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" The first Emmys I went to was in 1990 when the five nominees for best comedy were 'Designing Women,' 'Golden Girls,' 'Murphy Brown,' 'Cheers,' 'Wonder Years.' Three and a half were created by women. "

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" The Kennedy Center Honors reflects our humanity and higher purpose. We are a great nation, in part, because we value culture. "

Nell Scovell

Purpose

Humanity

Value

" Together, we must all remember that one of the most effective responses to hate speech is more speech. "

" In TV, you look to make characters consistent, but in real life, we're not consistent. Sometimes we're brave, and sometimes we're not. Sometimes we're very aggressive, and sometimes we back right down. "

" When threatened, the nervous system sometimes goes into a 'freeze response.' You assess the risk and determine that fight or flight doesn't help you. Staying put does. "

" I think I'm funnier in my writing than in person. "

" There's this perception that there's a pipeline problem for women and people of color. I don't buy into that. I think we have a broken doorbell problem, and there are plenty of women and people of color standing at the doorstep trying to get in the door, and nobody's opening it. "

" Jenny McCarthy has used her celebrity and sex appeal to attract attention to autism. And while no one questions McCarthy's determination and passion, many scientists have debunked her anti-vaccine message and her claims that a gluten-free diet can provide a cure. "

" I've been speaking out about harassment and gender disparity for years. "

" We have so many great memoirs from women in front of the camera, from Tina Fey, Mindy Kaling, Amy Poehler, and Amy Schumer. "

" Like Lindsay Lohan and Lauren Conrad, Barack Obama is addicted to his BlackBerry. "

Nell Scovell

Barack Obama

Blackberry

" My first joke that ever aired on 'Late Night' was for a list of 'Top 10 Least Popular Summer Camps.' My contribution - 'Camp Tick in beautiful Lyme, Connecticut' - squeaked in at No. 10. Like a trip to Camp Tick, my time at 'Late Night' faded into memory like a short session at a dicey summer camp. "

" It's notoriously difficult to get actors to go on record speaking about other actors. Such requests are usually met with terse replies from publicists explaining that their clients are on set and too busy to reply. "

Nell Scovell

Busy

Clients

" At 26, I was single, living in Manhattan, and working as a journalist at 'Vanity Fair.' I was Carrie Bradshaw... in sensible shoes. "

" I think empathy is undervalued in a lot of these comedy writers' rooms. "

" When you start a memoir, you think, 'I'm going to blast all the people who were mean to me.' And then you start writing, and you go, actually, it's so much more fun to say nice things about people who were kind and generous to you. "

Nell Scovell

Start

Fun

" Sensitivity training is a fine idea but isn't taken seriously by those who need it most. "

" To be happy about the fall of one powerful man is to know there are another 10 that need to follow. "

" Everyone - male and female - is biased. But no one wants to admit it, so our brains search for examples that disprove the accusation. "

Nell Scovell

Everyone

Our

" An executive producer with an all-male writing staff once inadvertently revealed his deep, dark fear. While discussing a full-time position for me, he mused out loud, 'I wonder if having a woman in the room will change everything.' Of course, what he really meant was: 'I wonder if having a woman in the room will change me.' "

Nell Scovell

Fear

Writing

" My criticisms of late-night TV blew up some old friendships and sparked some new ones. "

" I was ahead of the gender curve, but I wasn't ahead of the intersectionality curve, and I get it now. It's important to me. "

Nell Scovell

Now

Gender

" Male writers don't want to be judged in the room. They want to be able to scarf an entire bag of potato chips while cracking fart jokes and making lewd comments without fear of feminine disapproval. But we're your co-workers, not your wives. "

" When I write, I feel like an optometrist, constantly flipping between lenses and asking, 'Is this better? Is this?' Slowly, the work comes into focus. "

Nell Scovell

Focus

Work

" I fantasize about the networks making a rule that each show's writing staff needs to reflect the gender and racial makeup of its audience. "

" By June 1990, I'd racked up 'written by' credits on both 'Newhart' and 'The Simpsons.' "

Nell Scovell

The Simpsons

Written

" Unfortunately, my system for tracking down funny female writers isn't methodical. It's mainly based on word-of-mouth, which can cast a limited net. "

" Smash together the Grammys, Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys, and you get the Green Room at the Kennedy Center Honors. "

" Give me a rock, and I will roll it. "

Nell Scovell

Give

Give Me

" Studies do show that in hierarchical structures, you do get more harassment. There's more power concentrated at the top, which means there's more abuse of power concentrated at the top. And every TV show is very much a hierarchy. "

" In Hollywood, you kind of trick yourself into feeling like you have impact. "