News Reporter: Act Four: We need more great political comedies right now. Here are four people who should make them.

Alyssa Rosenberg on culture and politics

From left, Kumail Nanjiani (seated), T.J. Miller, Thomas Middleditch (seated), Zach Woods and Martin Starr in “Silicon Valley.” (John P. Johnson/HBO via Associated Press)

In a piece last week, I noted that David Simon is in the very early stages of working on a potential show about the dysfunction of Capitol Hill for HBO. We’re a long way from that show becoming a reality; Simon’s next series, “The Deuce,” hasn’t even premiered yet. But the news did make me think about whom I’d love to see make a comedy about political Washington as it is right now; “Veep” is great, but this moment of comedy and tragedy demands an even broader response:

Mike Judge: I’ve been rewatching “Silicon Valley” in preparation for the premiere of the new season, and even more so than “Idiocracy,” Judge’s portrait of a one-industry town full of perverse incentives, an insular media culture, profiteers whose images are based more on spin than actual accomplishments and ambitious nerds is proof that he would be a masterful chronicler of a political system that seems to be in the midst of a nervous breakdown.
Issa Rae or Lena Dunham: These two very different auteurs have made sharp television series about the travails of young professionals. I’d love to see them tackle the earnestness of young people who move to Washington who hope to change the world, and are doing so in a city that increasingly has both the cultural advantages and economic stratifications of New York or Los Angeles. A show that treated entry-level congressional, think tank and media staffers like struggling young writers or aspiring rappers could capture the decline of American political institutions the same way Dunham captured the decline of publishing or Rae captured the odd culture of white nonprofit staffers working in communities of color.
Victor Fresco: I’d love to see Fresco make a show about Washington, not least because I hate “Santa Clarita Diet,” his zombie comedy for Netflix, and would love to see him working on anything else. “Better Off Ted,” his gone-too-soon corporate sitcom, is a perfect look at an organization that is run by a person with no ethics and maniacal goals, and the people who alternately resist her and give in to her charms. It was funny and incredibly dark, and that’s exactly what we need right now.