Gay/Lesbian Web Series
Listed alphabetically and continually updated. Annotations ongoing. Last updated 8/6.
This is a list of original web series — most of them “scripted” — focused on gay and lesbian stories and characters. Please email suggestions of series to ajean (at) asc (dot) upenn (dot) edu. If you are a series creator for one of the shows below and would like to be interviewed for Televisual or some of the other blogs I write for, please email as well. I owe an enormous debt to AfterEllen (thanks for linking to this blog!), and particularly Sarah Warn, who did a fantastic job of curating and promoting lesbian-oriented series.
3Way, http://www.3waytv.tv
Apples, http://apples.sc10.co.uk/engver
Anyone But Me, http://anyonebutmeseries.com
This popular web series explores the relationship of two teenage girls after one must move out of New York. It features a diverse cast, lush cinematography and strong story lines.
Life at sixteen is fraught and fertile for drama,” said writer Susan Miller, a veteran of The L Word and thirtysomething, who wrote the show with director Tina Cesa Ward. “Anyone But Me shines a light on identity – coming to terms with who we are as gays, African Americans, women, and citizens of the world.”
For my interview with the creators, click here.
BJ Fletcher: Private Eye, http://www.bjfletcherprivateeye.com
A popular Canadian detective web series now attempting to make the transition to television. “B.J. Fletcher: Private Eye is a distinctly new and unique production bringing to life strong female characters with the right balance of action, comedy, and diversity” — website.
Brooklyn is for Lovers, http://bi4l.tv
A self-described “sex comedy served up in wwweb-tastic portions,” this series explores a diverse — lebisan, gay male, black and white — cast of “five loosely connected young people in Brooklyn, NY.” It partakes in the kind of hipsterburg aesthetic of The Burg, but with more sex, and Young American Bodies, but with more funny. For more information, visit Tubefilter.
Cat on the Prowl, http://www.myspace.com/catdaviscomedy
Cherry Bomb, http://www.myspace.com/cherrybombtv
Christopher Street TV, http://www.christopherstreettv.com
Christopher Street, created by Dwight Allen O’Neal, explores black gay men as urban performers.
Empire, http://empiretheseries.com
DramaQueenz, http://dramaqueenztheseries.com
Drama Queenz, which is about three gay men trying to make it as actors and singers, is just one of several shows aimed at the underserved black gay and lesbian markets online. After the cancellation of television’s marquee gay and lesbian shows over the years—Queer As Folk, The L Word and Noah’s Arc, the only all-black show—Web producers have moved in to fill the gap.
“I didn’t want to wait around for somebody to greenlight my dream,” said Drama Queenz creator, director and writer Dane Joseph, who funds the series out of his pocket. “It’s not a show about being gay or being black. Our show is more about our travails and trying to make it.”
For more on Drama Queenz, see my post.
Emma Stahl, http://emmastahl.de
A sleek, well-photographed action/drama about Emma Stahl, a lesbian “special agent for the European police unit EuForce,” which fights organized crime in Europe. The series is crowdfunding the expensive-looking production. In German with English subtitles.
Far Out, http://www.farouttv.co.uk
Feed, via AfterEllen
Gay’s Anatomy, http://www.gays-anatomy.com
Gay’s Anatomy parodies a group of young would-be urologists straight of out med school — UTexas, Berkeley and Harvard — as they involve themselves in increasingly ridiculous and awkward sexual situations. It takes the relationship drama of Grey’s Anatomy and turns it into camp, while using The Office‘s documentary style to relay its zany humor as organically as possible. See my interview with the creators here.
Gay Top Gun, http://www.youtube.com/whiplashpictures
This riff of the Tom Cruise flick Top Gun is a comedy about a post-”Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” school for gay pilots.
GayTown, http://www.hulu.com/gaytown
Girltrash!, http://www.girltrashonline.com
A popular lesbian web series with alums from Quarterlife and The L Word following the exploits of a group of bad-girls/small time criminals.
