Sarah Michelle Gellar (by Joss Whedon): 'So I say we change the rule', 'Chosen', Buffy the Vampire Slayer - 2003

Aired 20 May 2003, USA

I hate this. I hate being here. I hate that you have to be here. I hate that there's evil and that I was chosen to fight it. I wish a whole lot of the time that I hadn't been. I know a lot of you wish I hadn't been, either. This isn't about wishes. This is about choices. I believe we can beat this evil. Not when it comes. Not when its army is ready. Now. Tomorrow morning, I'm opening the seal. I'm going down into the Hellmouth and I am finishing this once and for all. Right now, you're asking yourself what makes this different. What makes us anything more than a bunch of girls being picked off one by one? It's true. None of you have the power that Faith and I do. 

So here's the part where you make a choice. What if you could have that power, now? In every generation, one Slayer is born, because a bunch of men who died thousands of years ago made up that rule. They were powerful men. This woman is more powerful than all of them combined. So I say we change the rule. I say my power, should be *our* power. Tomorrow, Willow will use the essence of this scythe to change our destiny. From now on, every girl in the world who might be a Slayer, will be a Slayer. Every girl who could have the power, will have the power. Can stand up, will stand up. Slayers, every one of us. Make your choice. Are you ready to be strong?

Roseanne Barr: 'I learned that dreams don't work without action', Closing Monologue 'Into That Good Night Pt2' - 1997

Final episode aired 20 May 1997, USA

Everyone wonders where creative people get their inspiration.

Actually, I've found it's all around you. Take Leon for instance... Leon is not really as cool as I made him. He's the only gay guy I know who belongs to the Elk's Club... Then there's Scott. He really is a probate lawyer I met about a year ago and introduced to Leon. I guess I didn't get too creative there...

A lot of kids have called my son a nerd but, as I told him, they called Steven Spielberg a nerd too. A lot of times nerds are really artists who just listen to the beat of a different drum...

My mom came from a generation where women were supposed to be submissive about everything. I never bought into that, and I wish mom hadn't either. I wish she had made different choices. So I think that's why I made her gay. I wanted her to have some sense of herself as a woman... Oh yeah, and she's nuts...

My sister, in real life, unlike my mother, is gay. She always told me she was gay, but for some reason, I always pictured her with a man. She's been my rock, and I would not have made it this far without her. I guess Nancy's kind of my hero too... Cause she got out of a terrible marriage and found a great spiritual strength. I don't know what happened to that husband of hers but in my book I sent him into outer space...

When Becky brought David home a few years ago I thought, "This is wrong!" He was much more Darlene's type... When Darlene met Mark, I thought he went better with Becky... I guess I was wrong. But I still think they'd be more compatible the other way around. So in my writing, I did what any good mother would do. I fixed it...

I lost Dan last year when he had his heart attack. He's still the first thing I think about when I wake up and the last thing I think about before I go to sleep. I miss him... Dan and I always felt that it was our responsibility as parents to improve the lives of our children by 50% over our own. And we did. We didn't hit our children as we were hit, we didn't demand their unquestioning silence, and we didn't teach our daughters to sacrifice more than our sons. As a modern wife, I walked a tight rope between tradition and progress, and usually, I failed, by one outsider's standards or another's. But I figured out that neither winning nor losing count for women like they do for men. We women are the one's who transform everything we touch. And nothing on earth is higher than that.

My writing's really what got me through the last year after Dan died. I mean at first I felt so betrayed as if he had left me for another women. When you're a blue-collar woman and your husband dies it takes away your whole sense of security. So I began writing about having all the money in the world and I imagined myself going to spas and swanky New York parties just like the people on TV, where nobody has any real problems and everything's solved within 30 minutes. I tried to imagine myself as Mary Richards, Jeannie, That Girl. But I was so angry I was more like a female Steven Segal wanting to fight the whole world.

For a while I lost myself in food and a depression so deep that I couldn't even get out of bed till I saw that my family needed me to pull through so that they could pull through. One day, I actually imagined being with another man. But then I felt so guilty I had to pretend it was for some altruistic reason. And then Darlene had the baby, and it almost died. I snapped out of the mourning immediately, and all of my life energy turned into choosing life.

In choosing life, I realized that my dreams of being a writer wouldn't just come true; I had to do the work. And as I wrote about my life, I relived it, and whatever I didn't like, I rearranged. I made a commitment to finish my story even if I had to write in the basement in the middle of the night while everyone else was asleep. But the more I wrote, the more I understood myself and why I had made the choices I made, and that was the real jackpot. I learned that dreams don't work without action; I learned that no one could stop me but me. I learned that love is stronger than hate. And most important, I learned that God does exist. He and/or She is right inside you, underneath the pain, the sorrow, and the shame. I think I'll be a lot better now that this book is done.

Lisa Kudrow: 'It’s not just Reston speaking in code about gender, it’s everyone, yourself included', Scandal - 2013

aired 7 November 2013, USA

There’s something my grandmother used to do whenever I’d start dating someone. I would tell her his name and she would say, ‘Oh, what part of town does he live in?’ That was her way of asking if my boyfriend was white. Oh yeah, my grandmother was an out and out racist, so I know what prejudice looks like. It’s not about experience, James, it’s about gender. Reston’s saying I don’t have the balls to be president and he means that literally. It’s offensive. It’s offensive to me and to all the women and to all the women whose votes he’s asking for.

