The L Word Reality Series, Really?
No, this isn't April Fools' or some other gag, Variety is reporting that The L Word is going reality:
Pay cabler has greenlit nine episodes of The Real L Word: Los Angeles, from L Word creator Ilene Chaiken and reality producers Magical Elves (Top Chef).
Show will follow six lesbians in Los Angeles as they go about their lives -- a lesbian answer to Bravo's Real Housewives franchise. Project is dependent on casting, the net said; if all goes as planned, The Real L Word would debut sometime next year.
"Even though we concluded our sixth season of The L Word on Showtime this past March, I believe we are not nearly finished telling our L Word stories," Chaiken said. "Showtime has yet again come forward to continue with us this mission to entertain and enlighten and bring more 'L' to the world."
Chaiken, who exec produced The L Word, will also EP The Real L Word, along with Magical Elves' Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz.
"We love to tell authentic stories about complex characters and feel like this is an area that has yet to be explored in reality television," Lipsitz said.
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Comments [64]
The l word at http://www.dvds-box-set.com
Can't help but say this series is sensational.
The actors are so liberating they give u a real sence of there relationships they are all so complex. I absolutly love all the girls.
Yes, i am a man and baring the lesbianism in this series the writers and story lines should get academy awards. I truly believe this is the greatest thing on tv please dont stop.
Big Big Big Fan!
I will
Watch ,I will give it ago .It just might be good you guys it has not even aired yet.
PS Still loving and missing the L-Word.
Wow
I still can't believe this is even for real! I really am shocked that anyone gave IC the ok to do any other show. I'll watch with the hopes that it's better than Gimme Sugar though.
JW I finally made it over here.
Come visit my blog
http://foodandotherfoolishness.blogspot.com/
Ad #2
Casting new reality show about lesbians: looking for an accident-prone bumbler, a skipper or other veteran, a condescending millionaire and her wife, an actress, a professor, and a girl next door.
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
As your official VP Casting
As your official VP Casting Director, I have cast the following locals in these roles:
Skipper: Rusty
Condescending Millionaire: Prof C
Her Wife: Cage
Actress: Amy
Professor: Moon
Girl next door: Elizabeth
Gilligan: Minnie
the actress
Yay, I'm Ginger!
oh and
Just to clarify, on Gilligan's Island, they called her "the movie star", that's more glamorous. Just sayin'.
Haha
Gilligan. Hahaha, Julia. That cracks me up. Now where is my sailor hat?
Still searching for the right brainy quote.
JW, you slay me. (How's the
JW, you slay me.
(How's the weather today?)
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
It's a nice 75 degrees inside
It's a nice 75 degrees inside the new apartment. Our A/C blows out a never-ending stream of WIN. Praise Jeebus!
Side note:
Does anybody have any idea why some lesbians are so bitter, vitriolic and hateful towards the L-word now? Did they forget that they loved the show and the cast for 5 years?
You should read some of the comments over at afterellen.com.
Totally understand the disappointment and the skepticism but I don't get all the anger. Would make an interesting research paper topic. lol
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
The target
PK, If you're talking about Dorothy Snarker's column, I read the comments and most of the anger was directed towards IC not the show or the actresses. It didn't seem excessive or vitriolic. People are questioning ICs motives and her talent. And some are wondering why all the lesbo entertainment eggs are in her basket.
Personally, the show was never in my Top 10. I'm not really in to soap operas. Nighttime or otherwise. A TV show needs more than lesbian characters to keep me interested - swords, dragons, and /or space ships are good place to start.
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
Hey I just read that Dorothy
Hey I just read that Dorothy Snarker blog and that is a really good article. She's spot on actually.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
Isn't she, though?
I heart Dorothy Snarker. <3 She's on my list of blogs I should be reading every day. (And yet I slack...)
Yeah, the only glaring error
Yeah, the only glaring error Dorothy makes in her rant is when she criticizes Ilene for "blurring the fictional L-word show with a reality show about lesbians" Props for her funny joke about the L-word cast suddenly coming out as lesbian to do a reality show, but she missed the entire, pretty obvious reason why Ilene chose to call it that.
When the show premiered 6 years ago many lesbians ranted and complained back then the lesbians didn't look like any of us or "real enough." I Ilene's choice to do a reality show with real lesbians is LA in response to that is pretty brilliant.
But...since lesbians are a community of judgmental complainers who love to "eat their own" so to speak, of course many will condemn before they've seen it. Hell, if this new show wins an Emmy I wouldn't be surprised if somebody complains that the Emmy statue doesn't look butch enough.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
PK, I disagree. Dorothy
PK, I disagree. Dorothy Snarker is referring directly back to the IC quote from Variety which she references earlier in her column:
"Even though we concluded our sixth season of The L Word on Showtime this past March," Chaiken explained to Variety, "I believe we are not nearly finished telling our L Word stories."
