Since The L Word bid its final farewell in March of 2009, its star Jennifer Beals has starred in the short-lived The Chicago Code, and signed on for CBS’s The Widow Detective, which appears to have been shelved. Now, the woman who embodied power lesbian extraordinaire Bette Porter for six seasons, has signed on for the pilot for the nighttime soap Venice (not to be confused with the lesbian-themed Crystal Chappell series) from The L Word helmer Ilene Chaiken, according to Deadline.
Chaiken created the series billed as a Romeo & Juliet story of sorts that focuses on feuding families from which a forbidden romance arises. Beals will play Lisa Carver, the matriarch of the “bohemian” Carver family, according to Deadline.
McG ( Charlie’s Angels) is set to direct the pilot.
Fingers crossed that the always-excellent Beals lands a hit, but since The L Word ended, Chaiken’s track record with getting pilots off the ground has been abysmal at best.
Chaiken’s most recent pilot that never panned out was a crime drama she sold to CBS. Prior to that she had developed Quean, a Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-esque show about badass computer hacker, and Hail Mary, a suburban mother cum detective show that was set to star Minnie Driver, according to THR. Prior to those series she had developed ideas for a lesbian-themed medical drama entitled Rhodes to Recovery and for a CW show entitled Confessions of a Back-Up Dancer.
Let’s hope Beals is what it takes to turn Chaiken’s luck around.
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