The L Word

Did You Know?

• The band Betty wrote and performed the theme song, introduced in season two, and made numerous appearances in the show.
• All three of Leisha Hailey's bands—The Murmurs, Gush, and Uh Huh Her—were referenced in the series.

Series overview

The original code-name for the series was Earthlings, a rarely used slang term for lesbians. A recurring plot element is "The Chart," an undirected labeled graph where nodes represent individuals and lines represent affairs or hookups. Originally, the series was to be based around a lesbian named Kit Porter, with the chart tattooed on her back. The idea for the chart emerged in the writers' room when the creators discussed mutual friends and romantic entanglements, leading to a beta version on paper that was later incorporated into the show. In season 4, Alice launches The Chart as a social networking service, and a real-world parallel project, OurChart.com, operated from the beginning of season four until the end of season six, after which it was redirected to Showtime's official website.

Plot

The first season introduces Bette Porter and Tina Kennard, a couple in a seven-year relationship trying to have a child; Marina Ferrer, owner of the cafe The Planet; Jenny Schecter, who has moved to Los Angeles with her boyfriend Tim Haspell; Shane McCutcheon, an androgynous hairstylist; Alice Pieszecki, a bisexual journalist who maintains The Chart; Dana Fairbanks, a closeted professional tennis player; and Kit Porter, Bette's straight half-sister. The second season introduces Carmen de la Pica Morales, a DJ in a love triangle with Shane and Jenny; Helena Peabody, a wealthy art patron who becomes Bette's rival and Tina's love interest; and Mark Wayland, a documentary filmmaker who moves in with Shane and Jenny. Major story lines include Tina's pregnancy after a second insemination, leading to her reconciliation with Bette; Kit acquiring The Planet after Marina leaves; Shane and Jenny unknowingly becoming subjects of Mark's hidden cameras; a developing relationship between Alice and Dana; and insights into Jenny's past as an abused child. The third season, set six months after the birth of Tina and Bette's daughter Angelica, introduces Max Sweeney, a working-class trans man initially presenting as butch, and Angus Partridge, a male nanny who becomes Kit's lover. Story lines include Bette and Tina's relationship deteriorating as Tina develops feelings for men; Max coming out as a trans man; Dana's diagnosis with and death from breast cancer; and Shane abandoning Carmen at the altar. Helena becomes a friend rather than a rival, acquires a movie studio, and faces a sexual harassment lawsuit that leads her mother to cut her off financially. A fan fiction contest on FanLib.com allowed the winner's story to be incorporated into a scene in the third season.

Reception

The first season was broadcast to critical acclaim and instant popularity. Co-creator Ilene Chaiken had some issues with the reaction. As the series progressed, reviews became far more negative. By the sixth season, The New York Times called the show a "Sapphic Playboy fantasia" that showed little interest in varied portrayals of gay experience, instead countering the notion of "lesbian bed death" and reminding viewers of the limits of monogamy while never aligning with traditionalist same-sex marriage ambitions. The final season's unresolved murder mystery also drew negative response. The series holds a 57% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cultural impact and legacy

The L Word broke new ground as the first television series with an ensemble cast of lesbian and bisexual female characters and the first written and directed predominantly by queer women. It revolutionized the depiction of queer women on television, particularly by portraying a queer community at a time when lesbian representation was often limited to a single character amid a heterosexual cast. Its graphic lesbian sex scenes from the female gaze were pioneering when lesbian sex was virtually invisible elsewhere on television. Numerous shows referenced The L Word, including South of Nowhere, According to Jim, House, Weeds, The Daily Show, Chappelle's Show, The Sopranos, The Office, Gilmore Girls, The Big Gay Sketch Show, The Simpsons, and Family Guy. The show received multiple GLAAD Media Award nominations and NAACP Image Award nominations for Pam Grier and Jennifer Beals.