That totally suggests to me that IC is, as DS puts it, "[blurring] the boundaries between the fiction of TLW and the reality of actual lesbians."
Oh okay I see what you
Oh okay I see what you mean. I thought she was just talking to Variety about the L-word movie she wants to make and wanting to keep the "L-word" or lesbian shows alive in general...and this reality show is just one of the many projects she's working on. She also tweeted about having a project for Jennifer Beals that L-word fans would like.
Who knows what all she has in mind. Probably anything she can sell at this point.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
Complaint versus critique
Yeah, well, look for me to make that complaint about not butch enough. However, I wouldn't characterize this as my complaint but a thoughtful critique based upon real disparities in how some parts of our community is represented.
Still searching for the right brainy quote.
Yeah but that's you, always
Yeah but that's you, always reasonable and smart with your critiques. :) I was speaking about many of the blogs and the commenters on other sites who say stuff like "Ilene is a fucking idiot if she thinks she can be this lazy and do a fucking reality show....etc. etc."
Critiquing is good once you've seen something, but it's all the "judging the book by it's cover" going on that I'm talking about...and the simple fact that's it darned near impossible to please everyone all of the time. The L-word had many moments of merit along with the obsurdities. Ilene is capable of writing a decent tv show with others, let's see how this one turns out.
And you have to admit people do like to throw the vitriol around online. I doubt they would say half of the stuff they say online to Ilene if they met her.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
Hey PK I like it when you
Hey PK
I like it when you speak your mind...........
S
xoxoxo
lol Thank you. Well you
lol Thank you. Well you know I'm including myself in that "judgmental lot".
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
Lesbians in Space!
I'm down/up with that - pull that Star Trek set out of storage. The series/characters would be hot and cheap....looking for my weeble!
Twitter Time @kdhales
Lesbians in Space and in Comics
Out of storage?!?
Who stores action figures and why?
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
Lesbian Comic!
Brilliant! Brilliant, I'm tellin' ya! You draw 'em, and I'll balloon 'em!
Twitter Time @kdhales
Hi Rusty, I was actually
Hi Rusty, I was actually talking about Sarah Warn's blog, the one before Dorothy Snarker's...and a long history of seeing acidic comments about Ilene on various other blogs.
Like I said I totally understand the disappointment, the skepticism and all that, but some lesbians just seem so.....angry. Ah well, no biggie. I was just curious.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
Angry lesbians?! Honestly.
Angry lesbians?! Honestly. Whoever heard of such a thing?
I don't think it's anger...
don't read that into it, PK. I know you've asked me that question before. I'm not angry about it, but I don't like being used....and WE WERE USED! Season Six was not about wrapping up TLW - it was about working into The Farm. I'm pretty sure all of us would have been extremely open minded about it all if we had been treated as though we have some sort of good sense. I mean, wasn't it Ilene who asked for our ideas? Asked for our inclusion for the conclusion? While she didn't lie, she certainly wasn't honest with her intent. And OurChart? Don't get any of us started on that one - she abandoned the Chart long before it was axed. So, here's my honest take on this reality show - it had better be dang good, or she can kiss TLW movie good-bye. I'll watch it, the first ep anyway. I'll watch it with an open mind. I'll watch it hoping that it succeeds - for all of our sakes!
Nothing but love
Tex
Twitter Time @kdhales
"So, here's my honest take on
"So, here's my honest take on this reality show - it had better be dang good, or she can kiss TLW movie good-bye. I'll watch it, the first ep anyway. I'll watch it with an open mind. I'll watch it hoping that it succeeds - for all of our sakes!"
I'm with you 100 percent here lovely Tex.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
I can write the ad
Casting new reality show about lesbians: looking for a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal.
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
Ha Ha! And the brain did it
Ha Ha! And the brain did it in the library with a candlestick. Wait...that just sounds...wrong.
It is what it is.
I hope it's the anti-Gimme
I hope it's the anti-Gimme Sugar. As in, I hope it portrays lesbians as being educated, articulate, inhabiting places other than bars/clubs, and over the age of 21 (or, 30 for that matter). I'm so disgusted with reality show 'lesbians' who are drunk and lascivious lushes.
In the humble words of Aunt Sassy...
"I don't want to see that!"
But no, really, I'd be just as bored by the drama of the real life Bette & Tina as I am by the awkward incorporation of the LA dyke party scene's "hottest" venue into an irrelevant TV series on Logo. I'll probably only watch this show if it has nifty eliminations with a sufficiently amusing celebrity panel a la Top Chef. If it's an awkward combination of The Real World and The L Word then I, for one, will not tune in. LA's hottest lesbians live in Long Beach anyway. Per your judgment of drunk and lascivious lushes... I, for one, am rightly offended. Firstly, I've actually conversed with at least one Gimme Sugar-ite on numerous occasions and she is by no means a vapid lush. Secondly, the description lascivious lush certainly suits me, but this by no means negates my degree. I read, drink, and live in LA and I'm by no means the only person who meets this criteria.
