Showtime Cancels “L Word: Generation Q,” Might Pursue New Reboot Set in NYC, What

Friends, the time we feared would come has indeed come: despite the fact that Dani and Gigi have yet to reunite and pledge their eternal love for each other, The L Word: Generation Q has been axed by iconic television conglomerate Paramount + with Showtime after three seasons of love, laughter, blazers, haircuts, confusing character choices and memories.

However — Ilene Chaiken possibly already has something new up her billowy sleeves! Deadline reporter Nellie Andreeva reports that “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.”

A show being “in development” can mean literally anything at all — like it could just be a draft on a laptop — so this news is far from a guarantee that we are mere months or even years away from visiting Alice’s Park Slope loft or witnessing the re-opening of Shane for Wax’s Chelsea and Williamsburg locations. (Alternately, perhaps the reboot intends to time travel back to 2010, when Bette and Tina were moving to the city?) But it’s something, I guess? It is a small thing, a whisper of hope, like the possibility of an engagement ring stuck in a bowl of mashed potatoes. It is also, I must point out, potentially another opportunity for the team behind this show to do the right thing and hire me personally to write for it!

Apparently the programming slate over there has been re-evaluated since Chris McCarthy began heading up Showtime following the exit of former CEO David Nevins in October. When announcing the Yellowjackets third season renewal in December, McCarthy cited The L Word as one of the “unconventional cultural takes” categorized as a strength of Showtime’s present line-up. But a month later, The L Word‘s place in that paragraph was usurped by Fellow Travelers, a show I’ve never heard of. Furthermore, not a single Showtime series has been renewed since it was announced in January that the premium cable network would be integrated into Paramount+ across streaming and linear this year.

It’s no secret that fans and recappers (me) of the original series were often underwhelmed by Generation Q, with ratings slowly declining over its three-season run. However, it still held a special place in our hearts and there was still a lot to love about it, including a really stellar cast. Shortly after Season Three’s conclusion, a fan campaign on social media begged Showtime to start over with a new reboot.

Shane weighed in on social media about the cancellation last night:

Between this and last week’s cancellation of A League of Their Own, we are really hurting as a community fo queer television stories and also as a website for the traffic we earn when people are excited about television shows centered on lesbian+ communities.

I will personally be praying hard for this new reboot to actually happen!!

Excuse me while I go scream into a pillow!!!!!!