Girl/Girl Scene, http://www.girlgirlscene.com
H.A.!, http://www.youtube.com/hatheseries
“This satiric series centers around a conflicted young man who joins HA (Homosexuals Anonymous), a program to help Christian men and women overcome the gay lifestyle. Bruce Vilanch and Scott Nevins co-star.” – From Deep Dish.
Homewrecker Houseboy, http://www.homewreckerhouseboy.com
This campy gay soap opera is a self-professed guilty pleasure. It has lots of episodes and a second season is reportedly coming soon!
I Love Dick!, http://www.brianpelletier.com
“A retro-style sitcom in the style of I Love Lucy…Dick and Mickey are a young couple just trying to make their way in 1950s Los Angeles.” – From the website.
In Their Room (creator: Travis Mathews): http://www.intheirroom.com
In Their Room, published on Vimeo, is a voyeuristic, erotic docu-series about a group of hairy/smooth, twinky/bearish gay men in San Francisco. While technically reality-based, the series is aesthetic enough to fit into my list.
“With In Their Room, I understood that getting into the rooms and minds of these guys was a privilege. It also objectifies them and makes them that much more vulnerable as they take clothes off while revealing intimate parts of their lives. The viewer is seeing, or seeing into, something that is usually private, it’s inherently voyeuristic,” Mathews told Televisual.
See my interview with the creator here.
In the Loop, http://www.youtube.com/intheloopseries
A reality web series focusing on the romantic adventures and friendships of three funny, bitchy gay men.
InSight (The Seer, Rise of the Seer), http://www.riseoftheseer.com, http://watchtheseer.com
In the Moment, http://www.inthemoment.tv
Jack in a Box, http://www.youtube.com/mccreighton
Jack is a theatre queen who works in the ticket booth of a theater. Office-like hilarity ensues.
Joni and Susanna, http://www.thewb.com/shows/joni-and-susanna
Lovers and Friends Show, http://www.insyteproductions.com/The_Lovers_%26_Friends_Show
Plan V, http://www.planvlaserie.com.ar
Seeking Simone, http://www.seekingsimone.com
The Real Girl’s Guide to Everything Else, http://therealgirlsguide.com
Released February 2010, The Real Girl’s Guide to Everything Else focuses on a Lebanese-American political journalist who is compelled to write a Sex and the City-like chick lit book, and so goes undercover as a “shoe-obsessed, Cosmo-drinking straight girl.” With its multi-ethnic cast, “the project was kind of our answer to all the mainstream chick-lit and chick-flicks about rich white women whose main connection to each other is bonding over unavailable men and shopping,” the creators say. Episodes air weekly on Friday through February and March.
For my interview with the creators, click here.
The Adventures of Nat and Meg, via AfterEllen
Time Travelling Lesbian, http://www.funnyordie.com/rebeccadrysdale/videos
The Variants, http://www.thevariants.com
A comedic take at the workings of a local comic bookstore. Says the Dallas Voice: “Neal was inspired by ‘The Guild,’ a failed TV pilot about online gamers that became a successful Web series. On ‘The Variants,’ Neal plays Richard, a gay store owner dealing with his sourpuss clerk Barry (employee Barry Fuhrman), forlorn hetero Joe (Joe Cucinotti) and aspiring actress Keli (Keli Wolf).”
Venice, http://www.venicetheseries.com
Guiding Light alum Crystal Chappell, who played a lesbian on the now-canceled classic soap opera, spawned this series, very loosely inspired by her popular character on the show. “The show will feature Ms. Chappell as a single, gay career woman, and follow other fictional inhabitants of Venice Beach, in Los Angeles. Her leading lady on ‘Guiding Light,’ [Jessica] Leccia, has agreed to join the cast without pay.” For the rest of The New York Times story on the series and its origins, click here.
We Have to Stop Now, http://wehavetostopnow.tv
A lesbian couple humorously work through their issues in therapy.
