The L Word season premiere streams online (free) first

Showtime's upcoming fifth season of The L Word will premiere first on OurChart.com, a lesbian-focused social community, according to BusinessWire.com. The OurChart.com premiere is slated for December 30, 2007 followed by the Showtime premiere on January 6, 2008. The choice is no coincidence, as co-founder and CEO of OurChart.com, Ilene Chaiken, is also the creator/producer of The L Word.

This is, regardless of anything else, another example of how technology and the new online media is becoming more and more intertwined with traditional television viewing.

Taking a show that features prominently the lesbian community and putting it's season premiere exclusively online for free at a lesbian-focused site that touted half a million monthly visitors as of June is great business. If they love it and want more, they have to sign up for Showtime to continue following the show, and probably should go pick up the DVD sets of the earlier seasons, while they're at it.

The L Word has been a groundbreaking show for Showtime and the lesbian community, breaking stereotypes and having a mass appeal beyond the gay and lesbian community. Unlike male homosexuality, which has been prominently featured in such shows as Will & Grace and Queer as Folk as well as tons of side characters, lesbianism has been largely vacant from television. In fact, Ellen DeGeneres' outing of herself caused such a national uproar that her show never recovered. Well, that and the fact that it pretty much fell apart after that. Don't worry, though, I hear she's doing just fine now.

The only facet of this that's a little disappointing to me is that it's only available at that site. Mainly because non-lesbians are far less likely to go there and sample a show that they may just find they can enjoy even if they're not a gay woman. If it could be streamed there and then, maybe, at Showtime.com after it's air on the channel (how about January 7), then the same goal could be accomplished. But rather than pigeonholing themselves as a lesbian show, they can be said to be reaching for a wider ranging audience.