Billy Lawrence quotes:

Part of walking the line as showrunner is trying to please people and still be true to what you believe creatively.

Fans can't ruin shows. Only creators can.

The only way to keep a show alive is to stay loyal to your fans and not betray them creatively or ignore them when it comes to extra content. I'm on Twitter because I'm trying to answer their questions.

I'm done with the shows about "women got murdered by husband." My wife watches them constantly, but it makes me want to kill myself. They serve no purpose. They're not news shows. They just exploit all of these murder victims.

Until I created my own shows, I had nothing but bad experiences on staffs.

The writing is what's most important to me.

If something's working, you lean into it. You don't fight it.

One of the things I'm proud of is my ability to change directions if something's not working.

You have to lean into the turn. On every creative aspect, you have to lean into what's working.

In a landscape where a 2.8 [demo rating] keeps you on the air, you can maintain that just by treating your fans with respect.

It's a nightmare of editing. That's what I do all day.

By engaging someone for five minutes, you can make them a lifelong fan.

I am done with the hour-long [true crime] shows: "She was a happy married wife. Everything was perfect. Until the trip to Aruba."

When you're on a staff, it's not your job to write what you think is funny. It's your job to write what the person who created the show thinks is funny.

Any time you try to be edgy just for the sake of being edgy, that's the worst way.

With showrunning, the more successful you get, the more you're pulled away from the writing.

I used to search and search for that actor or actress who's exactly what's in my head. But you have to realize you have to cast whoever's super talented and super funny, and then the character has to become at least partially theirs.

I never went after character payments. I'm pretty much terrible at naming characters, so I usually name them after people I know.