The L Word - When women love women

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Television series
German title The L Word - When women love women
Original title The L Word
The l word logo.jpg
Country of production United States
original language English
Year (s) 2004-2009
length 50 minutes
Episodes 70 in 6 seasons
genre drama
idea Ilene Chaiken
music Dan Gagnon ,
Damien Rice ,
Elizabeth Ziff (from 2005)
First broadcast January 18, 2004 (USA) on Showtime
German-language
first broadcast		 May 30, 2006 on ProSieben
occupation
synchronization

The L Word - When women love women (Original title: The L Word ) is a television series on the US pay-TV channel Showtime. It aired in six seasons from 2004 to 2009.

The series is about a clique of lesbian , bisexual , heterosexual and transsexual friends in West Hollywood and deals with topics such as lesbian parenting , artificial insemination and coming out , but also substance abuse , abortion , racism , extremism , trans identity and breast cancer .

The series was broadcast in over 30 countries worldwide; in Germany season 1 was from May to August 2006 and season 2 from July 2, 2009 on ProSieben . Seasons 3–5 were shown on sixx .

In 2019, the sequel The L Word: Generation Q began broadcasting.

Idea and Production

The series idea comes from the US writer and producer of the series, Ilene Chaiken ( Barb Wire , The Prince of Bel-Air ). Other producers included Steve Golin ( Being John Malkovich , Forget Mine Not! ) And Larry Kennar ( Barbershop ). In addition to Chaiken, Guinevere Turner ( Go Fish , American Psycho ) , Rose Troche ( Go Fish , Six Feet Under ) and Alexandra Kondracke in 14 episodes were among the authors.

The L Word was shot primarily in Vancouver, Canada at Coast Mountain Films Studios. The crew spent around two to three weeks in Los Angeles each season for the outdoor shots .

In the English-language original, the name of each episode begins with the letter L. In the German version, this is only the case in the second season. Ilene Chaiken came up with the series title through the Canadian and also lesbian singer kd lang , as she once did not get the "L-word" out of the public eye. Chaiken thought this was a good title for the series.

Theme song

From season 2, the opening credits of each episode begin with the series' theme song, The Way that We Live . It was composed by the American band Betty , who have been particularly committed to the rights of gays and lesbians since the beginning of their work.

The main characters

Originally Leisha Hailey auditioned for the role of Shane McCutcheon, but then Katherine Moennig was selected. According to Ilene Chaiken, Moennig is also the only one of the L-Word actresses for whom she immediately saw the corresponding figure when she looked at the casting tapes.

Bette Porter

As Managing Director of the California Arts Center (CAC), Bette has a responsible and well-paid position that enables her to live a financially carefree life with her long-term partner Tina Kennard. With this she decides in the course of the first season to start a family through artificial insemination. When Tina has a miscarriage , Tina and Bette move further and further apart. While Tina's distancing is only made clear emotionally, Bette cheats on her with Candace, a carpenter who supports her on an extraordinary art project. When Tina finds out about this, she separates from Bette at the end of the first season.

Professionally, too, obstacles are increasingly being put in the way of Bette: radical Christians are joining forces to form a citizens' initiative that takes action against an art exhibition supported by Bette. Bettes' own alternative way of life as a lesbian - rejected by her conservative opponents - soon became the center of the quarrels. Tina allows herself to be fertilized again and gives birth to their daughter Angelica, but their relationship initially fails despite intensive efforts. The issue of joint custody and Tina's new relationship with a man is repeatedly discussed.

Bette quits her second job as dean at the California Art School, where she had started a long affair with the deaf sculptor Jodi Lerner. She opens an art gallery with straight Kelly Wentworth, a former unrequited college lover, and eventually reconciles with Tina in season five.

Tina Kennard

Tina, who had her first homosexual partnership with Bette, had herself artificially fertilized and found it difficult to cope with the loss of her unborn baby. She is increasingly distancing herself from Bette and is increasingly suffering from depression. However, she experiences distraction through a social project for children, in which she is actively involved. When she learns that Bette is having an affair with another woman, they end their seven-year relationship. At the beginning of the second season it is announced that Tina was fertilized again and wants to carry this child to term.

She gets to know Helena Peabody, an influential donor for cultural projects of all kinds, one of the supported projects also included Bettes Art Museum. However, Helena no longer gives money to the art museum, but instead supports Tina's project for socially disadvantaged children. Helena begins, to Bettes annoyance, an affair with Tina. This can be artificially fertilized again, and after Angelica's birth, Bette and Tina approach each other again, but separate again and Tina enters into a heterosexual relationship with Henry. Tina and Bette only get back together in season 5.

Shane McCutcheon

Shane is an androgynous hairdresser known as a heartbreaker. She values ​​her independence and is afraid of closeness, so she only gets involved in one-night stands . The beloved do not always understand that Shane does not want a committed relationship. Nevertheless, it is very popular with women. She spent most of her childhood in nursing homes, was on her own from an early age and prostituted herself in her youth in order to survive.

After a brief affair with the older Cherie Jaffe, Carmen is the first one she lets go of and with whom she is ready to build trust. Thoughtful after the death of her friend Dana, Shane proposes marriage to Carmen, but then leaves her standing in front of the altar. Shane's father, whom she sees again after a long time, leaves his wife and son at their wedding party to run away with another woman. The abandoned woman also disappears, so that from now on Shane has to take care of her half-brother Shay. As a result, she learns to take responsibility and to open up to a solid bond with Paige Sobel. After Shane's father takes his son back to himself, Shane falls back into her old habits, cheats on Paige and is finally abandoned by her. In seasons 5 and 6, Molly Kroll, the daughter of Bettes boss, becomes her lover.

