By Dallas Barnes
For most of us lesbians, the L Word’s ultimate demise left us with a hole in our hearts. I really do miss those crazy girls, and their crazy lesbian antics, but alas, the show must go on. A year has passed since we said goodbye to those Los Angeles ladies, and most of us have watched snippets of mainstream shows searching for a something we could relate to. Not much has titillated us, perhaps a flash of Tila Tequila’s crusade for lesbian love caught our interest for a second, however we soon realized that this is definitely no L Word.
Little did I know there was a revolution on our entertainment horizon. Do you remember that writers strike a couple of years back? Fortunately for us it allowed Internet programming to take centre stage and develop without the shadow of mainstream television blocking our view. One such website, StrikeTV.com, was born during this chaos in an attempt to challenge the members of the Writer’s Guild to create new and creative programs for the Internet. Anyone but Me was one of these programs. Currently a couple of episodes into its second season, I can honestly say I finally have that show I can relate too.
When 16 year old Vivian McMillan has to move from New York City to the suburbs, her relationships, past and present, are tested; her identity goes through seismic changes. The daughter of a NYC firefighter, Vivian has no choice but to leave the city with her dad when he is forced to retire due to health problems he accrued when attempting to save people on September 11th. Described as a “moving, funny, and relevant new drama [that] speaks to all ages and hearts,” the program follows the journey of six teenagers and the adults who try to understand them.
Executive Producer and Writer Susan Miller is quick to explain why this show is so successful as a Webseries.
”I think people who haven’t actually seen a webseries fear that it must be yet another technical innovation encrypted in a language they will never be able to decode. SO WRONG! I want to clear this up here and now. We come in peace! In almost every respect a webseries is a shorter version of a regular television series, without commercial interruptions. The differences lie in why and how we make our shows.
“For most, if not all of us, this is an act of love. We don’t get the big bucks or the network advertising. We’re on our own. And that is both the struggle and the gift of doing a webseries. We determine our material, our points of view, and our cast, the look of the show, the style and scope of the writing. There is no one telling us what we can or can’t do. It’s totally freeing, but, it’s all on us. We’re responsible for every aspect- PR, financing, production. You do this thing all day every day, but it’s worth it. This country is bankrupt in so many ways; we need fresh ideas, honest depictions of complex relationships and difficult times. We need original, authentic voices uncorrupted by having to play it safe. A webseries can offer that.”
Susan Miller would know what makes a show successful. She is an Obie Award winning playwright for her critically acclaimed one-woman play My Left Breast. Among many other plays she was also a Consulting Producer for The L Word, and a writer for thirtysomething.
The other half of the writing team for Anyone but Me is Tina Cesa Ward, who also serves as an Executive Producer, and the Director. She also explains why the webseries makes sense.
“A web series can be looked at like television only in shorter segments, but there are some traits that make a web series different than TV of course. For me, I think the biggest difference is the creative freedom that you have because you’re making a series on your own means. The webseries boom or revolution feels the way the early to mid 90’s felt to me in film: suddenly everyone making super low budget films had a chance to get their stories out there to a much wider audience. The inexpensive look of your film didn’t matter. It was about story. And I think the same can be said for the web series.
“None of us have TV money, not even close. But now we have a chance to get our stories out to an audience when before it wasn’t possible without landing a deal for television. As the independents of the 90’s helped usher in stories we were missing from mainstream cinema and inadvertently raised the bar, the web series is starting to do the same for TV.” Ward also directs for the stage, and has been given numerous awards in light of her success.
Watching a webseries is a simple concept. It reminds me of YouTube…yet a little more sophisticated, and well, legal. You don’t have to wait for months to watch reruns because all the episodes are thee, and available to watch whenever you are.
Personally, I have watched the first season and the first two episodes of the second season. It is good, and not just a ‘lesbian show’. The main character Vivian is a lesbian who must leave her girlfriend Astrid behind as she moves to the suburbs. Yet her friends (some heterosexual) and her family are just as diverse as she is, and face challenges many of us could never understand. The show lets us in on a world many of us are not familiar with. These young characters don’t remember a world before 9/11, and many of them embrace their diversity with no shame. This could be a reflection of the defiance of Americans in general after the terrorist attacks, or it could just be the evolution of our youth today.
“Vivian and Aster live as the post 9/11 generation without even knowing it,” says Ward. “They grew up not knowing the world any other way, which is what I find the most intriguing about this generation. Here in New York, I don’t think you can escape the threat of terrorism. We have big billboards in Times Square asking us to be ready. It’s a reality of life that today’s youth have to deal with, but I’m sure they often find all the train delays or security checks at concert venues or sporting events annoying. All generations have problems unique to them; the post 9/11 generation has to deal with the threat of terrorism.”
With its success thus far, Anyone but Me is sure to have a long run. It offers a look at the real life of a community in general, which is perhaps where the show is strongest. We are all individuals and must cohabitate with each other, regardless of our differences.
After only one season, the show has a major following and has won numerous awards. It has been watched and endorsed by celebrities such as Kate Clinton, Eric Stoltz, and Zachary Quinto of Star Trek and Heroes fame. It has been awarded the AfterEllen “Best Lesbian and Bi Webseries” and one of its stars, out actress Nicole Pacent (Astrid), won Shewired’s Gay Woman of the Year. Not bad for a show that has just begun its second season!
Susan Miller agrees, and perhaps says it best.
“We’re so completely in the hands of our fans and supporters. They determine our reach. So when the show gets recognized with a Visibility award or the endorsement of a gay icon or any respected public figure, more people become aware of us and are going to take the time to check us out. Everyone connected with Anyone but Me is encouraged and touched by the accolades. It means we’re doing something right, and good. For me, it just gets better and better.”
With shows that allow us to see ourselves in its characters and that break culture norms, our world get’s better and better as well.
