Ilene Chaiken counts herself as one of the most influential, forward-thinking queers today. Literally. And rightfully so, the 46-year old lesbian created, produces and writes Showtime's colossal coochie-loving soap, The L-Word. No small feat, to be sure. And, according to comedienne Karey Dornetto, an accomplishment of which Chaiken's endlessly proud.

(PS: We love Chaiken's ethereal theme music!)

Cybill Shepherd's gleeful performance on The L Word has become one of the highlights of the show. She absolutely glows as newbie dyke, Phyllis Kroll. But, perhaps her captivating performance comes from more than mere talent. From Metro Weekly:

MW: You have been quoted as saying that you had wondered about lesbianism at various times during your life. ''I wanted to be open to the possibility of having a woman as a lover. I am not actively pursuing it but it is not over yet,'' is how the quote reads.

SHEPHERD: It's not over til it's over.

MW: Well, if the opportunity arose, do you honestly think you would be open to it?

SHEPHERD: Yes, I do. I don't know how you describe me then. I think there are some things I could say that are not politically correct, but I have to say that it definitely would be a possibility, depending on the person.

We've got two bits of television news for you. The first come to us via our cousin Mollygood who, in turn, got it from those rascals over at Glitterati. Rumor has it that The L-Word's Kristanna Loken, who plays Paige, is so fed up with her castmate's attitude problems that she's leaving the show. Of the show's lady-heavy cast, she says:

It's an entire show of women. And the amount of egos and insecurities and cattiness that can go on with a bunch of women - that's what you get.

[The Show] attracts certain people that want to do something different in their career, but the girls were tough. It's a big, ensemble cast. And sometimes you wonder if they've bit off more than they can chew.

The second bit of news isn't really lesbianic, but it does come to us from the chicks over at AfterEllen, who got it from The Hollywood Reporter. They're reporting that former Warrior Princess Lucy Lawless has signed on to play Tanya for the American update of British sudster, Footballer's Wives.

Fans of the original remember coke-snorting, baby-switching, husband hopping, long nail wielding Tanya Turner as being played by Zoe Lucker. While we can't say we're thrilled by the update, we're glad the producers didn't give the role to an American.

No offense, ladies, but we're not sure you could pull it off with quite the right zest.

We were just trolling for more chattables and found ourselves at Dollars and Sense, the website dedicated to economic justice. We know a thing or two about economic justice - or, rather, the injustice of why we're not more economically blessed. But, as an unidentified blogger reminds us, there are bigger problems.

Using last week's National Conference on Media Reform as a launching point, said anonymous writer explores the relationship between corporations and gay rights - a tenuous and somewhat contradictory relationship, to say the least.

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A few weeks back we alterted you to the impending lesbian internet revolution: OurChart. Named after L-Word Alice's ever-expanding labia-love chart, the site's more than just a cross-promotional money grab. There's plenty of original content, including what promises to be one of our favorite things ever: Girltrash!, a campy"Pulp-Fiction-style lesbian noir" web-based show that follows a pack of lesbians around LA's drug-dealing underbelly.

Sounds good, right? Well, if this video of Jordana Brewster's any indication, it's going to be great. Seriously, where else can you get find someone taking 18 seconds to deliver the wholly ridiculous line,"You don't know who the fuck you're dealing with, you motherfucking cocksucking pussy!"? Nowhere. As if that's not enough, Margaret Cho plays Brewster's rival, Ming-Lao (pictured).

We think we just came.

(Yeah, the video's a bit wonky, but we couldn't resist the opportunity to post Brewster's rant. Don't be discouraged: there's some more high quality footage over at OurChart.)

Ah, yes, another made-up conversation between fake people about something real real people such as yourself probably want to know. So, without further ado:

Ttlykewl: Hey, guess what...

BrdNYC: Um, chicken butt?

Ttlykewl: No, something better.

BrdNYC: Better than chicken butt? I hardly see how that's possible.

Ttlykewl: How about a chance to win a walk-on role on The L-Word?

BrdNYC: Holy shit! That's way better than chicken butt. What do I have to do?

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Season Four of Showtime's The L-Word premieres on January 7th, meaning we can all look forward to more lesbianic drama from the acclaimed series. In celebration, New York Magazine sat down with the one, the only Pam Grier for a little heart-to-heart. Grier may not play a lesbian on the show, but that doesn't mean she gleaned a little Sapphic sensitivity:

I’ve learned that there are straight lesbians, then women who are a little bit of lesbian, then women who are a little bit more. There are various levels. There are women who look so masculine on the outside, and who have full beards. There are women who have chest hair but have the genitalia of a woman, and her birth certificate says she’s a woman, and she’s struggling. Should she kill herself because no one understands? Or is too lazy to understand? And I am tired of the laziness.

Also, you guys may be interested to know that there's also a piece on the erosion of the anal sex taboo. It's called "The Bottom Line" and can be found here. Sure, it rests on common knowledge - straight people have anal sex, too - but we have a feeling you guys will get a kick out it. Why? Because we know you better than you know yourselves. Including your butts.

