Plumbing The L Word well for a second time, series creator Ilene Chaiken is hoping a reality spin on the popular drama provides the ticket she needs to return to Showtime's airwaves.
According to a story in Daily Variety, the pay cabler has greenlighted a reality series called The Real L Word: Los Angeles, which will revolve around six as-yet-cast lesbians in the city as they live, love and learn.
Chaiken, who previously tried to mine the L Word well after the series concluded earlier this year with an unsuccessful spinoff revolving around Leisha Hailey (Alice) set at a women's penitentiary dubbed The Farm, is set to executive produce the reality show that is considered a response to Bravo's hot Real Housewives series.
To those familiar with lesbian reality programming, Chaiken's pitch sounds a great deal like Logo's Gimmie Sugar, which revolved around a group of lesbian friends in L.A. who attempted to start a lesbian nightclub. That series, while spawning a second season set in Miami, failed to resonate with fans.
The Real L Word, while dependent on casting, could debut on Showtime in 2010.
Chaiken also is considered to be working on an L Word feature film, which she claims would resolve many of the unanswered questions the abbreviated eight-episode final season created.
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The Jenny Schecter murder-mystery left fans up in the air wondering who offed Mia Kirshner's character. Showtime's L Word "interrogation tapes" also created upheaval among fans with far-reaching backstories about Shane (Kate Moennig), Alice (Hailey), Bette (Jennifer Beals), Tina (Laurel Holloman) and Helena (Rachel Shelley).
The Real L Word, of which nine episodes have been ordered, will also be executive produced by Magical Elves' Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz, who were behind reality hits Top Chef, Project Runway and Kathy Griffin's A-List Awards.
"Even though we concluded our sixth season of The L Word on Showtime this past March, I believe we are not nearly finished telling our L Word stories," Chaiken told Variety. "Showtime has yet again come forward to continue with us this mission to entertain and enlighten and bring more 'L' to the world."
The Real L Word would join a Showtime roster that recently added The C Word, a dark comedy series starring Laura Linney about a woman who is diagnosed with cancer.
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