Season 1 The first season of
The L Word premiered on January 18, 2004, and ended on April 11, 2004. The season introduces
Bette Porter and
Tina Kennard, a couple in a seven-year relationship attempting to have a child;
Marina Ferrer, owner of the local cafe The Planet;
Jenny Schecter, who has recently moved to Los Angeles to live with her boyfriend Tim Haspell;
Shane McCutcheon, an androgynous, highly sexual hairstylist;
Alice Pieszecki, a bisexual journalist who maintains The Chart;
Dana Fairbanks, a
closeted professional tennis player; and
Kit Porter, Bette's straight half-sister.
Season 2 The second season of
The L Word premiered on February 20, 2005, and ended on May 15, 2005. The season introduces
Carmen de la Pica Morales, a DJ who becomes part of a
love triangle with Shane and Jenny;
Helena Peabody, a wealthy art patron who becomes a rival to Bette and love interest to Tina (while she and Bette are separated). Major story lines in the season include Tina's pregnancy following a second insemination, culminating in Tina and Bette's reconciliation at the end of the season; the introduction of Mark Wayland, a documentary filmmaker who moves in with Shane and Jenny; Kit's acquisition of The Planet following Marina's departure from Los Angeles; Shane and Jenny becoming the unknowing subjects of Mark's documentary after he places hidden cameras in their home; a developing relationship between Alice and Dana; and insights into Jenny's past as an abused child.
Season 3 The third season of
The L Word premiered on January 8, 2006, and ended on March 26, 2006. The season introduces
Max Sweeney, a working-class trans man initially introduced presenting as a
butch; and Angus Partridge, a male nanny who becomes Kit's lover. The season is set six months after the birth of Tina and Bette's daughter Angelica. Major story lines include Bette and Tina's relationship deteriorating once again, due to Tina developing feelings for men; Max coming out as a
trans man; Dana's diagnosis with and ultimate death from breast cancer; and Shane and Carmen's engagement and wedding, which ends when Shane abandons Carmen at the altar. Helena is integrated into the primary group of characters as a friend rather than a rival; she acquires a movie studio, where she is entangled in a sexual harassment lawsuit that leads her mother to cut her off financially. In the lead-up to the third season, the
fan fiction website FanLib.com launched a contest where individuals could submit a piece of
L Word fanfiction, with the winner's story incorporated into a scene in third-season episode.
Season 4 The L Word was renewed for a fourth season on February 2, 2006, and began filming on May 29, 2006. The season aired from January 7, 2007 to March 25, 2007, and introduces
Jodi Lerner, a love interest for Bette;
Phyllis Kroll, Bette's closeted new boss at California Art College;
Paige Sobel, a love interest for Shane;
Tasha Williams, a former
captain in the
Army National Guard and love interest for Alice; and Papi, who has slept with the most women on The Chart. Major story lines in the season include the adaptation of
Lez Girls, an article written by Jenny for
The New Yorker, into a film; Bette taking a job as a
dean at California Art College; and Tasha's struggle to reconcile her military service with her sexuality under
don't ask, don't tell.
Season 5 The L Word was renewed for a fifth season on March 9, 2007, and began filming in summer 2007. The season aired from January 6, 2008 to March 23, 2008 and introduces
Nikki Stevens, a closeted gay actress who portrays the lead role in
Lez Girls. Adele Channing is also introduced, potentially by chance meeting Jenny at the Planet, and soon becoming her personal assistant. Papi and Angus were written out of the series. Major story lines in the season include Bette and Tina reconciling their relationship, Jenny being ousted from the production of
Lez Girls, and Tasha's
dishonorable discharge from the military.
Season 6 The sixth and final season of
The L Word aired from January 18, 2009, to March 8, 2009. The season introduces
Kelly Wentworth, Bette's college roommate, who attempts to open a gallery with her;
Jamie Chen, a social worker who becomes involved in a love triangle with Alice and Tasha; and Marybeth Duffy and Sean Holden, detectives with the
LAPD. The season is a
whodunit story line focused on the murder of Jenny. The events of the season are depicted as a
flashback leading up to the night of the crime, with each episode focused around what could have potentially motivated each character to have killed Jenny. The series concludes without revealing the identity of her murderer.
Interrogation tapes Following the series finale of
The L Word, Showtime released a series of seven short videos depicting Bette, Alice, Tina, Nikki Shane being questioned by the police over Jenny's murder. The episodes were posted weekly on Showtime's website. Showtime additionally released an interview with
L Word series creator Ilene Chaiken, released in two weekly installments. In the interview, Chaiken stated that Alice went to jail for Jenny's murder, but was not necessarily guilty of the crime.
Generation Q On July 11, 2017, it was announced a sequel series was in the works with Showtime.
Marja-Lewis Ryan has been selected to serve as executive producer and
showrunner. On January 31, 2019,
Entertainment Weekly reported Showtime had picked up the sequel series for a premiere later in the year, in which Jennifer Beals, Katherine Moennig, and Leisha Hailey would reprise their roles. The new series, titled
The L Word: Generation Q, premiered in the fall of 2019. ==Related media==