08: Thoughts on the L Word

Wednesday, April 06, 2005

Two years ago, word was leaked out into the media about the creation of a Queer as Folk type show focusing on lesbians. The show was much hyped long before its premiere in early 2004. Queer as Folk changed the look of cable television with the showing of blatant gay male sex. It didn't hold back, and it brought gay men and their relationships to the forefront. With the creation of Queer as Folk, seeing gays interact in a romantic manner became more and more acceptable. Soon it was being seen not just on our cable networks, but on our regular stations during the nightly prime time hours. Even with this opening of the world for gay men, the television world was still a bit closed off when it came to lesbians, and the hope was that with the creation of a show that showed lesbian women, their relationships and their lives that things would open up in that respect.

The L Word premiered in early 2004, and the response to it was staggering. By the time the second episode aired, the show was already renewed for its second season, and film dates were being set. The show followed the lives of a group of lesbians living in the city of Los Angeles. Unlike the dark grittiness of Queer as Folk, you had sunshine and palm trees. The show didn't have your stereotypical lesbian. There were different types. A lesbian for everybody, so to speak.

The show began with the moving of one Jenny Schecter, a writer, to Los Angeles to live with her boyfriend. After a chance seeing of a woman couple having sex in the neighbor's pool, Jenny is intrigued. This becomes even more pronounced once she meets Marina at a party at the neighbor's house. Her world is rocked, and the rest of the season follows her trials and tribulations of having feelings for two people. One a man she is supposed to marry, and the other a woman, which opens questions of her sexuality. Is she bisexual or is she straight?

While all this is occurring, we meet other characters. The neighbors, Bette and Tina, are the longterm lesbian couple trying to have a baby. Shane is the one of the group that sleeps with anything and everything because love is a bitch and sex is just that, sex. You also have a tennis pro, Dana, who also comes out as lesbian during the process of the season, only after losing a relationship because of her closeted status. We also have another writer, Alice, who is also bisexual and can't decide between one or the other. The cast also includes Bette's sister, Kit.

Through the first season, we were twisted and turned as we watched what happened to the women we loved or hated live their lives out on the screen for us on a weekly basis. Everyone had their favorite or their most hated. In season one, the majority of the hate surrounded Jenny's character. Why couldn't she just make up her mind was the question everyone kept asking?

The season ended in April, and the word was that the show would not return to the following year for the next season. Yes about ten months of waiting to see what would happen next in the lives of the women we had grown to love and loved to watch on a weekly basis. However, anyone used to Showtime it wasn't unusual. The same type of scheduling had also occurred when it came to Queer as Folk.

Season 2 opened in February, and we picked up right where we left off, but the show was different. The look was different. You could tell more money was put into this show after the response it received in season one. It was even being touted as the new Sex & The City. Seven episodes in, and things have changed with the characters as well. Relationships and friendships have shifted, and it looks like Jenny has finally picked a side. Season 3 has been bought, and that will begin shooting in June 2005. With the season in progress, you get an episode every week filled with emotion and fun. Witty one liners are also par for the course. I for one am excited to see where the rest of the season goes, and I know I will be anxiously awaiting the start of season three sometime in early 2006.