"Viewers can't expect TV to keep developing unless they make their wants known. And let's face it. The best way to make your wants known in this world is by 'beefing'"
About this Quote
The intent is pragmatic advocacy. As an actor who lived inside the TV machine, Bixby isn’t romantic about creativity simply blooming on its own. Networks respond to risk, ratings, sponsors, affiliates, the loudest mailbags. His line flatters the audience with agency while also indicting the system: if the “best way” to be heard is confrontation, that means polite preference gets filed away and ignored.
Subtextually, he’s defending the legitimacy of viewer dissatisfaction at a time when “quality TV” wasn’t a prestige brand but a gamble. In the three-network era, there were fewer alternatives and fewer niches; dissatisfaction couldn’t be solved by switching to a dozen other shows “for you.” You wrote letters, you called stations, you organized, you made noise.
What makes it work is the clash between the ideal (TV should evolve) and the reality (evolution requires friction). Bixby’s point isn’t that negativity is noble; it’s that in a market-driven culture, articulation without agitation is often indistinguishable from silence.
Quote Details
| Topic | Art |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Bixby, Bill. (2026, January 15). Viewers can't expect TV to keep developing unless they make their wants known. And let's face it. The best way to make your wants known in this world is by 'beefing'. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/viewers-cant-expect-tv-to-keep-developing-unless-170533/
Chicago Style
Bixby, Bill. "Viewers can't expect TV to keep developing unless they make their wants known. And let's face it. The best way to make your wants known in this world is by 'beefing'." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/viewers-cant-expect-tv-to-keep-developing-unless-170533/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Viewers can't expect TV to keep developing unless they make their wants known. And let's face it. The best way to make your wants known in this world is by 'beefing'." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/viewers-cant-expect-tv-to-keep-developing-unless-170533/. Accessed 11 Feb. 2026.





