I H-A-T-E this show!

Ok, WEST HOLLYWOOD, LOS ANGELES is where L word is set. And it was shot in Vancouver. If you don't like it don't watch it. If you can't see anything but porn in this show, maybe the problem is yours. L Word is not perfect, and it is fiction but it is a good show, way better than sex and the city.In my opinion of course.

"Big butch: go unload the truck!" :D

And don't forget that tv series represent some part of some reality. This show represents some lesbians, not the entire lesbian community. You surely don't expect a show about straight people to represent ALL straight people? So think twice before watching anything.

"Big butch: go unload the truck!" :D

Viewing your post for its spirit and ignoring the grammatical, spelling, and factual errors (Los Angeles area, not San Francisco), I understand what you mean. I'll probably get flamed for saying this, but the show is very black and white. There is virtually no gray area. What I mean by this is that the tertiary characters are either unconditionally supportive of the main characters or they hate them. If they love them, they go to the gay bars with them, try to sleep with them, etc. If they hate them, they actively try to ruin their lives. Seriously, who does that? And I agree the sex scenes are too long. I think after two minutes, we get the idea.

And you want to talk about FAN SERVICE? How about the writers inexplicably killing off Jenny because they were reading the Internet message boards and knew the fans didn't like the direction her character had gone.

But this used to be all we had. Like comedian Marga Gomez said in regard to the L Word, "We try to support it, but we like to yell at it."

The beauty of the actresses (and a couple of the actors) can be blamed on the TV/movie standard of getting the prettiest people possible to represent your doctor/banker/architect/lawyer/funky Bohemian/whatever. Denise Richards is supposed to be believed as a nuclear physicist in a Bond film? Mayim Bialik would be better casting, but puerile viewers would rather see Richards as a Bond babe even if Bialik actually understands nuclear physics... I have no issue with pretty people playing these characters if they deliver. Jennifer Beals, Mia Kirschner, Katherine Moennig and Rachel Shelley all delivered good acting despite being gorgeous.

One of the main reasons that shows like Queer As Folk, The L Word, Shameless, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos get so much positive buzz in the LGBT community is they've all done things the network censors have never allowed: they allow their characters to kiss, to have sex, to be horrible, and to represent a more realistic LGBT person than Will & Grace, Melrose Place, Dynasty, a couple of soap operas, or most mainstream movies had. Instead of the cute, safe, sexless homosexuals of mainstream TV/film, The Sopranos offered up a mobster who was a gay bear, who found love, and who was murdered in little less than a hate crime. Six Feet Under introduced a committed gay couple whose daily lives were almost boring, a great parallel to the hetero norm. True Blood has a gay character so outre and loud but who holds two "butch" jobs that he gets dirty doing despite his flamboyance. Queer As Folk had a sexual predator as one of its main characters, a boring "everyman", a twink, a flamboyant dandy, people living with HIV, drag queens, PFLAG moms, and everything in between. The L Word had a FTM trans character, a borderline personality disordered character, a nesting couple with real-couple issues, a predatory loner and a recovering addict. These ARE all ground-breaking shows, and one of the biggest rewards was that they put the sex back into sexuality. Lesbians aren't judged by bigots, homophobes, religious zealots, the media, and teen boys because of a "look", they're judged because of what they do in bed. Showtime showing the beauty, the normalcy, even the weirdness sometimes, of lesbian sex, calms the argument that there's anything "wrong" with the lesbian lifestyle or lesbians themselves. It throws the blame back on the attackers.

While many lesbians look like Lea DeLauria, kd Lang, etc., and there were only a few truly "butch" looking women in the cast (it was femme-centric, to be fair to criticism), the show still challenged a great number of illusions and myths about lesbians with four seasons of great dialogue, acting and story. The fifth and sixth seasons lost their purpose, but this show still deserves its acclaim and interest.

It's not the greatest show and not exactly the most realistic show on TV but it's still entertaining. I watched this when it was on Showtime and I lived in LA (not SF) at the time and always said to friends, "show me the L Word lesbian posse, puhlease" because I never experienced it. Still, it's not any more off the mark than most TV shows.

I actually prefer Lip Service which is a BBC production about a bunch of Lesbian friends in Scotland. It's similar to L Word w/ better writing and acting.

First of all, there later was a show called the Real L Word (or something like that that may still be running) that appeared to be the real way they are but in watching 2 or 3 episodes, it seemed they were just all hot, stunning and horny.

Secondly, it is steal not steel and semen, not seaman

Okay. I have to admit that when I first read this post I was totally put off by the level of judgement based on just one episode. And truthfully, I still feel the same way...despite how my opinion changed as the series progressed and became much more aligned with with yours. At the start of the series it had promise. It had the right tone. And explored some compelling themes.

Sadly, as the series progressed, it became very much what you've alleged...and worse. I'll focus my criticism in two areas. Starting with...the fact that this became one of the most unrealistic and cartoonish shows on television. The length and the degree to which they asked us, the audience, to suspend our disbelief was just...too damn much. I kind of wish I'd kept a list. It would be LOOOOOOONG.

And by the way...poor Mia Kirshner! Nobody was asked to be more of a cartoon than her.

Second of all...as bugged as I was by your characterizing the show as porn after just one episode, I must admit after watching almost the entire series that it is, no doubt, soft-core porn on a huge budget with actual talented, accomplished actors. The sex scenes are, indeed, gratuitous. And me? I'm definitely no prude.

Anyway. I find myself commenting here specifically because I had high hopes for the show. It could have been so much more than it was...and tried to be in many ways. But at the end of the day, Ilene Chaiken and the rest of the team were giant, huge, massive sell-outs.

"What else do you like? Lazy? Ugly? Horny? I got 'em all."
"You don't look lazy."

I don't think you can judge any show by its premiere, in either direction.

I will give you the sex scenes, and that doesn't change.

I don't care for a ton of sex scenes in any show. But so many of the premium network shows do it - Showtime, HBO, and Starz. They do because they can and I assume there are plenty of people who are into that. I had a problem with it on this show, on the Sopranos, on Spartacus, on Boss, True Blood.... the list goes on.

As others have said, the show is of course in LA, which is pretty obvious as its mentioned a lot.

As a straight woman, I can't judge the portrayal of lesbians, but I can say I love the show after just now seeing it for the first time over the past few weeks.

After reading your review, I don't even know if you're watching the same show as everyone else though. So much of it doesn't make any sense.