When Jeffrey Stepakoff was graduating with an MFA in playwriting, he imagined a life in the New York theater--writing for the "boob tube" didn't even cross his mind. But he ended up in L.A. in the late 80's, when television writers were experiencing a gold rush. After the billion-dollar syndication of Seinfeld, when studios were paying astronomical amounts of money to writers to create the next Friends or ER, the TV writer was a hot commodity. He found himself meeting with big agents, inside primetime story rooms, and making more money than he'd ever thought possible. Stepakoff takes us inside the industry to explain what we're watching and why by exploring the growing problems of media consolidation, the effects of interference from executives, the lack of diversity, and what reality television is doing to quality scripted television.--From publisher description.