The L Word (2004)

Watchseries; The show is great. My biggest problem with it was who Jenny becomes as a character. By the end I absolutely hated her.

The show is great. My biggest problem with it was who Jenny becomes as a character. By the end I absolutely hated her.

The L Word watchseries. This artistically well-done Showtime-made TV series primarily focuses on portrayal of lesbians in their 20s to 40s as urban professionals and deals with their everyday issues; at the same time, thematic materials such as working on relationships or struggling against temptations have universal qualities so that any open-minded persons, regardless of gender and sexual orientation, can associate with the happenings in the show. Also, dramas without males' chauvinistic nature create a uniquely comfortable mood, which even the straight audience may feel refreshing. Gaining a wide range of supporters and fans beyond the lesbian community must be a big factor of the show's success, which made it possible for the series to continue to Season Two.

Speaking of the show's success, one cannot overlook its artistic merits, which are extraordinary as a TV show's. Many incidents are interwoven into one compelling story; a lovable ensemble cast that consists of a variety of personas engages in acting; and the director of photography Robert Aschmann takes full advantage of his skills and creativity in amazing long takes, aggressive crane shots, and illuminative lightings. There is inconsistency among episodes on writing, directing, and editing due to the fact that several different artists have worked on each episode; this drawback may be inevitable for a TV series. Among writers and directors, Rose Troche, the legendary director of Go Fish, writes believable dialogues and directs intimate scenes with crafts, while Lenka Svab stands out among editors, dazzling and mesmerizing the viewers with a deliberate disorientation. Some writers make homage to historic filmmakers such as Godard, Cassavetes, and Soderbergh by having the characters refer to them; this is a tiny detail but certainly amuses film fans.

I discovered this series as a coming out member of the pig gender community, i.e. straight men watching lesbian soft porn.

I couldn't make it past the first season though.

As far as the sex is concerned, past the shock value of the first episode you quickly realize that the sex scenes come too regularly, and that they are devoid of sensuality and tension.

After a while I started considering them as you watch the subway wagons passing : unavoidable, metallic, heavy, and filled with an industrial elegance.

The irredeemable flaw though was the Jenny character. Some reviewers described her as annoying, but I would say it's worse. Fiction-wise she didn't fit in the show. Her "literary talent" was in fact that of a very young girl raving nonsense in her diary. "Internal organs" blah blah blah come on... All the other characters were shown as having a normal intelligence, and they had to be dumbed down in order to accommodate Jenny, whose "devilish wiles" would have been detected miles away by any normal adult lesbian.

She just didn't fit. I suspect someone in the writing team had a grudge against a particular person in real life, and insisted on bolting that on the show with a big noisy hammer, and compulsive anger.

Plus, the actress playing Jenny was really excellent, but the coupling of a talented actress with an implausible character created a black hole which made the series worthless.

That was not the only flaw though. There were severe logic gaps. Sometimes within the same episode. Like when the two women wanting a child refuse a straight man because he demands direct impregnation, and then a few minutes later they actively arrange a threesome with another straight man for direct impregnation...

I didn't mind the soap aspects, I think it's OK for a show about relationships, but I couldn't help feeling the irony of a show that claimed to be innovative and different, and yet fell into all the clichés of the traditional straight housewife low-key series.

Overall I think it benefited from being the only show of its kind during that era. But neither the erotic aspect nor the writing were very good. I feel sorry for the actresses, because with better writers and direction they could have done a superb series.

I give three points because of the clever idea of including the external male watcher as a character inside the fiction.

In my humble opinion, the L Word leaves much to be desired. First of all, the lesbians here are all very sleek-looking, and always dressed to-the-nines. Where are all the plainly dressed, overweight, average-looking, or senior citizen lesbians in this series? I mean c'mon! I realize that there are plenty of feminine, lip-stick lesbian sisters out there. And, I say that they should fully exercise their right to dress and act however they wish. But, the L Word is SATURATED with mainly high-femme lesbians with long, dark hair, and stunning out-fits. I know that they have Shane in this show, but she seems to be just a token butch. And Max is the show's token transman.

