Photo by rjs1322.

I know for a fact that this town is full of good writers. And I assume that at least one of them has to have a better idea for a fictional television show set inside the District than the kind of ideas which have been hitting the news as of late.

Take for example “Georgetown,” a pilot of which has apparently been ordered by ABC. “The primetime soap is about young people behind the power brokers of D.C.,” explains the Hollywood Reporter. Did the producers not see The Real World? (I know for a fact that Martin isn’t doing any more of those bulletpoint recaps without some kind of hazard pay.) Even our fake pitches stink! During a confab with a group of television executives, producers and agents the other day, Mayor Vince Gray jokingly (I think) pitched the following idea:

“All of you know this country was [founded] on a very successful resistance to taxation without representation, and that is exactly what we have here in the District of Columbia,” WaPo TeamTV’s Emily Yahr reports from the RealScreen Summit.

“We pay $3.6-billion in federal taxes and have absolutely no voting representation in the legislative body. That is a great story and we would be happy to connect with you and talk to you about that.

“Think about it. We send our sons and our daughters and our relatives out to fight wars in far away places to establish democracy, in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. And when those folks come home — and sometimes they don’t come home — but when they do come home, they come back to a place that itself [doesn’t] practice democracy. It is a great story.”

That sure sounds like one uplifting hour of television there, Mr. Mayor. Not that it wouldn’t find plenty of company among the long list of terrible shows that have taken place in this city.

So is Washington — outside of the White House or a fictional news office — just destined to never be the prime setting for an inspired, intelligent television show ever again?