TheLWord-related stories
Posted Sep 2nd 2009 12:10PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Pickups and Renewals

Once upon a time, Showtime had a popular show called
The L Word. When it was winding down, they worked to put together a spin-off, but that never worked. What to do. What to do.
"Them there
Real Housewives of Mayberry is real popular."
"Yep."
"Ain't they just doing
Desperate Housewives with real people?"
"I reckon."
"Why don't we do that?"
How's that for authentic Hollywood dialogue I just totally made up? But that's what
Showtime is looking to do: The Real L Word: Los Angeles.
Continue reading The L Word evolving into a reality show for Showtime
Posted Aug 18th 2009 12:03PM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Reality Shows, Other Sci-Fi/Supernatural Shows, Reality-Free

Is television taking up too much of your time? Do you find yourself spending night after night on the couch, spending hours of quality time clutching your remote in the hopes it will lead you down the primrose path of perfect entertainment? Have you wasted entire days of your life decreasing the firmness of the coils in your couch with your ever increasing ass planted firmly in front of the idiot box?
If so, maybe a more physical activity would perk up your droll and dull life. Why not put down that remote, throw that
TV Guide in the trash compactor and pick up that video game controller for a few hours of TV-related interactive entertainment? Because exercise is for people with no creative thought for self-entertainment.
Here is just a sample of some TV show game spinoffs headed to an XBox, Playstation or coffee table near you.
Continue reading Not wasting enough time watching TV? Try these upcoming TV games
Posted Aug 13th 2009 11:32AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Celebrities, Reality-Free

Through all of
The L Word's ridiculous six seasons, Kate Moennig played Shane, the character that put butterflies in the tummies of men and women alike, gay, straight or otherwise. Hey. No use in deny it. We all felt it.
And watching this
behind-the-scenes video of Three Rivers, it just seems like Shane decided to clean up her womanizing act and throw on some scrubs. There was a similar effect when Moennig played a small part in
Art School Confidential. Is Moennig going to be able to convince viewers that Shane is in her past?
Continue reading Can Katherine Moennig ever shake Shane?
Posted Jul 6th 2009 3:18PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, OpEd, Casting, Reality-Free

I had just gotten into watching
The L Word when it got the ax, but at least now we can see more of Jennifer Beals. She guest-starred in two episodes of
Lie to Me last season, and will
have a recurring role in the upcoming season, playing Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoe Landau, Cal Lightman's ex-wife and mother of their teenage daughter.
Mekhi Phifer (Dr. Gregory Pratt from
ER), who also appeared in two episodes, will come back as FBI agent Reynolds, brought in as a liaison between the Lightman Group and the FBI for those tough cases the FBI can't solve through traditional methods.
The show's second season kicks off Sept. 28 with Shawn Ryan as the new showrunner. He's got some great creds, having worked on
The Unit,
The Shield and
Angel.
Lie to Me really seems to be picking up steam heading into its second season. We gotten a little hooked on it in this household, meaning it isn't "must-see" TV, but if we know it's on, we'll definitely check it out -- and pick up a few pointers on lie detection from Cal Lightman and crew.
Anyone else watching
Lie to Me?
Posted Apr 8th 2009 2:08PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Late Night, Programming, OpEd, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, TV Squad Lists, TV Squad Ten

It occurred to me recently that there are more gay and lesbian characters on TV right now than ever before. That's pretty cool.
And they run the gamut from
The L Word 's edgy Shane (pictured) to
Desperate Housewives' funny Bob to
Entourage's loyal Lloyd, who takes more verbal abuse from Ari Gold than anyone should ever be allowed to take.
See if you agree with my list of top gay characters on TV right now, and feel free to add your own in the comments. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Top gay characters
Posted Apr 8th 2009 2:08PM by Jane Boursaw

