Do you know what our suicide rate would be if we didn’t have television? Do you know how much happiness I’ve brought to people who couldn’t get out of the house but could watch Love Boat?
It’s been a straight strip, I must tell you, I’ve enjoyed it all the way. If I’m saying things to make it sound like it’s hard, hard work, it’s not. It’s beautiful work. It’s fun work. It’s everything you’d ever want to do.
But it’s true, when you see some television, you carry it with you. It’s like 90210. Tell me what young shows were being done then… We were thrilled about the ratings around the world.
Now I’ve even gotten to running out to the fan buses that pass by our house, so I can talk to the people. I think I’m trying to gather fans, frankly. They’re very, very nice people – they really understand. It’s fun talking to them.
I must tell you, I haven’t done the drug problem that is faced by cops and people on the border. It’s a hard show to do, but I think it’s going to say a lot about drugs and the problems related to them. I just hope people can watch it, it’s a pretty strong show.
But, I don’t know, the violence, I can’t even talk about. We don’t do a lot of violent shows. When I started in television, breaking a pencil was a violent act.
Nowadays people always say, ‘How come he’s doing such young shows?’ But they never mention ‘The Mod Squad’. I was very proud of that show. It’s the first time an African-American guy kissed a white girl.
