Prior to 'The Shield,' basic cable was just a wasteland of reruns and NASCAR. When we came along, I think there was a collective, 'Hey, if they can do that, why can't we?' from the basic-cable networks of the world. We ended up being the cornerstone for a network, and a great one.

Chiklis had been developing the project since February 2008 after he and his wife became victims of a Ponzi scheme themselves. Philanthropy
Chiklis has participated in celebrity Texas Hold 'Em tournaments to benefit comedian Brad Garrett's charity foundation Maximum Hope. Chiklis has said in an NPR interview that this was a very traumatic experience as a young actor and is the reason he wore a hairpiece in Wired.

Some of the previous roles for which he is best known include Commissioner Tony Scali on the ABC police drama The Commish LAPD Detective Vic Mackey on the FX police drama The Shield the Thing in the Fantastic Four film series and Jim Powell on the ABC science-fiction comedy-drama No Ordinary Family. Michael Charles Chiklis (born August 30 1963) is an American actor director and television producer.