So here's my question: At what point in the process did you start thinking to yourself, "Holy crap, I may have actually hit the jackpot with this one!" And was it as rewarding as you thought it would be?
Schwartz: Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I was having my teeth gold-plated and my pancreas bronzed; I'm that rich. But, you know, when you're deep into the show, you have no perspective. And I'm Jewish, and neurotic and a sadist -- so I always look for the flaws, the bad reviews, the nights when the ratings weren't there, to convince myself the show has never caught on. But I would be hard-pressed to deny that we've been successful. I think the breakthrough moment was seeing the cast on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. I read that magazine religiously as a kid, and seeing the show on the cover really landed for me.But I guess it was also when George Lucas was on the show and I got to pick him up at the airport -- it was just me, and him, and his daughter (who was a teenager and fan of the show). She asked me, "What's it like to have created something that so many people watch and are obsessed with?" And I'm sitting there thinking, "Uh, your Dad created 'Star Wars'? And you're asking me?" So that was surreal. George Lucas is awesome, by the way. Nicest guy ever.
I've never been a big ESPN fan...minus those days as freshmen sports editor, but this is a great feature, esp. since it deals so little with sports and embraces the OC. Well at least with this one.
Schwartz: Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to you. I was having my teeth gold-plated and my pancreas bronzed; I'm that rich. But, you know, when you're deep into the show, you have no perspective. And I'm Jewish, and neurotic and a sadist -- so I always look for the flaws, the bad reviews, the nights when the ratings weren't there, to convince myself the show has never caught on. But I would be hard-pressed to deny that we've been successful. I think the breakthrough moment was seeing the cast on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. I read that magazine religiously as a kid, and seeing the show on the cover really landed for me.But I guess it was also when George Lucas was on the show and I got to pick him up at the airport -- it was just me, and him, and his daughter (who was a teenager and fan of the show). She asked me, "What's it like to have created something that so many people watch and are obsessed with?" And I'm sitting there thinking, "Uh, your Dad created 'Star Wars'? And you're asking me?" So that was surreal. George Lucas is awesome, by the way. Nicest guy ever.
I've never been a big ESPN fan...minus those days as freshmen sports editor, but this is a great feature, esp. since it deals so little with sports and embraces the OC. Well at least with this one.