Liz Meriwether, Please be my friend

Josh Haner/The New York Times

When I finally figured out there was a job that combined all my strengths; that didn't ask me to choose between  being a writer and a producer-- in fact, happily blurred that line-- it felt more like vindication than revelation. See? I thought. I didn't have project or purpose attention deficit disorder. There was (is!) a whole, special, powerful position for people exactly like me! Ideas people! Bossy people!


Showrunner. It just sounds good doesn't it? It's your show. Your idea. And you run that shit. You control the arc, make the final decisions, weigh in on all the important matters, but you have a whole room full of people to handle some of those nuts and bolts issues. Transitions. The episode to episode. Amazing.


I had my show idea. (Still have it.) Had it two and half years ago. I knew what to do. But of course, a few years ago, I had a lot of people in my ear saying 'you can't be a showrunner at your age.' Or without previous television credits. 


Enter Liz Merriwether. A playwright and messy dabbler who graduated from Yale the same year I graduated from Rice. Another blonde who loves politics, weird people, and sometimes feels like she should have been born Jewish (past life?) 


In one fell swoop, she went from playwright to Obama firee to screenwriter (of rom com No Strings Attached) to New Girl showrunner. (I'm sure I'm simplifying, but that's part of the fun, right?) Is she in over her head? Probably. Does she sleep in her office? Yes. Either way, it seems to be paying off. 


I don't watch New Girl and in fact, don't want to. Maybe because I don't want to be influenced?  Perhaps I should just bite the bullet and do it. Is this stuff probably the best stuff Liz Meriwether is going to do in her career? Probably not. And that's a good thing. Just think of where she's starting and where she might go. And bless her for doing it. 


Mostly, I just want to say to Liz Meriwether: thank you. Thank you, Liz for being exactly who you are. For being the glaring example, the name I blurt out spastically whenever anyone talks about "starting over" in film and TV in Los Angeles. Also, Liz, do you want to be my new best friend? Call me. 


And finally, thanks yet again for this quote: 

As she balances the logistic and creative challenges of parallel careers in New York and Los Angeles, Ms. Meriwether remains determined to pursue both theater and Hollywood. “I don’t think I’d be satisfied leaving the theater,” she said. “But I’m really getting a taste of what it is to do both.”

Do it all. More is more, bitches.