RON'S ACCEPTANCE SPEECH

"You're looking at a very, very lucky guy and I want to tell you why. Probably 80, 85, maybe 90 percent of the reasons why people get jobs and do work in our industry are for reasons other than noble ones.

Every once in a while something comes along that you are able to feel passion for, passionate about, exercise that passion for, and when that happens you are a member of a very select few in this industry, or any industry, who gets to go and apply one's passion. It is no secret to any of the people here that Beauty and the Beast is that experience for me. I can only say that every single person who works on our show, to the man, applies their passion week in and week out.

There are some things that you learn when you do a one hour, one camera filmed show, because I've done theatre, I've done film, I've done standup, I've done the Tonight Show (laughter). One hour, one camera filmed television is physically impossible. Twenty two one hour movies a year for nine months is not true; you can't do it. In order to do it you're pushed up against the wall of everything that there is about you. You are asked to go to the limits of yourself physically, emotionally, spiritually, in every way. You find certain things out about yourself that you would not find out under experiences that were not extraordinary and some of these things are rather unpleasant, some of these things are rather pleasant, but you become reveletized. That's not a word - I just made it up (laughter). Speaking impromptu - I try never to do it because it terrorizes me. I'm doing it here tonight because I think there is a real exchange that's gone on between myself and this group, but I'll get back to that in a while.

The thing that I found out about myself that I am the most proud of is that I have always known that I have had obsessive shadings to my personality, but one of my obsessions is that it (the show) be as good as it can be and I am standing before a group of people who have come into being to promote that principle, promote the courage, and to make possible activity around those concepts in an industry that sometimes forgets to do that or doesn't need to do that.

That's why I'm here tonight. I'm here because Viewers For Quality Television is a miracle for us at Beauty and the Beast, for shows that like Mr Cannell said, are not derivative, that try to stand alone, to be pioneers to perhaps other beast shows in the future (laughter). But I'm really not here to get this award. I'm here because we have similar goals. I salute you as you have saluted me. Thank you very much."