A decade after “The L Word” ended its run, Showtime’s sequel to the groundbreaking lesbian series, which premiered earlier this month, wasted little time introducing new characters to the mix of familiar favorites. Among them: Silver Lake.

The update, dubbed “The L Word: Generation Q,” has moved roughly five miles east from the original’s old haunt, L.A.s’ storied gay enclave West Hollywood, to the gentrified, artsy L.A. neighborhood named after the concrete-lined reservoir at its heart.

The series catches viewers up with Alice (Leisha Hailey), living in Silver Lake — in the hills up near Micheltorena — and still hosting her talk show; Shane (Katherine Moennig), back in L.A. after time away and residing on a hill overlooking the reservoir; and Bette (Jennifer Beals), inhabiting neighboring Glassell Park with her daughter and running for mayor of Los Angeles.



Then there’s the new group of young lesbian and queer characters: Roommates Micah (Leo Sheng), an adjunct professor confronting his fear of vulnerability; Dani (Arienne Mandi), a PR executive who joins Bette’s campaign; and Sophie (Rosanny Zayas), Dani’s fiancé and a producer on Alice’s talk show, living in a bungalow off Hyperion Avenue. Their friend Finley (Jacqueline Toboni), a free-spirited, on-a-budget production assistant on Alice’s show, winds up moving into Shane’s spare bedroom.

Showrunner Marja-Lewis Ryan, who lives in Glassell Park with her wife and son, says of the relocation: “I’m lazy. This is the world I know.”

But, more seriously, Ryan felt it more accurately reflected how things have changed in L.A. in the time since the original series went off the air.

“I have been living in this city for over a decade and I have watched the migration of queer women — queer people, in general — to the east side,” she says. “That was a big part of it: reflecting what L.A. looks like, both geographically and where the queers are. I want queer kids in Missouri to come here and be like, ‘OK, I’m here. Where are you?’ And they’ll find us.”

While the original was shot in Vancouver, Canada, subbing for West Hollywood, “The L Word: Generation Q” was filmed in Los Angeles.

“I felt it was important for the scope of the series to shoot in Los Angeles,” Ryan says. “And it lends to this idea that queer things can be big. It’s a really important message to chipping away at shame. That’s part of it. We deserve to be highly funded. It invites us to take up space in the neighborhood we’re reflecting.”


Here’s a guide to some of the spots that play a role in the series.