EXCLUSIVE: Showtime has opted not to renew The L Word: Generation Q for a fourth season. The decision comes two months after the series’ third season ended its run. However, the franchise may continue on the network — The L Word: New York (working title), a reboot of the groundbreaking original series, is in development with the 2004 series’ creator Ilene Chaiken attached, I hear.
No Showtime series has been renewed since the January announcement that the premium cable network will be integrated into Paramount+ across both streaming and linear later this year and renamed as Paramount+ with Showtime.
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There had been a programming slate reevaluation since Chris McCarthy added Showtime to his purview following the exit of longtime CEO David Nevins in October. Let the Right One In and American Gigolo were both canceled after one season, and Showtime also opted not to proceed with new series Three Women, which landed at Starz.
The L Word appeared to fit into McCarthy’s plan when he first unveiled it at the time of the Yellowjackets December renewal — “to lean into Showtime’s strengths and focus on three key areas that have defined the brand: Complex and subversive antiheroes like Dexter and Yellowjackets, powerful high-stakes worlds like Homeland and Billions, and unconventional cultural takes like The L Word and The Chi – all with an eye towards making the biggest hits possible and building them into hit franchises as we have done very successfully across the company.”
While L Word was no longer mentioned when the plan was detailed by McCarthy a month later, with the upcoming Fellow Travelers listed alongside The Chi, the title is one of Showtime’s best known pieces of IP, and exploring franchises and IP is a primary focus of the network’s new programming strategy.
The L Word reboot joins recently announced offshoots of two other signature Showtime series, Billions and Dexter.
The L Word: Generation Q’s cancellation leaves freshman comedy I Love That for You as the last remaining current Showtime series whose fate is up in the air. I have heard chatter that there is an internal push to get the well received series renewed.
A sequel to the original L Word series, created by Chaiken, The L Word: Generation Q follows the intermingled lives of Bette Porter (Jennifer Beals), Alice Pieszecki (Leisha Hailey), Shane McCutcheon (Moennig), Dani Nùñez (Arienne Mandi), Micah Lee (Leo Sheng), Finley (Jacqueline Toboni), Sophie Suarez (Rosanny Zayas), Gigi Ghorbani (Sepideh Moafi), Angie Porter-Kennard (Jordan Hull) and Tess (Clayton) as they experience love, heartbreak, sex, setbacks and success in L.A.
Season 3 of The L Word: Generation Q was executive produced by showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan, along with Chaiken, Kristen Campo, Allyce Ozarski, Melody Derloshon as well as Beals, Moennig, and Hailey.
In addition to the original series, which ran for six seasons, and Generation Q, The L Word franchise also includes reality spinoff series The Real L Word as well as the documentary film L Word Mississippi: Hate the Sin.
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