The L Word

Now the L word is one of those programmes that I didn't watch on TV but was always told how good it was so when I gained an Amazon voucher I decided to treat myself to it and see what all the fuss was about. This review is solely based on the first season of the show as I have yet to see the second.

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Tagline;

'Same Sex. Different City.'

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What is it about?
...
...the complete season 1 DVD)
Midwesterner Jenny, an aspiring writer, moves to Los Angeles to live with her boyfriend. But when she becomes friends with an intriguing circle of accomplished and attractive lesbians - among them a museum curator, a café owner, a journalist, a hair stylist and a pro tennis player - she finds herself exposed to a whole new world. And, as it turns out, she's more than curious.

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Who ... more

Now the L word is one of those programmes that I didn't watch on TV but was always told how good it was so when I gained an Amazon voucher I decided to treat myself to it and see what all the fuss was about. This review is solely based on the first season of the show as I have yet to see the second.

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Tagline;

'Same Sex. Different City.'

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What is it about?

(Reading from the back of the box of the complete season 1 DVD)
Midwesterner Jenny, an aspiring writer, moves to Los Angeles to live with her boyfriend. But when she becomes friends with an intriguing circle of accomplished and attractive lesbians - among them a museum curator, a café owner, a journalist, a hair stylist and a pro tennis player - she finds herself exposed to a whole new world. And, as it turns out, she's more than curious.

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Who does it star?

Jennifer Beals - Bette.
Erin Daniels - Dana.
Leisha Hailey - Alice.
Laurel Holloman - Tina.
Mia Kirshner - Jenny.
Karina Lombard - Marina.
Eric Mabius - Tim.
Katherine Moening - Shane.
Pam Grier - Kit.

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Things you should know about the season 1 DVD.

4 disc DVD set.
Price - £19.97 from Amazon.
Runtime - 10 hours 59 minutes.
Special features - commentary, season 2 preview, gallery, cast biographies and wardrobe closet.
Certificate - 15.
Number of episodes - 13.

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Verdict;

Now please do not start thinking that only lesbians should be interested in this show as I know a lot of people who actually didn't watch it for that reason. This show is clever and very funny and although it is about lesbians it concentrates on the relationships between them so perfectly and the relationships they have with men perfectly.

I will first tell you a bit about all of the characters.

Bette - She is the highflying one of the group. She is a museum curator and works extremely hard. She is also very gutsy and is willing to take risks in her career that mat people would shy away from. She has a permanent girlfriend who is Tina and together they strive to become a family.

Tina - Bettes other half. She is a very sweet character who wants nothing more than a family. Because of Bettes job she is often left on her own but she always picks herself up and is one of the more positive ones of the group.

Dana - The pro tennis player and one of my favourite characters of the show. She is so funny! She is not totally at ease with being a lesbian yet and she is a bit of a worrier. She spends her time at home loving her cat and battles with trying to make it in the tough tennis world.

Alice - Another one of my favourite characters. She is bisexual and is hilarious. She has some great lines in the show and I have often laughed out loud with some of her scenes. She is a bit hyperactive and when you meet her mom you understand where she gets it from. She prides herself on her lesbian board which is basically a huge diagram linking people that have slept with each other.

Jenny - A writer who is totally oblivious to the whole lesbian community at first but gradually gets drawn into the intrigue of it all. She is not exactly a feisty character but not exactly a wimp either. She becomes very confused about herself and how to see and talk to people in her new neighbourhood.

Tim - Jenny's boyfriend who for all the girl readers of this review, he is gorgeous. He is the coach of a swimming team and is 100% committed to Jenny and idolises her. He does get very jealous quickly but he gets on with everybody and everybody loves him. He is the main man of the show and you cannot exactly tell if he likes or dislikes the fact that his wife hangs out with a group of such attractive lesbians.

Shane - The hair stylist. She is the one of the group who always gets the girl she wants so as you can imagine on Alice's lesbian board Shane has a lot of connections to her name. She is very funny though and very sarcastic.

Marina - The foreign girl and owns her own café called the planet which is the local hangout for everybody. She is smart, sexy and knows how to manipulate. She is the only character that I feel the show does not delve into but she is a fun character and the way she persists after her conquests actually makes you feel sorry for the conquests.

Kit - Bettes sister who is getting over a big drinks problem. Kit is not a lesbian and she shows them along with Jenny that homosexual and heterosexual relationships bring the same amount of trouble.

Each character is extremely believable and every actor in this show is a well established actor so you do not have to worry about bad acting. The characters are all very fun and you will end up caring so much about the characters that I was shouting at the TV at some points.

The episodes last around 45 minutes each and they go by so quickly with each episode being as strong as the last. The story lines they come up with are fantastic and you even get an insight into the book that Jenny is trying to create. I won't go through every episode as they are all interlinked and I don't want to give anything away but all thirteen are very unique and will entertain you.

This is a very fun show and the sets are fun and the show does have some very strange points which I do not want to tell you as it will ruin it but let's just say an episode with somebody singing around a car is very strange. You can tell that all the actors had a great time filming this show and it really comes across in the show as a great job.

Now one thing I will tell you about this show is that although it is a certificate 15 I cannot believe it is not an 18 due to one thing - the sex scenes. Yes guys there are lesbian sex scenes don't get to excited but some of the scenes are really unnecessary. They are very explicit and to be honest my sister watched the show after I did because she was watching something else and if we had watched it together we would have been embarrassed to watch some of the scenes. In fact on my own I found myself forward winding some of them because they were just so explicit.

Also expect from the first series a few famous guest stars to pop up from time to time including appearances from Rosanna Arquette and Snoop Dogg who play some very interesting roles.

The final thing I have to tell you about is the special features. The commentary is performed by Jennifer Beals and Ilene Chaiken who created the show. Listening to the commentary is very interesting and allows you some insight into how and why the show was created and also what it was like working on such a show and with such accomplished actors. The cast biographies give you a little bit of information on what the actors did before this show. I recognised a few faces such as Eric Mabius from Resident Evil, Laurel Holloman from Angel and Mia Kirshner from 24. Season 2 preview is quite short but just gives you a glimpse into what's in store for the characters and just made want the second season to come out quicker. In fact if anybody knows when it is coming out then please let me know. The gallery and wardrobe closet to be honest are a bit boring as you can see a]everything that is shown on the show anyway so for me there was no need to repeat it and I would have preferred some cats interviews for a special feature.

I think you will like this show if you are fans of comedy dramas. This show focuses on relationships between women, men and women, women and animals, people and jobs and people and their parents. There is enough comedy to keep people laughing but also to keep you on the edge of your seat to see what happens next. I got to the end of each episode and couldn't wait to watch the next even staying up way too late and was tired in work the next day as I needed to know what would happen. I watched the entire box set in a week while working full time and spending time with my Dave on the weekend, that is how good this show is.

I loved my DVD set and I can honestly say it is one of the best comedy drama series I have seen in a long time. I think it is smart, funny, real and totally 100% addictive. Plus if you decide you do not like the show there are so many pretty people to watch. For the guys take your pick and for the girls well Eric Mabius who plays Tim is gorgeous and loveable. This show truly gives you the message that being a lesbian is no piece of cake.

Thanks for reading.

xxx

This will be posted on dooyoo too. Could somebody please tell me how to use the ciao cafe?
xxx 

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