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September 2009, Cover Stories

Ilene Chaiken is Back with The Real L Word

By Missy Lee   Fri, Sep 11, 2009

GUESS WHO’S COMING TO THE NEIGHBORHOOD… SHOWTIME TO PREMIERE THE REAL L WORD: LOS ANGELES New Reality Series Will Showcase Real-Life L.A. Lesbians

Ilene Chaiken is Back with The Real L Word

Roll out the welcome mat because the ladies of THE REAL L WORD: Los Angeles are moving in to show the world how it’s really done -- sexy, sophisticated, Sapphic style. The nine-episode, one-hour reality series comes from the preeminent chronicler of lesbian stories, Ilene Chaiken, who served as creator and executive producer of the long-running SHOWTIME drama series, THE L WORD, and will executive produce the new series along with reality producers Magical Elves (Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz) who made runaway successes of Project Runway, Top Chef and Last Comic Standing. The series will premiere on SHOWTIME in 2010.

THE REAL L WORD: Los Angeles will follow a group of real-life, high-profile, left coast lesbians as they go about their daily lives, at work and play. Chaiken and the Elves plan to show viewers that they can be every bit as glamorous, fashionable, fabulous and even as cutthroat as those hetero housewives.

"THE L WORD is a powerful franchise for us and we became very excited when creator Ilene Chaiken came up with the idea of doing a reality version of this iconic show," says Showtime Networks President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt. "Not only are we thrilled to be working with her again, we're also very pleased to get into business with venerable reality producers like Magical Elves as we expand into a form of programming that is new for us. Unlike the plethora of reality shows out there that simply follow people around, we promise that THE REAL L WORD: Los Angeles -- like the fictional version -- could only be found on premium cable."

"Even though we concluded our 6th season of the THE L WORD on SHOWTIME this past March, I believe we are not nearly finished telling our L WORD stories," says Chaiken. "SHOWTIME has yet again come forward to continue with us this mission to entertain and enlighten and bring more "L" to the world, and I am so excited to be back at it with them, this time joining with the Magical Elves to tell the real life stories of THE REAL L WORD."  

By Missy Lee

Missy Lee

Missy Lee is the publisher, editor and chief reporter for ILoveTelevision.com. Prior to starting ILoveTelevision.com she worked for TV-Now.com and the late Tony Bray. After living in LA and covering all things entertainmentfor a number of years, she moved back to her home state of Tennessee.

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