Ilene Chaiken’s “The Real L Word” returns to Showtime this summer with a mostly new cast and significant creative changes. Where the original “L Word” series dazzled fans with an all star cast of beauties and a series of well-crafted scripts meant to provoke, entertain and educate, the “The Real L Word” left viewers bemused by the lowered production values, homogeneous casting and rampant stereotyping. The lack of an African-American presence in the reality series further irked viewers, who had become accustomed to watching a multicultural cast reflective of Los Angeles living, as depicted in the “L Word”. But Chaiken gets it right this time around, exploring lesbian culture through the lens of class and ethnicity in the second season of “The L Word,” by training her lens on women from different socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds.
Rose, Jill, Mikey, Tracy, and Nikki are gone. Whitney Mixter is the lone holdover mixing it up with newcomers: magazine entrepreneur Claire; media and business exec Francine; fashion designer Romi (who you might remember from season 1 in a supporting role); ready-to-start-a-family couple Cori & Kasey; and LGBT activist Sajdah.
Chaiken rolls the dice and comes up with snake eyes this season as she adopts the wildly popular cable trend of weaving full frontal nudity and Cinemax-styled softcore porn into her storytelling. Just as in Starz hit “Spartacus” and HBO hit “Game of Thrones,” where every episode featured a cock or v-jay jay shot, “The Real L Word” viewers will also find sexual content fit for mature audiences only.
“The Real L Word” also appears to have moved away from the video format, trading it in for the softness of film, making the series feel more like a documentary and less like a cheap reality series.
Overall, the changes suggest that season 2 of “The Real L Word” should recapture much of Chaiken’s L Word fan base and add new ones wanting racier fare.
“The Real L Word” airs Sundays at 10:00pm ET/PT on Showtime.