Lez Begin

“Am I crazy? Am I drunk? Am I hallucinating?” — Jenny Schecter 

It’s the “Off The Chart” pre-party! Before we start our season-by-season recapping, this premiere episode digs into lesbian, bisexual and queer culture circa 2004 and breaks down the impact of The L Word’s launch. Meet our recap crew, two who watched the original series as it aired, and two youngster late-comers. (There’s even one of us who loves Jenny.) Revisit the Riot Grrrls and New Queer Cinema, remember that summer we all said, “That’s hot,” regret those low-rise flares—and get ready to live, laugh, love and listen. 

Episode notes and extras:

“Not Your Mother’s Lesbians,” New York Magazine on the launch of The L Word in 2004The ChartNew Queer CinemaGo Fish (1994), a classic lesbian indie film, directed and co-written by Rose Troche and starring and co-written by Guinevere Turner—Troche directed several episodes of The L Word, Turner played Alice’s awful ex Gabby DeveauxThe Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love (1995) Another classic lesbian indie film from the 1990s, this one starred Laurel Holloman (Tina)Queer As Folk (UK) and Queer As Folk (US)Lesbian AvengersQueer NationHow the Riot Grrrl movement sold the world on girl powerRIP early aughts fashionFrom BuzzFeed: Which L Word character are you?The L Word: Generation QThe L Word creator Ilene Chaiken on what fans can expect from the reboot

Featuring: 
Rachel Giese @rachelagiese
Erica Lenti @ericalenti
Eternity Martis @eternitymartis
Michelle Turingan @chelleturingan

Producer and editor: Corey Misquita @coreymisquita
Senior producer: Rachel Matlow @rachelmatlow
Executive producer: Rachel Giese
Music: KidKulit