Lesbian web TV fills gap where L Word left off

As Showtime's The L Word suffered a slow and painful death, talented filmmakers started filling the inevitable gaping hole that would be left once the show took its final breath.  Writers like Regan Latimer, Charmain Johnson, Renee Olbert and Susan Miller and Tina Cesa Ward were busy creating exciting new web-based television for people who love lesbian drama.

BJ Fletcher: Private Eye is a web series featuring the life of a quirky lesbian private eye who is lovingly referred to as Fletcher.   After two seasons, the show's producer and director, Regan Latimer announced the series had inked a television development deal. 

The Lovers and Friends Show is a lesbian web series featuring Black and Hispanic lesbians. The show made its debut on January 1, 2008. Lovers and Friends focuses on six main characters and their life experiences as lesbians from various backgrounds.  Currently, The Lovers and Friends Show is in its third season.  

We Have to Stop Now is a lesbian web series that follows a lesbian couple (both therapists) as they struggle to keep up the pretense of staying together while a documentary film crew watches their every move.  We Have to Stop Now is in its 2nd season.  In a recent interview with SistersTalk Radio, the film's creators and producers Cathy DeBuono and Jill Bennett hinted the show's second season would be filmed on board the Sweet Caribbean cruise in November 2009. 

Seeking Simone is a lesbian web series filmed in Canada. The series follows lesbian actress Simone as she attempts to find love (through internet dating) in her new home, Toronto.  Seeking Simone is still in its inaugural season, but has experienced great success by marketing the series heavily on Twitter and Facebook. 

Anyone But Me is a lesbian web series that introduces a new generation searching for love and belonging in the post 9/11 age. The series is in its second season and boasts an impressive and diverse young cast.  One of the show's main characters (Aster, played by Nicole Pacent) bears a remarkable resemblance to Angelina Jolie.  

Cyrstal Chappell, formerly Olivia Spencer on Guiding Light, has created a new web series that will feature the lesbian couple dubbed Otalia from Guiding Light.  With new names, new storylines and a new home, Chappell revives Otalia on Venice the Series.

Each of these lesbian web series face the same challenge: funding.  Producing a new show exclusively for the internet is a fairly new idea.  Companies that sponsor traditional television shows are deciding if funds spent on web TV will be money well spent.   Only time will tell.