Share
×
Inspirational Quotes
Authors
Professions
Topics
Tags
Quote
For me, most comedy scripts fail in the mechanical playing-out of the setup. They'll pay lip service to a moral lesson or a psychological progression.
Harold Ramis
Share
Change background
T
T
T
Change font
Original
TAGS & TOPICS
Harold Ramis
Age: 69 †
Born: 1944
Born: November 21
Died: 2014
Died: February 24
Actor
Comedian
Director
Film Actor
Film Director
Film Producer
Screenwriter
Television Actor
Writer
Chicago
Illinois
Harold Allen Ramis
Playing
Psychological
Comedy
Scripts
Moral
Lips
Fail
Setup
Service
Setups
Lessons
Progression
Failing
Mechanical
Pay
Lesson
More quotes by Harold Ramis
I did a comedy with Al Franken about his character Stuart Smalley, which was really about alcoholism and addiction and codependency. It had some painful stuff in it. When we showed it to focus groups, some of them actually said, If I want to see a dysfunctional family, I'll stay home.
Harold Ramis
I have no trouble selling out—I’m a benevolent hack, in a certain way—but I want to pander for something I believe in.
Harold Ramis
Most people live somewhere on the spectrum of anxiety and depression.
Harold Ramis
No matter what I have to say, I'm still trying to say it in comedic form.
Harold Ramis
You don't have to know much, just a little bit more than everybody else.
Harold Ramis
I've been directing for 25 years almost, and I've only directed nine films in that time because I like to be careful.
Harold Ramis
When you're a big enough part of the process that the Writers Guild gives you a lot of credit, that's a good thing. It tells me that I've had a significant impact on the film as a writer.
Harold Ramis
When a director writes, there's a compulsory arbitration. You have a right to challenge any of the arbitrators, but they pick three of four arbitrators who read all the drafts with no names attached and then allocate credit.
Harold Ramis
No one will laugh at how great things are for somebody.
Harold Ramis
I'm thinking of doing a marital comedy for one of the studios, but I want it to be so painful that it'll have a profound effect on married couples who see it together.
Harold Ramis
I've never taken a script to the stage or to principal photography and said, This is perfect. This is as good as it can possibly be. It's not Shakespeare, you know you know it can probably be better.
Harold Ramis
Somebody once told me that if you laugh at a George Bush joke, or you send an email cartoon to your friends that makes Bush look like a fool, you feel like you've done something significant. But really, what have you actually done? Just expressing contempt for your leaders doesn't really accomplish anything.
Harold Ramis
Never hit anyone in anger, unless you're absolutely sure you can get away with it.
Harold Ramis
Where's the great pay? Where's the travel? Where's the Winnebago, Goddamnit!
Harold Ramis
I think satire is a luxury of literate middle-class people. People who are well fed and relatively secure in their beds can laugh at their troubles. They can enjoy sitcoms. For those who aren't quite so lucky, well, the irony might be lost on them.
Harold Ramis
I'd rather do comedies that strike at some bigger ideas.
Harold Ramis
I'm a writer-director-actor, which I've always kind of enjoyed. I compared it to the Olympic biathlon. Not only can he cross-country ski, but he's a terrific marksman as well. I want people to say, You mean that writer performed a tracheotomy? That's right, I do everything.
Harold Ramis
Whenever a critic mentions the salary of an actor, I'm thinking, He's not talking about the movie.
Harold Ramis
At a certain point, you have to convince the actors that you've done the right thing. The way I work, if I can't convince them, I've got to move on. I can't coerce them or browbeat them.
Harold Ramis
First and foremost, you have to make the movie for yourself. And that's not to say, to hell with everyone else, but what else have you got to go on but your own taste and judgment?
Harold Ramis
