"I've had a lot of people tell me they wish I were their principal."

"Teachers are out there with a very difficult job, which they pursue with tireless dedication."

"It is a different genre - a show about something other than doctors, lawyers and cops. Teachers are something completely different. I think it makes for very interesting television."

"Let's be real: It's just TV; it's just entertainment."

"I was working at a phone company. I got tired of my life and wanted to change it, so I did."

"In movies, I have had the opportunity of working with some of the people that I respect very much."

"I had spent many years before I was 31 hearing people tell me, Oh Man, you're so funny, you need to be in television. But that and a quarter won't get you on a bus."

"There is a lot going on in high schools, and I think what we portray is fairly accurate."