Dana Fairbanks

Dana is a professional tennis player and an unouted lesbian because she is concerned that coming out could harm her career. Her relationship with the cook Lara, which is still quite fresh, is broken by this game of hide and seek. When it turns out that advertising partners want to market her as a confident, lesbian tennis star, she finally comes out and has been more in demand than ever since then. In this context, she also met Tonya, her future manager and fiancée. Dana breaks the engagement shortly before the wedding after Alice reveals her feelings towards her. When Dana meets Lara again, she ends her relationship with Alice. In the course of the third season, Dana is diagnosed with breast cancer and dies as a result of chemotherapy .

Jenny Schecter

After finishing her studies, Jenny moves to live with her boyfriend Tim in Los Angeles to work as a writer. At a party held by her neighbors, Bette and Tina, she meets Marina and the rest of the clique. Jenny feels drawn to Marina and is torn between her and Tim. After Tim learns that Jenny is having a relationship with a woman, he breaks up with her. When Tim moves away in season two, Shane and Jenny move in together. A friendship develops between the two, which Jenny supports as she begins to come to terms with the sexual abuse in her childhood. In season 6, Jenny is found dead.

Alice Pieszecki

Officially confessing bisexual, Alice is secretly more into women. She is the editor of a music magazine and radio announcer for a weekly cult program (The Chart). She goes through thick and thin with her best friend Dana until she finally admits her love for Dana and the two become a couple at the beginning of the second season. In the third season, the relationship breaks up, and Alice falls into a deep depression. Helena tries to help her during the time. During a speed dating she meets the vampirologist Uta Refson and gains new courage from the short affair. After Dana's death, she also meets Lara, but they both realize that they have no future together. Then she starts a relationship with the soldier Tasha. After Alice was fired from the broadcaster because of the outing of a prominent athlete, she co-hosted a television show.

Kit Porter

Kit is the older half sister of Bette, a musician and has a son named David. But there is little contact between Kit and her son because she was an alcoholic and he did not tolerate it. She is the only heterosexual in the clique, but still lets herself into an intense flirtation with the drag king Ivan for a short time in the first season . At the beginning of the 2nd season she buys the café "The Planet" from Marina's husband and begins to get her life and existence under control again. In the third season, Kit falls in love with Angus, who is twenty years younger than her niece Angelica's babysitter. She becomes pregnant by Angus, but has an abortion by mutual consent. After Angus cheats on her with a younger woman, she leaves him.

Cast and dubbing

The series was set to music in the Berliner Synchron studios . In the first season Heike Schroetter wrote the dialogue books and directed the dialogue. From the second season Janina Richter wrote the dialogue books together with Jörg Hartung and directed the dialogue.

actor role Voice actor Main role
(season) 		Supporting role
(season) 		Guest role
(season)
Jennifer Beals Bette Porter Heath Domanowski 1-6
Pam Grier Kate "Kit" Porter Astrid Bless 1-6
Leisha Hailey Alice Pieszecki Ulrike Stürzbecher 1-6
Laurel Holloman Tina Kennard Silvia Missbach 1-6
Mia Kirshner Jenny Schecter Dascha Lehmann 1-6
Katherine Moennig Shane McCutcheon Victoria Storm 1-6
Erin Daniels Dana Fairbanks Claudia Urbschat-Mingues 1-3 4th
Karina Lombard Marina Ferrer Katrin Zimmermann 1 4, 6
Sarah Shahi Carmen de la Pica Morales Ghadah Al-Akel 2-3 6th
Rachel Shelley Helena Peabody Irina von Bentheim 3-6 2
Daniela Sea Moira / Max Sweeney Arianne Borbach 3-6
Marlee Matlin Jodi Lerner Sabine Falkenberg 4-5 6th
Cybill Shepherd Phyllis Kroll Monica Bielenstein 4-6
Lauren Lee Smith Lara Perkins Melanie Hinze 1-4
Holland Taylor Peggy Peabody Kerstin Sanders-Dornseif (Season 1)

Karin Buchholz

1-5 6th
Eric Mabius Tim Reel Dennis Schmidt-Foss 1 2, 3, 6
Jane Lynch Joyce Wischnia Kerstin Sanders-Dornseif 2-6
Eric Lively Mark Wayland Michael Deffert 2
Dallas Roberts Angus Partridge Tobias Kluckert 3-4 6th
Alexandra Hedison Dylan Moreland Vera Teltz 3, 6
Janina Gavankar Eva "Papi" Torres Angela Ringer 4th 6th
Rose Rollins Tasha Williams Anke Reitzenstein 4-6
Malaya Drew Adele Channing Manja Doering 5-6

Guest roles

Casting small guest and supporting roles, e.g. T. over several seasons.

Guest stars

Cameo appearances by celebrities.

Musical performances

Appearances by bands and musicians in the series.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The L Word (TV Series 2004-2009) - IMDb. Retrieved June 29, 2020 .
  2. ↑ a b fan book for the TV series. Kera Bolonik. ISBN 978-3-89656-131-2
  3. ↑ German synchronous index: German synchronous index | Series | The L Word. Retrieved March 6, 2018 .

Web links

Commons : The L Word - When Women Love Women  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files