Before the The L Word's final season, Showtime announced that they were developing a spin-off series around Alice Pieszecki, played by Leisha Hailey (aka that chick from those extra-annoying yogurt commercials). Because of the wacky muuurder plot that drove the sixth season, this spin-off would have featured Alice in prison. At some point this must have seemed like a good idea, because a pilot was made, but recently it was revealed that this will not be moving on.

This is probably for the best, really. Towards the end, The L Word was getting kind of exhausting and nothing about Alice made me want to watch a spin-off about her. Plus, seeing her being all quirky and bubbly in prison would have gotten old super-fast, assuming that's the main schtick.

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.