I don’t know what today’s hot news in the blogosphere are, but yesterday it was Showtime announcing that they are producing a pilot presentation spinoff of The L Word, starring Leisha Hailey as Alice Pieszecki. Showtime only published this on their website today though, so I guess I’m good 
And now I find myself torn. On the one hand, I’m happy because Leisha Hailey is finally getting the credit she definitely deserves. Alice has been my favourite charater from the start of the show and Hailey portrays her with such an authentic warmth that my heart actually started aching for Alice when she was crying in her bed after breaking up with Tasha. On the other end of the scale, her portrayal of true happiness is so infectious that seeing Alice happy usually makes me happy too.
On top of that, I have noticed that all of my good friends in real life who also watch the show cite Alice as their favourite character – and those who will either pick Tina or Bette (or, even worse, “TiBette”) are people I usually don’t get along with as well, be it in real life or online. It’s not that I don’t like these people, it’s just that we usually have a different set of values and ideals. It’s something that I have been meaning to explore for quite some time, and will hopefully do soon, and not in a “What kind of The L Word character are you?” kind of way. I just know that Alice Pieszecki is one of my favourite characters on TV right now, and I’m glad that I won’t have to say goodbye to her yet when The L Word ends for good in February 2009.
On the other hand, I slightly worry about Leisha Hailey. Her band, Uh Huh Her, has been off to a great start with their wonderful debut album “Common Reaction” which is out now, and there will be a full-blown American and Canadian tour (and one show in London which I sadly won’t be attending) all through October and November. So if shooting is to begin in December, won’t it all be a little bit too… much? I’m not saying she can’t handle it because I’m sure she can, but what happens to the fun in it when you have to do it all? And what happens to Uh Huh Her if the pilot gets picked up by the network and the show goes into production? I know that these are all rhetorical questions at this point, but I can’t help but worry – it’s what I do.
Edited to add: Apparently there is reason to worry.
i hope they can squeeze in a few more european dates after the london gig. i think it would be a waste of time and resources to fly to europe for only one show
by the way, the cd arrived today
I was certain they wouldn’t choose Leisha because of UHH but on the other hand I’m happy because Alice is by far my favourite character.
I’m still waiting for the UHH CD to reach my mailbox… of course I downloaded the songs and all like everyone but I want the real thing now!
Unfortunately the likelihood of further European dates seems to decrease by the day – “Common Reaction” is only available as an import in France and Germany so there won’t be any gigs there/here. I was hoping for other UK/Ireland gigs, but looks like that isn’t happening either
Mel, I hope your CD arrives soon! I got mine yesterday too, so hopefully it’s going to be any day now.
I was hoping for Alice but I kept hearing rumours about the spin-off focussing on Jenny, which could have been, err, interesting