ARE YOU UP TO SPEC?

It seems to be in the TV writer zeitgeist at the moment (at least the out-of-work version) that everybody wants to know what to spec. And in the last week or so, people have been popping up with their thoughts, research and/or theories on what the prospects are for a brand spanking new spec. Alex at TV Calling has done some digging amongst those most likely to be reading the specs in question and has come up with a pretty solid list, broken down into categories.

Ms. Froley, former of Privileged, brings her practical experience to bear with this list of suggested spec shows. And intriguing array of shows as in one virtual breath she mentions both the very new and the mostly played out, while . I make no judgements on that, as I frequently roll the dice and try to spec stuff before they get popular (and hopefully they do become popular). It's fraught with hazards, but there are certainly rewards. She also mentions one my favorite methods of narrowing the field, by linking to this early list of Emmy frontrunners.

My thoughts on the subject go something like this: Why the hell are you wondering what to spec now!? Staffing season gets underway in -like- a month. What are you gonna do, dash off 52 pages of The Mentalist and hope it doesn't suck? This is a spec. It's supposed to get you a job and it's supposed to be fucking awesome. You should have written it months ago, had it read, reread and critiqued, then obsessed over every little detail...while working on your pilot. Cuz you need one.