The L Word, which originally premiered in 2004, will get a second chance at life with its upcoming showtime reboot, The L Word: Generation Q.
This new iteration will provide audiences with a continuation of the original series’ storyline. With that being said, fans can look forward to meeting a number of new characters during the eight-episode season. Production is scheduled to begin in Los Angeles this summer, with a projected cable network premiere in the fall according to a press release.
These new additions will be accompanied by some familiar faces. Leisha Hailey, Jennifer Beals and Katherine Moennig will all reprise their roles of Alice Pieszecki, Bette Porter, and Shane McCutcheon respectively in The L Word: Generation Q. According to Showtime’s log line, the new season promises “love, heartbreak, sex, setbacks and success in L.A.”
In an interview withThe Hollywood Reporter, showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan said she wanted to “honor the spirit of the first [series] and make it more inclusive.”
“I want to find things that are uniquely L.A. but are super real,” Ryan continued. “We don’t all work in the entertainment industry. There’s way more Latina representation because we’re in L.A. In terms of socioeconomic classes, the original did a pretty good job where like I still have friends that sleep on people’s couches, like Shane [Moennig] did.”
Ryan addressed the late controversy in the interview. “I don’t think anyone at the time knew any better than to cast a cis person to play a trans person, and that that wasn’t good and didn’t send the right message,” she explained. “I felt weird about it but I didn’t have any words to describe how I felt, and I didn’t have a solution for it, either. It wasn’t like I was like, ‘Why didn’t they just cast a trans person?’ We didn’t have that word. The idea of being able to have words for things and to be able to represent people in a more realistic way is something I’m excited to do as well.”
Joining Ryan as an executive producer of The L Word: Generation Q is L Word creator Ilene Chaiken, Beals, Moennig, Hailey and Kristen Campo.