We were just checking in with our friends over at The New York Blade. While there, we came across this editorial by a man named Mickey Weems in which he explains his new found love for The L-Word. His viewing of the show has, apparently, helped him find a more level ground on which to relate to his lezzie sisters.

He writes:

"THE L WORD” [sic] has taught me that lesbians and gay men have a lot in common. We tend to be more adept at reading between the lines than most straight people.

Yeah, we can read between the lines on this one: the editors needed some filler.

Aside from such a stereotypical epiphany, the show has aided in Weems' personal growth, in more ways than one:

In my life, “The L Word” helps me become a less judgmental and more ethical human being.

And the soundtrack is stunning.

Ethics and musical tastes? Definitely on the same level.

Showtime is getting serious about the next season of The L Word by bringing Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin onboard to play Bette's new love interest. She won an Oscar way back in 1986 for her lead role in Children of a Lesser God and since then has had a recurring role on The West Wing, but her role on The L Word is the equivalent of being television royalty in our opinion.

Matlin will be playing "a fiery [and deaf, we assume] artist," and we only hope she will be as fiery as Candace, the last fiery lady that captured Bette's attention (we are forever scarred by the scene with Bette and Candace "not having sex" in prison).

Marlee Matlin Joining 'The L Word' [Yahoo]

• Joe My God on gay Republicans. So on the money. [Joe My God]

• Will & Grace may be over, but we’ll still have Karen. The Megan Mullally Show is coming soon. [Yahoo]

• Leave it to Lady Bunny to find a video of Pete Burns and his puss squirting lips. Nasty. [Lady Bunny]

• Fans of The L Word are being asked to write dialogue for upcoming scenes. We bet our words would be too dirty. [Hothouse]

• Diana Ossana, one of the two screenwriters of Brokeback Mountain, shares with The Advocate “the fear” she sees all around the film. [Advocate]

Alan Cumming is an actor who seems to have done it all: won a Tony, played an X-Man, written and directed. The multitalented Cumming recently answered some of Bradford Shellhammer’s questions about The L Word, the Threepenny Opera, and his fragrance line.

We cannot wait to catch you, Cyndi Lauper, and Nellie McKay in the Threepenny Opera. What you can you say about the production?
Right now not very much because I haven't started rehearsals. But I'm nonetheless very excited. I did a workshop about a year ago so it has been really great to feel that I can actually get through it! Also it's meant that in the last year ideas, the songs and parts of the character have been floating around in my mind. The biggest revelation about the workshop was discovering that Macheath is a sex addict. Who knew?

Tell us about your fragrance. What made you launch it?
It was really one of these crazy things that tend to happen to me! My friends Jason Schell & Christopher Brosius and I sort of all came up with the idea over a period of time and eventually we had one of these Judy/Mickey moments and said "Let's make the fragrance right here!" Christopher is a genius and I had worn various fragrances of his for years and Jason had these really fantastic ideas about how to market the fragrance. For me it has been real fun to provoke and subvert the whole notion of celebrity endorsement and at the same time have products that I really enjoy and am proud to add my name to. We now have 5 things--the fragrance, the cleanser [Cumming Clean], the body scrub [Cumming Off Buff], the body lotion [Cumming All Over], and the soap [Cumming in a Bar], all available at Cumming The Fragrance.

It's such a hilarious thing for me when every time I wash my hands the soap has my name on it. I'm also using it to help charities that I believe in. We're starting a program whereby each month we'll give a hefty percentage of our online sales to charity.

You are on the new season of The L Word. What character do you play?
I play a character called Billie Blaikie who comes into the series to run The Planet and generally spice things up. I had never seen the show before I shot my episodes, but I talked to the producers about the character and thought it sounded fun. The one thing I was adamant about was that I would have sex with a lesbian on the show. I think it's really good to mix things up a bit and to challenge people's perceptions about the ways sexuality is pigeonholed. So the idea of a bisexual man having sex with a lesbian was right up my alley. However, the type of sex I ended up having was a little more than I bargained for. It was the most graphic sex scene I have ever done. But I had great fun with all the girls and I got to have a different hairstyle and colour in each episode.

After the jump Alan explains why he wants to be the queer Martha Stewart.

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• Jennifer Beals obviously doesn’t have an issue with outing. In a recent Advocate interview she does just that to Katherine Moennig. [Hothouse]

• Michael Lucas calls the Golden Globes out on being anything but gay friendly. [Lucas Blog]

• Felicity Huffman talks about her little movie that could, Transamerica, “I know they will leave the theater feeling unified and expanded as opposed to ... bombarded, like so many big movies do.” [Gay.com]

• Vividblurry takes on more gays, this time going after the “Hot Boy Posse.” They’re like Heathers but with spray-on tans and waxed chests. [Vividblurry]

• Not every queen is concerned only with seeing Colin Farrell naked. Some want him to get better too. [Data Lounge]