Recently, the Cute-Little-Red-Headed Girlfriend and I faced a household crisis around the new show The L Word. We've known it was coming for some time, but because the history of pro-lesbian shows is not stellar, we were torn about investing in a cable or satellite system just to get it.

After the series premiere, which we caught on a videotape provided by an obliging friend, we were so sold on the show that getting access through our own TV set-up became a pressing concern. So after many years of abstaining from pay TV, I took advantage of the free-installation-in-time-for-the-Superbowl offer and got DirectTV installed with ShowTime.

The Cute-Little-Red-Headed Girlfriend is now totally obsessed with this show, and I'm fairly involved as well. I was sad to see that Television Without Pity was not offering episode recaps, however, a post on decaf venti tipped me off to the blow-by-blow coverage on After Ellen, a fantastic resource. Plus, there are multiple fan sites for the show with active message boards and a few sites have also cropped up dedicated to the various actors/characters.

It's a great ensemble show, and does a very good job at capturing some typical aspects of lesbian life. The drama and the trauma, as I like to call it. I know people have complained that the lesbian characters aren't really representative of the community, but how can you ask any group of characters living in Los Angeles--gay or straight--to represent "reality"? This ain't Kansas, Dorothy. To me, the most unrealistic part of the show has nothing to do with lesbianism. It's the sheer size of the character's houses relative to their probable incomes. But I'm picking nits.

I was interested to hear the skepticism voiced about the lesbian tennis pro character at Almost There, brand new to my blogroll. I also found this character, who is supposed to be in the closet and unable to get a date, less than believable. The idea that a female tennis pro could be sitting in a lesbian cafe and not have panties thrown at her feet by all-too-willing dykes is a ridiculous fancy.

Now that I have DirectTV I can make good use of Queery, a gay and lesbian TV guide that I happened upon somewhere. That is, when I'm not watching the cartoon network.