Bill Bixby’s Quotes
On – TELEVISION
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Hartford Courant Dec 1, 1963
"Anytime the sponsors or networks aren’t beefing, that’s the time to start worrying. There are really two reasons: either they are perfectly happy with the way your show is going, which is highly unlikely, or they’ve already written you off and haven’t gotten around to writing up your cancellation notice, yet.
"Even if they are perfectly happy, it isn’t healthy. When you stop trying to improve something, how can you hope to improve it?"
"The viewers, above all, should never stop ‘beefing’. Television is, or should be, a medium that responds to public wishes and tastes. The only way the medium can progress is if the public keeps demanding it.
"Viewers can’t expect TV to keep developing unless they make their wants known. And let’s face it. The best way to make your wants known in this world is by ‘beefing’."
DAILY VARIETY (Los Angeles)…Apr. 7, 1971………(added 3/23/02)
"Situation comedies are old-fashioned—they stick to formulas. I resent their music which is old fashioned. I resent the use of a laugh track. We use one—network policy [ABC]—I couldn’t help it, although I resent it. As a viewer, I want to make the choice as to when to laugh. I don’t want to be told. I want to get credit for some kind of intelligence. Sound effects are used in sit-coms to prime them up. They are all gimmickry designed to make the audience think that what they are seeing is fun. It’s in the writing. They need more responsible writing. When it’s lousy, they feel they need all these lousy inducements. It’s a terrible thing to be running in fear."
"I’ll say one thing for television. It has taken children and educated them far beyond anything I was ever involved with as a child."
"If you had a viewers lobby, the public could have much more control over which programs are shown. The lobby would express the viewers’ opinion, not just the network."
BILL BIXBY: …I genuinely mean what I’m about to say—that I believe that people who do not vote in this country have no right to complain about the government that we are now living under. By the same token, if you don’t really vote in television, you’re never going to have your way….write a letter to the president of the network. You won’t get "Eddie’s Father" back, but you’ll get the kind of television that you want. They do read the mail…"
"The male image has been so pulled down by situation comedy in the last 15 years, it is frightening. I don’t like what has happened to the American male."
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"…(it’s) very difficult to make a children’s film. Violence is easy. You just show gore. But holding an audiences attention without gore—that’s a challenge."
"Parents should watch what their children watch and not use TV as a babysitter. If a show is objectionable they should turn it OFF. They should write the president of the network and tell him they are never going to watch that program again and why."
"Do you realize if one-tenth of one-percent write out of possibly 40 million viewers—40,000 write—the weight that would carry? Is that too much to ask – that one tenth of one per cent be attentive to what they see? To take control of their own lives? Or do they want to remain children and give that control away?"
"The only reason I ask questions and get angry is because the decisions are placed in the wrong hands and passed around like a hot pototo. They say, ‘Don’t be too violent’, but they won’t tell you what ‘too violent’ is."
"TV is a major force in our lives—a FORCE. It must be handled very carefully, both its censure and its artistic honesty."
"Childhood innocence is very important. My shows bring back fantasies that adults once had."
On hosting PBS series "Once Upon a Classic":
"Classics is fantasy, But it’s not a kids show. Adults are supporting ‘Classics’ not just for their children but for themselves."
"TV’s been good to me. (Hosting) ‘Classics’ is my way of paying my dues in TV."
"TV is the medium I was raised in. I have never wanted to get out."
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