The L-Word Spin Off - Details !

The final season of the L Word is debuting tonight, and though I already saw episode 1 before Christmas (it leaked online in December), I felt the urge to dig up some dirt on the upcoming
spin off. And here is what I found. Enjoy my lovelies.

(Direct quote taken from L-Word forum on sho.com)

Showtime President of Entertainment Bob Greenblatt spilled some details of the recently-piloted The L-Word spin-off: It will star The L Word’s Leisha Hayley and will be a “very different, substantially different show” from L-Word, he says.

Hayley’s character Alice Pieszecki goes to jail, where the new show would be set. While L-Word, which will conclude as a series after its yet-to-premiere sixth season, focuses primarily on a community of lesbians, the spin-off would involve a broad spectrum of characters, including some lesbians, Greenblatt says: “It’s a big group of characters and there’s a few lesbians in that group but it isn’t the exact makeup of what the L-Word was.”

When asked if it is a “female Oz,” he says that was “not a bad description,” though it would not be as dark as Oz, the gritty, former HBO series.

Three guest stars appear in the pilot and may or may not go forward on the series should it get picked up: Melissa Leo (Frozen River), Famke Janssen and Laurie Metcalf.


(Cast picture from Season 6 of the L-Word)

Greenblatt says he expects to make a decision about the pilot, which he has not yet seen cut together, in the next couple of months.
Alice will be convicted of some sort of crime related to the Season Six death of the much-hated Jenny (Mia Kirshner). Hailey, who was not on set when that scene was shot, believes Alice is innocent and falsely convicted.
"That's where I stand," says Hailey, who shot the spinoff pilot over the Christmas holidays. "I was a wide-eyed, scared victim. I was walking through this brand new world that obviously I was going to be staying in for a very long time. It's going to be a lot about how I fit in.

"You're just part of the system when you get in there. You get a number and you're in with the rest of them," she says, then jokes, "My wardrobe decisions were down to one outfit."

"L Word" creator Ilene Chaiken thinks the subject of Alice's guilt, should the series get picked up, "could be an open question for a long time."

In prison, Alice encounters Laurie Metcalf, who plays the prison warden, and Melissa Leo, who is the chief correctional officer.

"Melissa Leo is not playing the character that she played many, many years ago on 'The L Word,'" says Chaiken, referring to Winnie, who was caught in a bitter custody battle with her ex. "I believe that we can get away with that given the actor that Melissa Leo is. She's a completely different person."

Another new inmate who appears in the pilot is Famke Janssen.

"Her character Valentina is in for racketeering, drugs and assault -- gang-related," says Chaiken.

If Showtime decides to proceed with the spinoff, it's hoped that the three guest stars will become series regulars. Chaiken also says that given the relationships of the "L Word" characters, it's likely they would be frequent visitors to the California prison.

And although some inmates occupy their time working out, making license plates or cooking in the kitchen, Alice may pursue her favorite hobby: working on The Chart.

"That remains to be seen," says Chaiken. "I think she might make a new chart."