Line #32 Trivia/Thelword


1	* ActorInspiredElement: The exploration of Bette's mixed race ancestry was suggested by Jennifer Beals, whose own heritage is really important to her.
2	* ActorLeavesCharacterDies: Creator/PamGrier was unable to return for ''Generation Q'' due to conflicts with ''Series/BlessThisMess'', so Kit Porter was revealed to have died of a drug overdose.
3	* ActorSharedBackground:
4	** Two examples from the original main cast:
5	*** Bette is biracial, having a black father and white mother, just as Creator/JenniferBeals does. She's insistent on having this background if her character's heritage is ever shown. They are both Buddhists as well.
6	*** Jenny, like Creator/MiaKirshner, is Jewish and her grandmother was imprisoned in Auschwitz (Kirshner's paternal grandparents were Holocaust survivors).
7	** ''The L Word: Generation Q'', the SequelSeries, incorporated new cast members' heritage into their characters:
8	*** Dani Nunez is half Chilean and half Iranian, like actress Arienne Mandi.
9	*** Gigi Ghorbani is of Iranian descent like actress Sepideh Moafi.
10	*** Sophie Suarez, like Rosanny Zayas, is a black Latina.
11	* ButIPlayOneOnTV: Mia Kirshner told a story about how once when she was with some friends in a club in Vancouver, another girl came up to her and said "I hope you die." Presumably she was talking about Jenny Schecter. Mia however would have none of that, took the woman aside and explained she (like the woman) was here to have fun, and she worked to make money. Jenny was a fictional character, and it was fine it she wanted her to die. It was not okay to want Mia herself to die, because that was hurtful. The woman was taken aback.
12	* CaliforniaDoubling: Inverted - The series took place in Los Angeles, but was filmed in Vancouver. [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] at one point in Season 5, when Jenny is scouting locations for ''[[ShowWithinAShow Lez Girls]]'', and loudly proclaims that "Vancouver can't pass for L.A.!"
13	* ContractualPurity: Jennifer Beals is one of the only main characters whose bare breasts are never shown throughout the entire series.
14	* CreatorBacklash:
15	** Mia Kirshner said in an interview that she was sad seeing how her character ended up being a lunatic and a stereotype.
16	** Even though she doesn't regret telling the story, Ilene Chaiken admitted in an interview that if she had known how much anger the death of Dana as a result of breast cancer was going to rise in people, she would have done it differently.
17	** Creator/LucyLawless revealed in an interview that when shooting the scenes where her character questioned the women of the show about Jenny's death, the actresses were openly unhappy with the decision of killing the character and making the storyline into a possible murder mystery, with them as suspects.
18	* CreatorBreakdown: InUniverse, after Dana dumps Alice between Seasons 2 and 3, Alice's radio show begins to suffer. At one point, a commercial for Alice's show plays on a nearby radio, consisting of little more than Alice [[{{Narm}} screaming Dana's name at the top of her lungs]].
19	* DisabledCharacterDisabledActor: Deaf actress Creator/MarleeMatlin plays deaf lesbian Jodi. Creator/DeanneBray, who's deaf as well, plays Amy, whom she sees briefly before having a very nasty (public) breakup which includes a lot of fast, furious signing in ASL.
20	* ExecutiveMeddling: In-setting, this trope comes into play at least once a season, costing just about every character their job at some point, and totally ruining ''[[ShowWithinAShow Lez Girls]]''.
21	* FakeAmerican: Canadian Creator/MiaKirshner plays American Jenny Schecter. Due to being filmed in Vancouver, many minor characters are also played by Canadians.
22	* FakeNationality:
23	** Iranian/Spanish-American Creator/SarahShahi played Mexican-American Carmen.
24	** Indian-American Creator/JaninaGavankar as Papi, who's a Latina.
25	* HideYourPregnancy:
26	** Creator/JenniferBeals was pregnant with her daughter, Ella, during the third season. This was covered by having her wear powersuits.
27	** Averted when Laurel Holloman became pregnant during the second season.
