The sixth and final season of Showtime's The L Word is about to kick off (January 18th at 9:00 p.m. EST), so that means the new promos are on their way. Check out this piece of work right here and please excuse me as I reveal my art snobbery.

When I first saw this poster, I thought it was some fan art from a Photoshop beginner. What happened to the days of solid design, when stuff like this totally wouldn't fly outside of Graphic Design I? If basic cable shows like Mad Men can make their ads sleek and sexy, what excuse does Showtime have? I was so distracted by the weird masking and forced shadows and weak composition and awkward font choice and various other super-sad arty elements, that I completely missed the eight chicks getting it on in the background.

Now, if that's not ineffective design, I don't know what is. See a larger version of the poster after the jump and analyze for yourself.





I get it, though. Yeah. "Going down in history." But they could have made this ad so much sexier without going down this route. I've always liked their previous promos, which usually dealt with interesting photography and fashion, so this is a bit of a step down. I am also extra confused as to why Shane is going to town on Jenny because A) it'd be weird if they ever got together, B) Jenny's extra-annoying, and C) I can't believe she hasn't been killed off yet (super-psycho Adele was a prime opportunity for that, writers).

This show is a prominent part of my long guilty TV pleasures list, so I hope that the final season wraps up in a satisfying manner and isn't cobbled together quite so poorly as this poster. I guess if all else fails, I'll just watch Alice's show.