Get this: Three detectives are run out of their hometowns and find themselves stepping on each other’s toes in Westport, California. A wealthy local businessman uncovers the secrets that drove them from their own cities and, for mysterious reasons, blackmails them into working together. The Trace Agency is born.

What is it? A historical television drama set in a fictional city during the 1930s that draws on classic detective fiction to pit different styles of private eye against each other.

Showrunners’ Strategy? The writers should familiarize themselves with the history of the period, with classic hard-boiled fiction, and with the character notes and the secrets that drew them into the agency. From there, they should simply write…

Normally, I post a synopsis of seasons or episodes, but this concept is more mood- and character-driven. Obviously the first season would focus on the circumstances that lead to the creation of the Trace Agency, and the following seasons would reveal each detective’s dirty little secrets, but beyond that it’s the writing team’s creativity that would drive it forward. So, here are the character sketches:

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