Trend Alert: TV Rides The Bubble

Living out here in housing-obsessed Los Angeles, it was only a matter of time before writers and network execs started coming up with TV dramas about our insane real estate market.

And indeed, I think we're on the verge of another trend. (And only slightly less gory than TV's current fascination with all things forensic.) In today's Variety, for example, Joe reports on the script "Westside," which ABC is close to picking up.

The project, from writer Silvio Horta, is described as "Nip/Tuck" meets "L.A. Law" in the real estate world:

"Westside" will focus on an upscale real estate agency specializing in high-end homes on L.A.'s Westside. At least three of the main characters will be related by blood, with the office setting fleshing out the family feel of the show.

"I noticed this incredible competitiveness among not only the people trying to buy the houses, but also between the agents themselves, with their various tactics and sometimes loose ethics," Horta said.

According to Horta, real estate agents sometimes refer to the four Ds of the biz: death, divorce, disease and destitution. All four can trigger a home sale or purchase, leading to what Horta calls the fifth D: drama.

That's not the only show in the works about Los Angeles' real estate market. Actor Stephen Dorff is developing a drama at HBO, along with "King of the Hill" alums Alan Cohen and Alan Freedland, about four thirtysomething agents who compete in the cutthroat world of L.A. Realtors.

I wrote about it back in June:

Dorff said he'll likely star as one of the main characters. The actor-producer calls it a cross between "Glengarry Glen Ross" and "Swingers."

"Real estate identifies with change in one's life: success, failure, marriage, death," Dorff said.

I still haven't shared our own horror story with you guys; In this sellers' market, escrow can be a pretty painful process. You want the house? Then you're truly at the seller's mercy. And if they're evil (as our seller was), then the ride is all the more terrible.