1.
Stop doing that thing where characters hang up the phone without saying goodbye.
2.
Put a moratorium on pairing teenage girls with love interests who are in their twenties.
3.
And on white dude antiheroes who treat everyone around them poorly but who are really good at their jobs.
4.
Make an effort to think of romantic drama that doesn't always involve love triangles.
5.
Have more bisexual and pansexual characters actually say the words out loud.
6.
Enact more diversity across the board.
7.
Know that it's OK to write out those annoying supporting characters.
8.
Nominate more sci-fi and fantasy shows for Emmys when they wow us creatively.
9.
Make more space in the landscape for the kinds of voices who aren't often given the chance to speak to the masses.
10.
Understand that comedy doesn't have to be mean to be funny and worthwhile.
11.
And that kind characters can be just as complex and interesting as gritty antiheroes.
12.
Take a breather from breaking up couples just to draw out a plot line.
13.
Never introduce another surprise love child.
14.
Maybe stop killing female characters to advance the storylines of male characters.
15.
And maybe don't kill every character whose actor decides to leave the show.
16.
Think up dramatic stories for characters that involve less sexual assault.
17.
Use less voiceover as exposition — unless you’re as good at it as Jane the Virgin.
18.
Make more Shonda Rhimeses.
19.
Let shows decide how many episodes actually work for the story they're trying to tell.
20.
Basically stop living under the rules of ye olden days make some stuff that really screams 2k16.
21.
Oh, and make a Harlem Renaissance prestige series.
