I was a big football fan and I got to have a team that had all of the stars in the league. The show had wonderful actors and actresses, and it was filmed in a very unique way. Because of the size of the show, HBO would allow us to write all the scripts, and they would approve them all before the season began. Then we would shoot all 13 episodes-day games, night games, practices at each location, the stadium, the office. It meant that we only had to hire one set of extras to make the stadium appear full.
It was a tremendous undertaking. You’ve got 13 sets of wardrobe changes and character changes. One minute an actor had to be angry, the next minute sad. It was a very unique experience, but it was the only way that we could come close to staying on budget. And HBO was terrific. The usual network process is one show at a time and at the last minute. But HBO was secure enough with the script and the casting to let it work that way. It was really groundbreaking.