Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
I come from standup and improv.
I don't believe in love at first sight.
I wrote on the fourth season of 'Arrested Development.'
Probably around junior high, I became obsessed with films.
I always liked the 'Mad Men' philosophy where people don't really change.
I love watching movies. That's, like, my favorite thing to do with friends.
I would never turn down an invitation to co-write another Pee-wee Herman movie!
Conflict comes from a person's own actions, not what someone else does to them.
Being sincere and true to yourself is a scary thing but, ultimately, a rewarding one.
It made me proud to know I'd join a long gallery of actors covered in blood in movies.
My sweet spot, the stuff I like the most, is hopeful melancholy. Optimistic melancholy.
I want to give every single character the dimensions and complexity of a main character.
Writing on 'Love' is so steeped in self-analysis. The writer's room can feel like therapy.
I'm married now, but I fell in love with my wife because she was talented. Talent - it's the big one.
If you read scripts, you would see people rarely speak like that in real life, in complete sentences.
With so much of what I write, I'm just constantly wondering out loud, 'Do other people feel this way?'
Growing up in a small town, in the Midwest, and Catholic: Those are sort of three layers of repression.
A lot of the time, a comedy script is just dialogue, and that's the main thing you have to worry about.
Growing up in a small town, in the Midwest, and Catholic - those are sort of three layers of repression.
If I heard there was a new show, and the creators were writing about how they met, I would be like, "Pass!"
It's such a thrill in a relationship to be able to collaborate creatively. It's very romantic, and I like it.
I think the desire to be funny was a mixture of wanting to be liked but also wanting to throw your elbows a bit.
I think it's sort of rare in TV shows or movies to see people being vulnerable. That's sort of scary to an audience.
It's tough - and I'm not the first person to say this - but cliches exist because they actually happen in real life.
Me and my comedy writer friends talk a lot about how we love 'Die Hard,' but we'll never be able to write 'Die Hard.'
I grew up in Iowa, so I would go hunting. I took a hunter's safety course in eighth grade to get extra credit in school.
Scott Aukerman and Judd Apatow are two people who I owe a lot to, and it's always great to work with Scott whenever I can.
'Cannonball Run II' - you watch that, and it looks like they're having a good time, but it's not necessarily a masterpiece.
The Magic Castle is not a place that people know nationally, but as soon as you move to L.A., you hear people talk about it.
Judd Apatow and Paul Reubens are two people who I'd be more than happy to learn from because I think they're geniuses at what they do.
I try not to rely on pop culture references as a crutch for jokes, because then, I think, that's when the timelessness quality is lost.
Growing up in Iowa, there weren't many people who looked like me. And then when I moved out to L.A., every guy in comedy looked like me.
It's funny; before I started writing professionally, I had a job logging video footage for behind-the-scenes footage for special features.
I think a lot of nights together have been spoiled by somebody not being able to find a parking spot and saying, "Why don't we just go home?"
It's a lot of people's goal to be the lead in a movie, and that was never my goal. I just wanted to be the third banana in an ensemble comedy.
In your 20s, you're checking your bank account to make sure you're not broke. In your 30s, you're looking at yourself and realizing you're broken.
If I'm not emotionally stable, should I put myself in a relationship? Because wouldn't that mean that I'm just using it as a distraction from my problems?
Every day, I thanked my lucky stars that I got to work with Gillian Jacobs, who is such an amazing actor and brings so much depth to everything that we do.
With Quentin Tarantino, he makes movies imagining himself as the audience. To be specific and true to what he wants resonates to people who like his movies.
The first text I ever got was somebody breaking plans on a first date. That was, like, the worst way to be introduced to a new technology is with rejection.
Things are constantly in flux and changing, and as crazy-making as that can be, it's also the thing that can get you through tough times - 'Well, things change.'
Some people have interpreted the title of the show - 'Love' - as ironic. For me, it's sincere. The idea that we have to agree with love is a genuine statement about love.
The first three times we met, I don't think I remembered anything. I was just in this daze like, 'Oh my gosh, I'm sitting here with Paul Reubens.' And I kept almost calling him Pee-wee.
Most relationships probably start with people going, 'Meh, it's probably best not to be embarking in this relationship.' We do it, though, because our brains are wired to make babies or whatever.
Certainly on a date, I've been over-focused on, 'Is this person comfortable or not?' and then deciding for them that they are not comfortable and I will help them, which is death for a first date.
If you watch most of the stuff on TV and in movies, it's usually put-down humor. It's like somebody being mean or cynical or thoughtless to another person. I never wanted to be that type of comedian.
A lot of the day-to-day, minute-to-minute struggles are a bit more taken care of, so it allows you to start asking more existential questions like, "What do I want in life? What's going to make me happy?"
I gotta say, the Catholic Church has churned out a lot of great artists and directors and actors, so if that's all they do, that's fine by me. If they're good at churning out tortured artists, that's great!
I was such a fan of Quentin's growing up. I remembered I wanted to see 'Pulp Fiction' so badly, but my mom had seen it, and even though she loved it, she just thought it wasn't appropriate for a 13-year-old.
At one point, I just decided that it might be more creatively rewarding to put my time into writing on stuff that I could really be proud of rather than trying to get a one-episode part on 'Modern Family' or something.