Eighty writers in one small room

Holy Toledo. The first night of the LA TV Writers meet-up / get-together / hoe-down / shindig was:

1. Wonderful
2. Packed (60 people? 80? more)
3. Kinda scary, actually

Scary in that there are so many talented, driven people out there, all trying to get those few, precious jobs. Of course, the scary was totally drowned out by the fact that, for once, everyone in the room was walking around proudly saying "I'm a TV writer".

The question of the night was not "What do you do?" but "What are you writing?"

Here are the hot specs of the season, as determined by me in my wholly unscientific poll of all the people I talked to.

In comedy, Samantha Who? and 30 Rock are the clear winners.

In drama, I spoke to several Dexters and Friday Night Lights, a couple of Pushing Daisies, a Mad Men or two, and one House. Everyone agreed that there was no definitive drama this year, and we could pretty much write whatever we want.

The bloggers were out in force. Amanda was there, of course. And Josh. But I also got to meet Our Man in Los Angeles, Red Right Hand, and Writerling. I know I’m missing out at least a few others. Damn this short-term memory. Check Josh's blog for a more complete list.

**Update**

More bloggers who where there. Susanna, who has a cute picture of the event, and Hollie, who I didn't get to meet.

**End update**

I met people who had been Writers on the Verge, ABC Fellows, NBC Fellows, and Warner Workshoppers. I met someone who had just sold their pilot, and people who had done freelance episodes for shows, and people who were looking for their next staff job. I also met a few people who were writing their very first TV spec ever. There was range in that room, baby.

Writers were getting groups together and talking about agents and sharing tips on how to be funny and talking about the future of TV on the internet (not to be confused with TV on the Radio) and trying to decide if there were any shows that were just too damn arc-y to spec... we were pontificating, ruminating, and often spouting complete and utter crap. It was marvelous. Weirdly, not one person asked me what I thought of Dr Horrible's Sing-along Blog (love it, obviously).

In my attempt to talk to everybody (didn't even come close), I also met actors, agents, assistants, insurance adjusters, internists (the medical kind)… all connected with TV in some way or another. And judging by the wide mix of colors, genders, and ages in the room, the diversity initiative people have nothing to worry about with their next generation of writers. We come in all shapes and sizes and from all backgrounds.

And we all have stories to tell.