Friday, October 21, 2005

As the girls repeatedly plunge into problems more or less entirely of their own making, I'm wondering ... is The L Word a comedy in dramatic clothing?

I'm not sure that "problems of their own making" is a great definition of comedy. But it is hard to feel too badly about people who are floundering in their own quagmires, unless they're hurting innocent people--

--must, must avoid political parallel, down boy--

--whew! And it is hard to avoid sympathy for people who are suffering in spite of their every effort. The Grapes of Wrath, serious drama. Cain't much argue with a dust storm. And it is hard to feel too mournful for Jenny in her efforts to define herself while sleeping with whoever crosses her path. Or for Bette, when she goes out of her way to piss everyone around her off.

I heard once that Chekhov considered his plays comedies, and produced them as such. If you've ever directed them (I directed one Chekhov scene in a class once), you notice how they start out as almost nothing at all, but build as you work on them with the directors ... into broad farce. His characters are fundamentally ridiculous people in ridiculous situations. Too bad most directors never get the memo...

Now all we need is a laugh track. Just like the on that worked so well on Sports Night.

11:34 PM

2 Comments:

Umm, Alex, there's no "Beth". It's "Bette", played by the lovely Jennifer Beals. The other main characters are Jenny, Tina, Alice, Shane, Dana and Kit (Bette's sister). There's a swirl of other characters, notably, Lara, Helena and Carmen as the "romantic" entanglements of the main cast.

Being a lesbian, I enjoyed and was delighted by the first season, even though Jenny was annoying as hell. The second season I hated and if the rumours of the 3rd season prove to be true, I;m cancelling Showtime.

I KNOW it's supposed to be a lesbian soap opera but you know even the most hard core fan can only take so much abuse.

I gotta admit, I don;t get the "Sorkin" comment... maybe it's cause I'm not a tv pro. Care to enlighten me?

For those who don't know, this series was created by Ilene Chaiken (the current showrunner) who worked for Aaron Spelling and wrote "Barbarella"... which should give you a clue as to which direction this series is going. Sigh.

By  writergurl, at 8:19 AM  

Sorry.. wrong movie.. it's NOT "Barbarella" it was "Barbed Wire." The Pamela Anderson sci-fi horror.

My apologies.

By  writergurl, at 12:26 AM  

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