Sports Night (TV Series)

Cliff Gardner (1999)

Robert Mailhouse: J.J.

Quotes 

• Sam Donovan : Take a walk with me, will ya?

  J.J. : Where?

  Sam Donovan : It's a surprise. You guys know who Philo Farnsworth was?

  J.J. : Philo Farnsworth?

  Sam Donovan : Yeah.

  J.J. : What's going on?

  Sam Donovan : He invented television. I don't mean he invented television like Uncle Milty. I mean he invented the television in a little house in Provo, Utah, at a time when the idea of transmitting moving pictures through the air would be like me saying I figured out a way to beam us aboard the starship Enterprise.

  J.J. : Yeah, look, I - I -

  Sam Donovan : He was a visionary. He died broke and without fanfare. The guy I really like though was his brother-in-law, Cliff Gardner. He said, "Philo, I know everyone things you're crazy, but I want to be a part of this. I don't have your head for science, so I'm not going to be able to help much with the design and mechanics of the invention, but it sounds like you're going to need glass tubes."

  Femal advisor : J.J., I-I don't think -

  Sam Donovan : You see, Philo was inventing the cathode receptor, and even though Cliff didn't know what that meant or how it worked, he'd seen Philo's drawing, and he knew that he was gonna need glass tubes. And since television hadn't been invented yet, it's not like you could get them at the local TV repair shop. "I want to be a part of this," Cliff said. "I don't have your head for science. How would it be if I were to teach myself to be a glass blower? And I could set up a little shop in the backyard. And I could make all the tubes you'll need for testing." There ought to be Congressional Medals for people like that.

  Male advisor : Maybe so -

  Sam Donovan : I've looked over the notes you've been giving over the last year or so, and I have to say they exhibit an almost total lack of understanding of how to get the best from talented people.

  Femal advisor : Excuse me, but -

  Sam Donovan : You said before that for whatever reason, I seem to be able to exert some authority around here. I assure you it's not 'cause they like me. It's 'cause they knew two minutes after I walked in the door I'm someone who knows how to do something. I can help. I can make glass tubes. That's what they need. One last thing, the first and last decision-making authority on this show will rest with Isaac Jaffee until Isaac Jaffee says otherwise, and if you disrespect him in my presence again, I will rededicate the rest of my life to ruining the rest of yours. And if you think I'm just mouthing at you, you should ask around about me. I have absolutely no conscience about these things.

  J.J. : Sam, why did you bring us out here?

  Sam Donovan : Because there's the exit. That's it. The meeting's over.