Geeks.' We need more shows like that. — Stephen Colletti

HBO and I have a deal to at least try to make a television series from the Leonid McGill stories. We're going to start with the first novel, 'The Long Fall.' — Walter Mosley

I'm trying my hand at writing. I'm writing a couple of projects for HBO, a half hour comedy and a miniseries. — Charles S. Dutton

When you're a comedian, the Holy Grail is an hour long HBO special. — Gabriel Iglesias

I was watching an HBO special on eating habits and different cultures, and they showed in China how people eat cats ... I happened to be sitting on the couch with my cat, and once I saw that, it just put everything in perspective. — Ben Kenney

HBO does something that most networks don't do which is give a show a chance to find their voice. — Jeremy Piven

I'm kind of a pop balladeer because I love the art of storytelling. I call myself 'HBO for the ears'; I sing little movies. — Amanda McBroom

Eddie Izzard is wonderful, I think, but I've only seen that one HBO special he did. He's one of the few people who talk about stuff other than girlfriends and relationships and flatulence and genitalia. There are very few of them who actually talk about real stuff. — Tom Lehrer

Any time you are in the content creation business, you have to leverage that content in as many ways as possible. DVD is one valuable secondary growth channel for HBO. Maybe the Internet is next. — James Goss

FBI vs. CIA
When a person works for the FBI for 20 years and retires,
he gets a watch.
When a person works for the CIA for 20 years and retires,
he gets watched.
I know this not because I'm in law enforcement or with the NSA ~

I know this because I have HBO. — Beryl Dov

Just being able to make exactly what I want with my brother and a lot of my best friend and to have a place like HBO that not only lets you do that, but supports you and puts up billboards in support of it, and really puts it out there for you. That's not something I get a lot in the independent film world where everybody's pinching pennies and nervous about whether it's going to make money or not. — Mark Duplass

I'd like to do a little bit more adventurous TV. Maybe Showtime or HBO or just a little bit edgier. But I would go back to NBC, CBS, whatever. — Rachel Nichols

A lot of filmmakers from my generation were lucky enough to have their work more or less perpetuated by people who saw them originally on TV and on HBO and certainly on home video. — Joe Dante

HBO churn out some unbelievable stuff. They really got me with things like 'Band of Brothers.' But you can't beat 'The Sopranos.' — Mark Lawrenson

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. — Aaron Sorkin

I toured with Skrillex, did an HBO commercial with Diplo. In the hip hop movement, I was the first artist Travis Scott ever featured with before he blew up. I had the songs with Chris Brown and Tyga. I've worked with some of the biggest artists in the world. — Wynter Gordon

HBO has 28 million subscribers, small stuff compared to TBS, which can be seen in 88 million homes. — Suzanne Fields