SHOWTIME | Release Date: January 18, 2004
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
63
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
14
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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90
The Hollywood ReporterStaffApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: A dramatic series that is steamy, provocative and filled with smart dialogue and richly drawn characters, none of whom are entirely predictable. [15 Jan 2004]
88
New York Daily NewsDavid BianculliApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: The L Word succeeds precisely because it isn't exploitative, and because its sexy scenes are anything but gratuitous. [16 Jan 2004, p.121]
80
Pittsburgh Post-GazetteRob OwenApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: The L Word is a better written series than "Queer as Folk" and seems less exploitative. Sex is a predominant theme, but relationships are presented as more important. Where the "Queer" boys often couple only for pleasure, most of the L Word characters are equally, if not more, interested in love. [16 Jan 2004, p.W-37]
80
Miami HeraldGlenn GarvinApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: Nor is The L Word all sexual sturm und drang. Its light moments are laugh-out-loud funny. [18 Jan 2004, p.3M]
70
San Jose Mercury News/Contra Costa TimesCharlie McCollumApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: The dialogue is often sharp, well-observed and very funny. It is sexy and, occasionally, raunchy in both language and love-making. The cast members make the lead characters warm and interesting. [16 Jan 2004, p.7G]
67
Entertainment WeeklyGillian FlynnJun 18, 2013
Season 2 Review: Fortunately, L Word has a brain beneath its pretty surface. It's packed with telling details that make the relationships feel as full of blood and love and foolishness as real people are.
63
Season 1 Review: The question that needs to be asked of The L Word is this: Absent the novelty of seeing a cast of lesbian characters on TV, would the lives of these people make for fascinating drama?...The answer, I'm afraid, is -- probably not. [18 Jan 2004, p.TV-6]
60
VarietyBrian LowryApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: Slow-going in developing its web of interconnected plots, this latest demonstration of cable's series-for-every-interest-group strategy is watchable enough, but probably not likely to be the sort of buzzworthy addiction-in-waiting Showtime would like and certainly could use. [13 Jan 2004, p.06]
60
Season 1 Review: But is it too much to ask for these girls to have a bit more fun? This is one series that really needs to swing that way. For a bunch of glamorous, well-dressed womyn who spend a lot of time hanging out at a cool cafe, they sure do suffer from an excess of unease. [17 Jan 2004, p.E2]
50
Newark Star-LedgerAlan SepinwallApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: Like "Queer as Folk," The L Word is essentially a mediocre soap opera in soft-core porno drag. There's lots of hot, sweaty, half-naked bodies, but the heads attached spend so much time droning on and on and on about their mundane lives and loves that the sex scenes just feel like an intermission in between all the tepid girl-on-girl dialogue. [16 Jan 2004, p.55]
50
Detroit Free PressMike DuffyApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: The sex scenes -- yes, there's plenty of bare skin and rising erotic temperatures -- alternate between sensitive and slightly cheesy, a la "Red Shoe Diaries." [16 Jan 2004, p.6H]
50
Chicago Sun-TimesPhil RosenthalApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: The dialogue is stuffy, the stories are predictable and, while the idea of a show all about beautiful gay Los Angeles women is interesting, this comes off like a second-rate "Melrose Place" with pretensions of depth. [16 Jan 2004, p.53]
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzApr 3, 2014
Season 1 Review: Unfortunately, The L Word too often makes it seem as if having sex is all its characters are interested in doing, particularly in the 90-minute first episode. [17 Jan 2004, p.1E]