Jill Bennett and Maile Flanagan Score In Our New Favorite Lesbian Sitcom - 'Second Shot'

In today's media-saturdated world, there's no shortage of independently produced series featuring out actors and LGBT storylines. What's increasingly rare is that gem of a series that combines humor, likable characters, high-quality production values, and relatable LGBT narratives in a 30-minute comedic episode. Luckily for us, a new half-hour sitcom from Little Loud Pictures does just that. 

Second Shot, which debuts its first three episodes at Outfest Los Angeles on Monday at 7 p.m., stars smoking hot and talented out actors Jill Bennett (And Then Came Lola, Out at the Wedding, Dante's Cove) and Maile Flanagan (500 Days of Summer, Weeds) leading a stellar ensemble cast as the owner and employees of Dot's Hole bar in Morton, Ohio. The bar is named after its founder, who established the venue to provide a safe haven, gathering place, and watering hole for the tiny but tight-knit community in this small midwestern town. 

The dialogue is quick and snappy, full of contemporary one-liners that range from tongue-in-cheek references to women's soccer players (Bennett's Kat McDonald, the owner, is a former professional soccer star), the ever-evolving lesbian coif du jour, and of course, numerous jokes about the Hole itself. The humor is generally good-natured and often full of puns, as well as catchphrases that are destined to become colloquial in the lesbian community; Flanagan's "Holy Navratilova!" stands out in the premiere episodes. 

Second Shot views almost like a lesbian take on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, focusing on its characters' supposedly doldrum existence and the surprising camaraderie and, well, "second shots" that appear when you let go of your ego and move back home. 

Former small-town hero turned disgraced professional soccer star Kat McDonald (Bennett) returns home from Miami to pay her respects to the late Dot. But when she arrives for the reading of Dot's last will and testament, Dot (through a prerecorded video) leaves Kat her Hole — and all the local queers who work there. Despite her best efforts to keep it professional, Kat is constantly distracted by her newest waitress — freshly divorced Allison Silva (played by Amanda Christensen of Tosh.0, The Tonight Show) — who also happens to be Kat's ex. Strap in for some serious lesbian drama on this one, ladies. 

Filling out the Cheers-esque roster is Flanagan's Jodi Munson, the requisite dyke-of-a-certain-age who's got the wisdom of years spent at a women's music commune, and delivers every one of her punchy one-liners with perfect comedic timing. Maia Madison plays the bumbling but well-intentioned Linda Boonkowski, whose "don'tcha know" accent is a hilarious blend of Sarah Palin and your East Coast bubbie. There's Minni Jo Mazzola's Ty Rosenfeld, the young, hard-rocking barback who has an ever-revolving spate of gorgeous women on her arm. If Ty conjures images of Parks and Recreation's April Ludgate, that's because Mazzola has a recurring role as Aubrey Plaza's little sister on that show. Adding just a touch of gay male fabulosity to the women-centric cast is Matthew Scott Montgomery (So Random! Shake It Up) as Martin Honeycutt — the soft-spoken gay boy who gets bullied by the local dude-bros, who are probably just jealous of Martin's fierce talent for bedazzling. 

The series was created by Bennett and out showrunner Nancylee Myatt (South of Nowhere), and is produced by Bennett, Annie Price (who also directs), Rebecca Katz, and Dara Nai. Nai is the show's head writer, joined by Claudia Cogan on episode 3.

We've got high hopes for this little sitcom — so raise a glass, and take that Second Shot. Because when life hands you lemons, just add tequila and salt. 

Grab a sneak peek of Second Shot in the trailer below, and catch the world premiere of episode 3 at Outfest Los Angeles on July 15. 

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