28	* HostilityOnTheSet: Creator/KristannaLoken asked to be written off the series because she was overwhelmed by the mainly female crew:
29	-->It's an entire show of women and the amount of egos and insecurities and cattiness that can go with a bunch of women - that's what you get. It attracts certain people that want to do something different in their career, but the girls were tough. Sometimes you wonder if they've bit off more than they can chew.
30	* InMemoriam: Creator/OssieDavis had a recurring role as Bette's father. In the second season, Davis filmed scenes that showed his character becoming ill, then dying. Davis then died before his final episode was broadcast, so that episode was dedicated to him.
31	* TheOtherDarrin: Mark Berry replaced Mark Gibson in portraying Marcus Allenwood, Angelica's biological father via sperm donation, for ''[[SequelSeries Generation Q]]''.
32	* QueerCharacterQueerActor: Laurel Holloman, Leisha Hailey, Katherine Moennig, Clementine Ford, Tammy Lynn Michaels, Creator/GuinevereTurner, Creator/JaneLynch, Creator/AlexandraHolden, Creator/KellyMcGillis, Creator/KristannaLoken, Karina Lombard and Creator/HeatherMatarazzo are all lesbian or bisexual in real life, as well as playing lesbian or bisexual characters on the show (and Mia Kirshner has hinted at bisexuality in interviews). Amusingly, Leisha Hailey was the only actual (out) lesbian of the main cast (at the time), yet her character was bisexual. Daniel Sea, who played Max (a trans man who's initially identified as a lesbian cis woman) also had a very similar experience, coming out as non-binary and using they/them pronouns, still identifying as lesbian in solidarity with women though saying their orientation is more akin to bisexual. Katherine Moennig is notable for only realizing that she's a lesbian ''while she was working on the show'', a rare example of a character being their actor's real-life ClosetKey. This continued in its SequelSeries ''Series/TheLWord: Generation Q'', adding new characters, mostly queer women but one trans man too, while most are played by actors of the same orientation or gender. Minor characters such as Rebecca Dowery (played by Creator/OliviaThirlby, who's a bisexual woman like her) also followed this.
33	* RealLifeRelative: Phyllis Kroll and her daughter Molly are played by real life mother/daughter team Creator/CybillShepherd and Clementine Ford.
34	* RoleEndingMisdemeanor: Scott Bairstow was originally cast as the male lead, but was replaced by Creator/EricMabius soon after allegations of sexual assault on a minor were made against him in 2003 (he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of second degree assault on 9 December 2003).
35	* RoleReprise: Creator/JenniferBeals (Bette), Creator/KatherineMoennig (Shane) and Creator/LeishaHailey (Alice) all return to play their characters again in the SequelSeries ''The L Word: Generation Q''. Creator/LaurelHolloman (Tina) also appeared as did Creator/RosannaArquette (Cherie Jaffe) and Creator/AnneArcher (Lenore Pieszecki) in recurring or guest roles as their characters on the original show too. Daniel Sea reappears as Max in one episode in ''Generation Q'''s second season, now in a happy relationship with four children (three biological, one adopted).
36	* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Max's sisters Maggie and Sioban are played by actresses who look close enough to his actor (plus each other) that one can easily believe they're all siblings.
37	* ThrowItIn: The scene in season 2 episode 1 where Tina and Bette are at the planet and Tina throws the table towards Bette wasn't scripted. She was in fact supposed to throw a coffee cup or plate, not the table.
38	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
39	** Creator/LilyTomlin was offered a role, but turned down because the character was described as an "old lesbian" and she didn't feel connected to that concept.
40	** Creator/ParisHilton was considered for the role of Nikki Stevens.
41	* WorkingTitle: ''Earthlings''.
42	* WrittenInInfirmity: Tina's pregnancy in season two was added when Laurel Holloman became pregnant.
43	* YouLookFamiliar: Boxer Lucia Rijker appeared for one episode as Dana's trainer. She came back a few years later as Dusty, Helena's cellmate that she hooks up with in season 5.

Context Trivia / Thelword