10. Shane McCutcheon (Katherine Moennig),
The L Word 9. Lee McDermott (Kevin Rahm),
Desperate Housewives 8. Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys),
Brothers & Sisters
7. Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw),
Grey's Anatomy 6. Guy Branum,
Chelsea Lately 5. Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nunez),
The Office
4. RuPaul,
RuPaul's Drag Race
3. Most of the people on the Bravo network
2. Lloyd (Rex Lee),
Entourage 1. Much of the cast of
The Real World: Brooklyn
Want to see the pictures or leave a comment? Click here.Continue reading TV Squad Ten: Top gay characters - the list
Posted Apr 6th 2009 10:00AM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Industry, OpEd, Reality-Free

Before the
The L Word's final season, Showtime announced that they were developing a spin-off series around Alice Pieszecki, played by Leisha Hailey (aka that chick from those extra-annoying yogurt commercials). Because of the wacky
muuurder plot that drove the sixth season, this spin-off would have
featured Alice in prison. At some point this must have seemed like a good idea, because a pilot was made, but recently it was revealed that this
will not be moving on.
This is probably for the best, really. Towards the end,
The L Word was getting kind of exhausting and nothing about Alice made me want to watch a spin-off about her. Plus, seeing her being all quirky and bubbly in prison would have gotten old super-fast, assuming that's the main schtick.
Continue reading Showtime doesn't want Alice's L Word spin-off
Posted Nov 23rd 2008 2:04PM by Annie Wu
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Reality-Free

The sixth and final season of Showtime's
The L Word is about to kick off (January 18th at 9:00 p.m. EST), so that means the new promos are on their way. Check out this piece of work right here and please excuse me as I reveal my art snobbery.
When I first saw this poster, I thought it was some fan art from a Photoshop beginner. What happened to the days of solid design, when stuff like this totally wouldn't fly outside of Graphic Design I? If basic cable shows like
Mad Men can make their ads sleek and sexy, what excuse does Showtime have? I was so distracted by the weird masking and forced shadows and weak composition and awkward font choice and various other super-sad arty elements, that I completely missed the eight chicks getting it on in the background.
Now, if that's not ineffective design, I don't know what is. See a larger version of the poster after the jump and analyze for yourself.
Continue reading New L Word poster: Oh, I see what you did there
Posted Jul 23rd 2008 12:03PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Industry, Casting, Reality-Free

Jesse Spano is coming back to TV. After guest appearances on
CSI: Miami and
Law & Order: Criminal Intent,
Elizabeth Berkley is ditching the procedurals and heading over to Showtime. The former
Saved by the Bell star will be joining
Jennifer Beals, her costar in the 2002 film
Roger Dodger, on Showtime's
The L-Word for a multi-episode arc.
Word is, Berkley's
L-Word character has a history with Jennifer Beals' Bette. The two went to college together and Berkley was the straight girl who got away. Perhaps Bette will have better luck the second time around.
My only hope for this pairing is that they can somehow manage to fit a
Flashdance: What a Feeling / I'm So Excited dance-off into the plot of the show, thus bringing together the high points of both of these women's careers and officially making this the best casting decision ever.
Posted Jul 18th 2008 8:03PM by Joel Keller
Filed under: TCA Press Tour, Weeds, Reality-Free

Some quickie news from Showtime, presented by entertainment president Bob Greenblatt:
- Ilene Chaiken is developing a spin-off for The L Word, which will feature a yet unspecified character from the original show, whose upcoming season will be its last. There will be an open-ended plot in the season finale that Chaiken will continue online, then pick up if the spin-off comes to pass.
- Two more 13-episode seasons of Weeds have been ordered.
- A seventh season of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! has been ordered, making it Showtime's longest-running show.
- A reality/documentary show called Lock 'N Load has been ordered; it's filmed in a gun shop, and it shows the various people who purchase guns and "exploit their right to bear arms," according to the press release.
- Two new pilots have been ordered and filmed. The United States of Tara, produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Diablo Cody, stars Toni Collette as a suburban mother with multiple-personality disorder. John Corbett stars as her husband (yes... it's a comedy). The other pilot is tentatively-titled Nurse Jackie. It stars Edie Falco as a New York City nurse with a painkiller addiction who sometimes crosses moral lines to help her patients (no... it's not a comedy). Tara will begin airing in winter 2009, and Jackie will begin airing in late spring or early summer.
Posted Apr 23rd 2008 5:41PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Psych, Casting, Reality-Free