________________________________________________________
"Bitch, what you don't know about me is that I can just about fit in the Grand fucking Canyon. Did you know that I always wanted to be a dancer in Vegas?" Silent Bob
I don't mind the
I don't mind the lasciviousness (ha), but I am for real over the drunken, immature, spoiled-brattiness and emotional retardedness of reality TV lesbians like the Gimme Sugar crew. That show was proof positive that it takes more than just crazy interpersonal drama to make a compelling reality TV series. This past season was even more annoying than the first season, but also incredibly dull. I couldn't even bring myself to blog about it in the Boob Tube column even though it was the only lesbo show on TV this summer, because it was such a rank snoozefest.
I wish I could feel excited about a new lesbian show (any new lesbian show!), but I'm so wary of anything IC does after how horribly awry The L Word went in its final season. I don't trust her judgement as a storyteller anymore. And frankly, after a couple of seasons of Work Out and seven years of The L Word, I'm kind of sick of watching stuff about the LA lesbian scene and really ready for something new. I wish someone would set a show like this in Brooklyn, the Bay Area, or somewhere like Asheville, NC. Now THAT would be interesting.
Hush now...
Truck Stop is the Hottest Lesbian Club in the Country.
________________________________________________________
"Bitch, what you don't know about me is that I can just about fit in the Grand fucking Canyon. Did you know that I always wanted to be a dancer in Vegas?" Silent Bob
Ditto
I will preface this by saying that I do like Calidornia. But I am so over the LA/Hollywood representation of lesbians and their lives. I live to see a show set in Chicago or even Iowa, the new gay Mecca state.
Still searching for the right brainy quote.
Absolutely!
Why not New England where there is marriage - the fight to keep the right - conflicts abound, personal and otherwise. Besides there would be ample opportunity for snuggling by the fire on those cold snowy nights! BUT, here we go again - money, money, money.....Yes, Ilene, you can have your six token episodes, but there is this budget issue; hence, we have the Lesbians of Orange County.....give me an effing break!
Twitter Time @kdhales
Hmmmm
Does the cast come from the area or do they ship folks in? I vote Dallas or Chicago as a better location than LA.
"When you look for the bad in mankind expecting to find it, you surely will." ~ Pollyanna
Julia, if it's any
Julia, if it's any consolation the homegrown stuff on this side of the pond is not much better. There is a BBC programme called "Mistresses" in which one of the women had an affair with a woman and then all too predicatably went back to men. Snore. Beyond that we had a "Celebrity Wife Swap" which involved a lesbian couple (actually we've had two - there was one with Sam Fox a while back) which was a squirm inducing cringe-fest which culminated in the straight couple achieving enlightenment about gay-dom (and the husband learning a bit about paying attention to his wife). I sometimes wonder if I am living in a parallel universe.
Gay/Straight interchange?
Are you saying that they swapped a lesbian wife with a straight wife? We have a wife swap show here, too. I have never watched it and can't fathom why anyone would.
Yeah, I am trying to wean
Yeah, I am trying to wean (sp??) myself off that kind of telly but it's hard!!
Tae, I saw an epsiode of the
Tae, I saw an epsiode of the American version of Wife Swap where they did that and it was damned fascinating. The swapped lesbian mom taught her "new" kids to process and they were all the better for it. That show is one of my guiltier TV pleasures!
Yeah, despite my misgivings
Yeah, despite my misgivings about it's one of my my guilty TV pleasures too - the non-celeb ones are better though!
squeamish
I'm a little squeamish about this, but I'll give it a try. If it give me nightmares, can I call you?
Saw this over on Afterellen
Saw this over on Afterellen this morning. I'm conflicted. I'm happy to see Ilene keeping lesbian entertainment alive but I don't like reality shows unless they're cooking shows.
What the heck I'll give it a try. If I don't like it there's always somethig else.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
PK, I do have to admit to
PK, I do have to admit to being intrigued to read that the producers of Top Chef are on board for this project...
In what part of CA does Cat live?
I'd throw a watching party if they had Cat Cora and brood on the show!
Twitter Time @kdhales
Buttter me up!
I still have not seen that butter episode.
OMG, you have to find that
OMG, you have to find that one. It was EPIC.
Oh Hell yeah. :) Cat Cora
Oh Hell yeah. :) Cat Cora would make it all worthwhile.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"
Yes me too. It could
Yes me too. It could actually be a really interesting and fun project with them on board. I hope so.
"Fight Prime Time. Read a Book"