Finally gotten through watching the TV tapes for the week. And even though it's not very good, I know I'm gonna be watching The L Word without fail from now on. And I don't really know why. Even Jennifer Beals didn't make it happen, and I'm in a Jennifer Beals mood, having repeatedly watched her in Flashdance this weekend [which reminds me, I've gotta dust off that soundtrack vinyl and boogie down like I'm 4 years old and living in Belgrade]. I had pre-decided she was gonna be my reason for watching The L Word initially, but really, since I find I don't care a jot about her character, she can't now be my reason for continuing to do so. And, really, the show's pretty lame [what with the blah blah blah and the blah blah blah. I don't need to go over all the 'problems', do I? I mean, it's all beside the point in terms of my superficial response to things anyway. And I'm not an authority on gay culture so I would feel foolish trying to do the whole 'what's wrong with the show in terms of its depiction of gay people', or, alternatively, the whole 'what's wrong with the hyper-critical environment each gay show finds itself in', blah blah blah. I feel I can say this, though; the script kinda sucked]. So why am I so already hooked [which I really really am]?

The thing is, I like one of the characters, and generally with TV, that's enough for me. I'm such a sucker. My favourite is the hairdresser chick, Shane, who leaves heartbreak in her intensely sexual and superbly coiffed wake. You know the one? She's played by that cool girl who was the girl/boy in Young Americans [which, to my mind, deserved to be around for WAY longer than one season. There was that whole 'are we related?' thing yet to be resolved between Kate Bosworth and that rich dude, and there was the continuing relationship between the boy and the girl/boy, since the boy (Ian Somerhalder, by the way) had finally found out that the girl/boy was really a girl, and a hot one at that, doing a Twelfth Night number on the school she was at, in an attempt to piss off her neglectful mother, and stuff. Yeah. It was a really good show. I miss it]. Anyway, she's totally cool. Which leads me to my second criteria for watching a TV show; permanent frustration. See, to keep me hooked, I need to be permanently frustrated with the direction or focus, or whatever, of the show, particuarly as regards my favourite character. This makes me hang on just to see if every thing I want to happen will happen, even if, as is usually the case, such things that I want are inherently contradictory to the premise of the show, or, would result in removing my reason to watch it anyway. It's like how I wanted Dawson to be removed from Dawson's Creek. Not through death, mind you, cos then he'd be sacred to all his friends forever. No, I wanted everyone to freeze him out of their lives. They'd just be sick of him, and stop calling, and then we viewers would be left to watch the infinitely more interesting stories involving the interactions between Joey, Jen, Audrey, Pacey and Jack, while Dawson just disappeared from their radar of concern. Until one day, over an improbably witty lunch, one of them would say, "I saw that loser we used to know walking down the street yesterday. Obviously, I blanked him. But it got me thinking, can you believe that twat ever thought he was the central figure in our friendship group? Bizarre." And then they'd all tease Joey for ever having had a crush on him, and she'd go "What was I thinking?", and then they'd all remember some more embarassing things about having fraternised with the guy, and then playfully make Pacey buy the next round in contrition for ever having considered him his best friend, "What was his name again?" Now THAT would have been a great series. But it wouldn't have been Dawson's creek. I kept watching the actual series nonetheless, always looking for opportunities to be rid of Dawson, and always being severely disappointed when they weren't taken. Still, I loved the final season of that show, and I'm glad I stuck around for it. I haven't stuck around for everything. I finally gave up on The Bold & the Beautiful last year, so sick was I of Brooke still considering being with Ridge, and being also quite repulsed by the notion of Macey marrying Deacon. I mean, MACEY! She's such a dick! What the fuck are you doing with her, Deacon? And RIDGE! What a complete tossbag! What the fuck are you doing with him, Brooke? Why can't you and Deacon just get together and leave town and get as far away from the Forrester a-holes, especially Stephanie and Eric Snr, forever and ever and ever? Huh? Anyway, I couldn't take it anymore so I stopped watching it. Hmmmm, I wonder what's happening now?... Whatever, back to The L Word. My reason for permanent frustration here is this; I just don't get what the hell Shane is doing hanging out with the other women on the show. I mean, they're losers, baby. Get away from them! You're SO in a different universe. Just grab the newly arrived 'straight' hot chick [played by Mia Kirshner, who I really liked in Not Another Teen Movie, which is also an underrated gem] and get the hell out of there! Which of course won't happen cos, really, who would watch the show at all without those two? Damn TV-people know what they're doing, bastards. Anyway, failing that unlikely character trajectory, I'm hoping that they're gonna write Shane into a deep deep intense relationship 'unlike anything she's ever experienced', blah blah, being a player hairdresser and all, [who, I just learned from Critical Mass, might just be based on Warren Beatty in Shampoo. Nice!]. And before you go crazy on me, blasting me for wanting a 'reformed badgirl' storyline to suit some fucked up monogamy morality I've got going, just back off, motherfuckers. I just think the show really needs it, for two main reasons. Firstly, it will mean that the focus of the show will be on Shane [making it bearable], and secondly, because it will also require the presence on the show of another really cool character [which it really REALLY needs. At the moment it's got one-and-a-half cool characters, with the new neighbour making up the half, cos I don't yet know how annoying her story arc is gonna be] to play Shane's lover woman. You know, a chick who can match the utter deadpan coolness and physicality of Shane, and who you can believe she'd fall in love with [which will happen after they've bonded while making scathing fun of the earnestness of all Shane's peeps, and then they'll compliment one another on their excellent hair and rocker chic, which will all inevitably lead to the most righteous sex they've ever had, and then a torturously cool relationship, full of gallows humour and 'realness', no sap, etc]. I'll watch The L Word anyway, but these are my hopes.