'The Writers' Room' review: Inside look, not much insight

You want answers, "The Writers' Room" has 'em. Some of 'em. Maybe not the ones you wanted. Probably some you never even pondered.

But that's the deal when you put four-to-eight tube creatives around a conference table, and ask them to tell you how they do what they do. Or at least to chat/banter about it, guided by the host wit of actor-writer Jim Rash ("Community"). Monday's premiere half-hour, assembling creator Vince Gilligan's sprawling brain trust for "Breaking Bad," really does capture the mood inside TV scripters' quirky communal space.

You thought writers just sat down solo and typed their imaginings? Nope, not when a series requires a yearslong throughline plus a new episode every week. TV writing staffs brainstorm together in conference rooms typically dreary and claustrophobic (but here, recreated in the studio, suddenly roomy and well-lit). They're cooped up to hash out what happens next in the perpetual plotland that is scripted television. Like anything involving corralled humans, the process is chaotic, bruising, energizing, enervating, often inexplicable. Yet peculiarly productive.

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Maybe it's the sort of series from which you weekly glean a little bit more, with everything ultimately coalescing into deeper understanding. Or maybe it's just fun to find the story behind "Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston's funky wrap-party tattoo.