“I’m sorry, are you saying Governor Reston is sexist?”

Yes, yes I am. It’s not just Reston speaking in code about gender, it’s everyone, yourself included.

“Excuse me?

The only reason we’re doing this interview in my house is because you requested it. This was your idea and yet here you are thanking me for inviting you into my lovely home. That’s what you say to the neighbor lady who baked you chocolate chip cookies. This pitcher of iced tea isn’t even mine, it’s what your producer set here. Why? Same reason you called me a Real Life Cinderella Story. It reminds people that I’m a woman without having to use the word. For you it’s an angle, I get that and I’m sure you think it’s innocuous, but it’s not.

“Congresswoman Marcus…”

Don’t interrupt me when I’m speaking. You’re promoting stereotypes James. You’re advancing this idea that women are weaker than men. You’re playing right into the hands of Reston and into the hands of every other imbecile who thinks a woman isn’t fit to be Commander and Chief. Yes Governor I’m talking about you. Seven years I served in the United States Army, which is seven more years than Governor Reston ever served. A fact you conveniently omitted from my intro. How about soldier, Lieutenant ...

“Yeah that was an oversight, I’m sorry.”

Dixie Carter (Linda Bloodworth-Thomason): 'The night the lights went out in Georgia', Designing Women - 1986

1986, Series one - 'The Beauty Pageant'

Julia: I'm Julia Sugarbaker, Suzanne Sugarbaker's sister. I couldn't help over hearing part of your conversation.

Marjorie: Well, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was here.

Julia: Yes, and I gather from your comments there are a couple of other things you don't know, Marjorie. For example, you probably didn't know that Suzanne was the only contestant in Georgia pageant history to sweep every category except congeniality, and that is not something the women in my family aspire to anyway. Or that when she walked down the runway in her swimsuit, five contestants quit on the spot. Or that when she emerged from the isolation booth to answer the question, "What would you do to prevent war?" she spoke so eloquently of patriotism, battlefields and diamond tiaras, grown men wept. And you probably didn't know, Marjorie, that Suzanne was not just any Miss Georgia, she was THE Miss Georgia. She didn't twirl just a baton, that baton was on fire. And when she threw that baton into the air, it flew higher, further, faster than any baton has ever flown before, hitting a transformer and showering the darkened arena with sparks! And when it finally did come down, Marjorie, my sister caught that baton, and 12,000 people jumped to their feet for sixteen and one-half minutes of uninterrupted thunderous ovation, as flames illuminated her tear-stained face! And that, Marjorie — just so you will know — and your children will someday know ---is the night the lights went out in Georgia!

Josh Charles (written by Aaron Sorkin): Dan's apology, 'I just want to say, I'm sorry Sam', Sports Night - 1998

to air 29 September 1998, USA

Dan: This network, the Continental Sports Channel, has asked me to clarify some remarks I made in a publication that hit your newsstands this morning. It is possible that one could come away from this article with the impression that I don't believe that drugs are a desctructive and deadly force on our culture, our economy and on the lives of our children. (long pause)
Natalie: Uh-oh.
Dave: Talk to me Dana.
Dana: Stay with him.
Natalie: Casey, be ready to take us to commercial.
Isaac: Come on Daniel.
Dan: I have a younger brother named Sam. Sam's a genius. I mean literally. As a kid, he tested off the charts. The first computer I ever had, he built from a kit he bought earning money tutoring other kids in math. He's energetic and articulate, curious and funny. A great source of pride to our parents. And there's no doubt that he'd be living a great life right now, except for that he's dead. 'Cuz when you're 14 years old, all you ever really wanna be when you grow up is your 16 year old brother, and in my case that meant smoking a lot of dope. The day I went off to college, was the day that Sam got his driver's license and he celebrated by taking a drive with some of his friends... drunk and high as a paper kite. He never saw the red light that he ran, and he probably never saw the 18 wheel truck that put him in the side of a brick bank either. (pause) That was 11 years ago tonight. And I just wanted to say, I'm sorry Sam. You deserved better in my hands. And I apologize. (deep breath) That's it. Casey and I will be right back after this with the American League wrap up. You're watching Sports Night on CSC, so don't go away.
Dave: We're out. (Starland Vocal Band's Afternoon Delight begins)

Christopher Ecclestone (by Stephen Russell Davies): 'You stupid people. It’s finally happened. Heaven’s empty. And Hell’s bursting at the seams'', 'The Second Coming' - 2003

On air 9 February 2003, UK

Jeff Daniels (written by Aaron Sorkin): 'America is not the greatest country in the world anymore', The Newsroom - 2012

Release date: 24 June 2012, HBO

Will
It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.

Moderator
[pause] You're saying—

Will
Yes.

Moderator
Let's talk about—

Will
Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore.

Will
[to moderator] Enough?

Related content: Aaron Sorkin, Syracuse commencement, 'Welcome to the NFL'

" There's a story about a man and a woman who have been married for 40 years.  One evening at dinner the woman turns to her husband and says, "You know, 40 years ago on our wedding day you told me that you loved me and you haven't said those words since." They sit in silence for a long moment before the husband says "If I change my mind, I'll let you know." "

Video and full transcript of speech