The L Word! Lesbians, love, lust, loyalty, and did I mention lesbians?! Finally we have a weekly drama about lesbians. According to the L Word website on Showtime, this was the fastest renewal for a series in their history. We are here and we're watching. I personally have been very pleased with the four episodes I've seen and look forward to more each week. There's the circle of friends consisting of the married lesbians, the questioning heterosexual possibly bisexual writer living with her fiancé, the heartbreaker, the exotic café owner, the closeted tennis player, the bisexual journalist, and the alcoholic, straight, musician half-sister. I could go on and on. I'm sure everyone has their criticisms but I say congratulations to a great start of the first true lesbian drama! So Strap This On.
My Top Ten Favorite Things
About the L Word
10 ) The Long-term relationship: Bette ( Jennifer Beals ) , an art museum director, and her stay at home partner, Tina ( Laurel Holloman ) . These two have a near threesome encounter that ends in a passionate night of very hot sex. I don't care if they're lesbians in real life. They're very convincing.
9 ) The confused writer: Jenny ( Mia Kirshner ) has very intense and graphic bathroom and back room encounters with Marina ( Karina Lombard ) , the exotic cafe owner.
8 ) Dream Job: Tim ( Eric Mabius ) is the buff women's college swim coach and Jenny's fiancé. I'm a former college swimmer. This is a dream job for me on so many levels. I look forward to the day the coach has to run into the women's locker room and talk with one of his very emotional swimmers.
7 ) Honesty: Shane ( Katherine Moennig ) is the local heartbreaker. Everyone knows someone like her that is just not interested in commitment. I love her openness.
6 ) Getting dates: Dana ( Erin Daniels ) is the closeted pro tennis player. Her awkwardness at trying to get a date with the chef at her country club is adorable and very sweet.
5 ) Humor: Alice ( Leisha Hailey ) , the bisexual journalist, is showing me a side about being bi I've never quite understood. Her list of how every lesbian is connected by us all sleeping with each other is hilarious.
4 ) Family: Kit ( Pam Grier ) is Bette's half sister, musician, and alcoholic. She shows the vulnerability of having lived a life she's not necessarily proud of and how people are constant fallible works in progress.
3 ) The guest stars: Tammy Lynn Michaels has had a few episodes. This is Melissa Etheridge's current squeeze. Anne Archer and Gwen Turner of Go Fish have also been there.
2 ) The writers and directors: Gwen Turner, Rose Troche, Ilene Chaiken. Some experienced lesbians. It's well-written and well-acted. They actually use words and phrases openly instead of hinting at them. They can't talk about going down on someone or show it enough for me. Thank you.
1 ) Showtime: It's not censored. The nudity is tasteful and the sex scenes are very realistic.
Lisa Rock is a syndicated columnist based in Chicago and can be reached at StrapThisOn@aol.com .