This sounds like good casting to me.
Cybill Shepherd is joining Psych for a mini-arc as Shawn's mom. The actress, best known on TV from her hit series
Moonlighting (remember, her and Bruce Willis?), has recently been on Showtime's
The L Word. Cybill's not a great dramatic actress, but she is pretty funny and should fit in perfectly with the goofy, good-natured fun on
Psych.
When
Psych comes back to USA Network on July 18 with new shows, her episodes (at least two) will be broadcast. She's playing Madeleine, Henry's ex-wife and Shawn's mama. So far in the series, Maddie (like Maddie Hayes in
Moonlighting perhaps?), has not been shown in the scenes depicting Shawn -- and Gus's -- childhood. Corbin Bernsen, who plays Henry, has worn a hairpiece for the retro scenes and goes bald for the present day scenes. We'll see whether Cybill's in both scenes or not...
According to the show, when Madeleine appears in Santa Barbara, she's coming from Europe and wants to visit her sonny boy. The visit, so we're told, dredges up some old memories. And since this is a crime/caper/mystery show, perhaps Maddie's bound to get involved in one of Shawn's cases.
Posted Mar 28th 2008 10:00AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: TV on DVD, Contests and Giveaways

If you haven't entered our latest giveaways yet, here's a reminder that they are ending today. You've got until 5PM Eastern today to enter the
L Word DVD giveaway and the
Sam & Max DVD giveaway.
Just head on over to the post links above, read through the rules and make the applicable comment there (not here!) We'll notify the winners next week.
Good luck!
Posted Mar 24th 2008 10:06AM by Keith McDuffee
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, TV on DVD, Contests and Giveaways

This time we've got three copies of
The L Word - Season Four on DVD for three lucky, random commenters. The DVD is available in stores now.
To enter, simply leave a comment below before 5:00PM Eastern, Friday, March 28 simply telling us why you'd like to own this DVD set. As always, we'll randomly choose three winners amongst the eligible entries. Some other details:
- To enter, leave a confirmed comment below stating why you'd like to own The L Word - The Complete 4th Season on DVD.
- The comment must be left before March 28, 2008 at 5:00PM Eastern Time.
- You may enter only once.
- Three winners will be selected in a random drawing.
- Three winners will receive a copy of The L Word - The Complete 4th Season on DVD (valued at $54.99).
Click
here for complete Official Rules.
Posted Feb 4th 2008 2:02PM by Isabelle Carreau
Filed under: Watercooler Talk, Celebrities, Dancing With The Stars

According to
Entertainment Weekly's
Hollywood Insider blog, deaf actress and Oscar winner Marlee Matlin may be appearing on the next edition of ABC's
Dancing With the Stars.
As
EW mentions, having Matlin guest star on the dancing competition would not be surprising since the series has been trying to "defy casting expectations and prejudices."
DWTS fans will recall that Heather Mills, who wears a prosthetic leg, appeared in the fourth season of the show.
Continue reading Marlee Matlin may go Dancing With the Stars
Posted Dec 6th 2007 4:20PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming
Showtime's upcoming fifth season of The L Word will premiere first on OurChart.com, a lesbian-focused social community, according to BusinessWire.com. The OurChart.com premiere is slated for December 30, 2007 followed by the Showtime premiere on January 6, 2008. The choice is no coincidence, as co-founder and CEO of OurChart.com, Ilene Chaiken, is also the creator/producer of The L Word.
This is, regardless of anything else, another example of how technology and the new online media is becoming more and more intertwined with traditional television viewing.
Continue reading The L Word season premiere streams online (free) first
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