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Kia Kirshner (foreground) and Katherine Moennig (Photo courtesy Showtime)
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‘The L Word’ Season premiere
Sunday, Jan. 6, 10 p.m.
Showtime
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HOME > SOVO SCENE > TELEVISION
By: BRIAN MOYLAN
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Some of the great gay shows of the past several years have only made it through five seasons. “Six Feet Under” succumbed after five years, and “Queer As Folk,” which paved the way for explicit gay dramas to come, danced its last dance after the half-decade mark.
Ilene Chaiken, the creator and head writer of Showtime’s “The L Word,” says she’s shocked that her show has made it as far as those other gay milestones.
“I would never have dared to let myself think that anything I created [would be on the air for five seasons],” she says. “I didn’t think that it wouldn’t, but I didn’t presume it would get on the air, nonetheless last five years.”
Not only did it make it on the air, ‘The L Word’ became a sensation, spawning fan celebrations galore, websites including the networking phenom OurChart, a jewelry line inspired by the show, and yes, the fifth season, which premieres Sunday, Jan. 6.
Previous seasons taught Chaiken some lessons to make the upcoming season the best so far.
“I’ve learned to have fun and to keep my characters having fun and to let the audience have fun with them,” she says. “I’ve learned to listen to the audience as well. As it becomes a more interactive medium, I think it’s really important to interact with them.”
Last season ended with a number of our favorite ladies in peril. Jenny (Mia Kirshner) was adrift in the middle of the ocean after feeling treated poorly during the movie adaptation of her book “Lez Girls,” a thinly veiled version of the real lives of her lesbian friends and neighbors.
Helena (Rachel Shelly) was filling a bag full of loot from her rich girlfriend’s safe and taking off for parts unknown. Tasha (Rose Rollins) was about to be shipped off to Iraq with her squadron, just after reconciling with Alice (Leisha Hailey).
Bette (Jennifer Beals) wasn’t in so much trouble after she won the heart of deaf artist Jodi (Marlee Matlin) with some help from her ex Tina (Laurel Holloman), who was pining for Bette even as she helped.
Notorious playgirl Shane (Katherine Moennig) was settling down with her girlfriend Paige (Kristanna Loken), Phyllis (Cybill Shepherd) was settling down with lawyer Joyce (Jane Lynch), Kit (Pam Grier) was recovering from a relapse of her alcoholism, and Max (Daniela Sea) was heading off to San Francisco to have “top surgery” to continue transitioning from female to male.
THE NEW SEASON resolves all of those plot threads — and if you don’t want any spoilers, stop here.
Jenny washes up on shore to find a wealthy benefactor who wants to fund “Lez Girls” and insists that she be the director. She becomes even more insufferable, if that’s possible.
Chaiken says that the “Lez Girls” subplot is a major one in the new season.
“We get to tell a story about Hollywood and movie making,” she says, adding that the details are taken from her and her writers’ own experiences with show biz. “It’s not because we wanted to make an inside story about show business, it’s something that happened to our characters and so we’ll go along for the ride. It also allows us to look at the stories we’ve told from another point of view and make fun of ourselves.”
Unlike Jenny, Chaiken says that her characters on the show aren’t taken from real life.
“All of my characters are fictional,” she says. “There are moments when I take inspiration from people I know, but I would never say who because it becomes confusing.”
Another major story this season revolves around Tasha’s military service. Her deployment to Iraq is delayed as she undergoes an investigation that charges her with “homosexual conduct” and could cause her ouster from the Army.
“One of the true things about politics and current events is that they really affect people, and it was clear that it was going to come into Tasha’s life,” Chaiken says. “We didn’t say, ‘Lets do a Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell story,’ but because she’s in a relationship with Alice, she’s going to have these problems. Alice is no wallflower, she’s very much out there, and she’s going to make Tasha’s life a little difficult.”
The story line also introduces Col. Gillian Davis, a prosecuting military attorney who Chaiken describes ...
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