TCA '09: Showtime’s Greenblatt Reveals Details on ‘L Word’ Spin-off
Leisha Hayley's Character Goes to Prison for a 'Female Oz'
By Melissa Grego-- Broadcasting & Cable -- Multichannel News, 1/14/2009 11:20:00 AM
Complete MCN TCA Coverage
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.
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.
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