If the L Word truly wants to be representative of the lesbian community, then they should include more lesbians that are on the butch side, working-class, punk, poor, struggling entertainers and artists, etc. I know that LA is the glam-chic capital of the US. But it's also a major metropolis, with a rich variety of lesbians-NOT just up-scale high-femmes.

Another thing that bothers me about this show, is that they use too much gratuitous profanity. I know that most people do use some profanity in real life, but most of these characters use too much gutter language to be believable. It's as if the producers want to show how 'cool' this show is, by having the characters constantly spewing four-letter words.

They also have too many cheap, tawdry sex-scenes on this show. Yes, plenty of cheap, tawdry sex probably happens in the lesbian community. It's a long-standing myth, that most lesbians don't value plain old raw sex. Many (if not most) can, and do. But sex is definitely over-emphasized in the show. It's thrown in your face, in a manner so blatant, that it's obviously done only for shock-value. It doesn't enhance the plot-lines, and seems tacky and contrived.

We need a show on the air about lesbians from all segments of the community. And the L Word just isn't presenting that. This show is so lacking in depth, realistic characters, and taste, that it's mediocre at best.

I was excited to learn of the new Lesbian drama to come out last January as a new Showtime original series. Already being a big fan of QAF I was interested in seeing a show focused primarily on gay women instead of gay men. I believe Showtime made a good choice bringing "The L Word" to its viewers because it now balances out for both gay and lesbian individuals. Although I watched QAF I always felt I had not a lot to relate to. Mel and Lindsey are two great characters but the show does not focus a lot on them. "The L Word' fills that void. Each character brings new life to the show and the actresses and actors who play them are all very talented and intriguing. With each episode you find yourself more and more captivated and developed into the characters and their lives. It is sometimes frustrating having to wait a whole week just to find out what will happen next. This is without a doubt my Favorite show and I am so happy to finally have something to watch and be able to identify with to some degree. My life is really nothing like what is presented in the show, but it is fiction. It is not meant to be like real life. That would be too boring. The show touches base with many serious issues facing gays and lesbians today in our country and at the same time makes you laugh. These women are HOT and SEXY and Alice(Leisha Haley) brings just the right amount of humor to the show. All of the actresses bring such an energy across the screen. They work well together and you can tell they all have fun making each scene. This applies more to Leisha Haley, Kate Moening and Erin Daniels (Alice, Shane and Dana) Every scene which involves the three of them is sure to have you laughing. Bette and Tina (Jennifer Beals)(Laurel Hollowman)do a great job bring their characters to life and it is their characters, I feel, which make the show interesting. Through the season you see their relationship grow and change. Every week I had to watch and see what was going on with them. Jenny and Marina (Mia Kirshner)(Karina Lombard)display the thrill and and fear of two women coming together. I enjoyed watching these two because it reminded me of my own coming out story, watching Jenny go through all of the emotions. Through the first season you see Jenny grow and develop more than any other character. This is a great show and I believe many people can relate.

i checked out the show, to be honest, for the reason you might expect. and for that purpose i was pretty disappointed. but i'm not entirely crass and i continued watching. now i'm a cinephile who doesn't make a lot of time for TV shows, but this was a truly terrific achievement.

this is a top shelf, highbrow, a-class, quality show for intelligent people almost exclusively. the characters are well-developed, and backed by nuanced performances. the dialogue rings true, never TV-like at all. and the story arcs are present without that pesky soap-opera feeling.

on top of that, the shot selection and cinematography are freewheeling and experimental(sometimes to a fault-as in the rotating camera in the Chinese restaurant-but no matter). the show is more than worth an hour out of my week.

that damn theme song however is the worst. so ham-handed and silly, ugh. it practically undoes all the subtlety of the show when it wails "this is the way that we live!!" not to mention that awful list of verbs in the middle. and such a long song too! that and the sometimes equally obtuse selection of music for the soundtrack is the worst bit.