or once, the TV writers were content.

A quartet of showrunners agreed Wednesday during a Hollywood Radio & TV Society panel that the biz is experiencing a renaissance of sorts as such innovative new hits as Fox’s “Glee” and ABC’s “Modern Family” creatively refresh the industry.

“It was over — the sitcoms were disappearing,” “Mad Men” creator Matthew Weiner said. “Everything was being replaced with news magazines, there was all this terror about the marketplace … and here it is, coming back. It’s a good time to be watching TV.”

Weiner spoke during HRTS’ annual gathering of top writer-producers, joined by Steve Levitan (“Family”), Carter Bays (CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother”) and Ryan Murphy (“Glee”).

“All of us are in a shock that it did work,” Murphy said of “Glee,” which he said tested “in the middle” among Fox’s focus group. “Kevin Reilly and Peter Liguori said, ‘This is a bizarre show, but we really want to keep thinking outside the box because that’s what we think is going to be a big hit on network television now, not just the same old procedurals.’ ”

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