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While waiting for Erin Daniels to arrive, Laurel Holloman spoke about the Bette and Tina storyline. As she stated recently, she would like to see Bette and Tina reconciled. In season 4 Bette and Tina will work towards some kind of a relationship, though they won’t be a couple yet. When I mentioned that they probably will build that relationship because of Angelica, Laurel replied that it will happen not only for the sake of Angelica.

Laurel also mentioned that the show is built around drama so if Bette and Tina will get back together, it will take them sometime. I, being my stubborn-self and an avid TiBetter, told her, “I don’t want them to get back together fast either…Season 2 finale was very disappointing in this regard because they get back together too quick, without any talks or explanations…but at the same time I don’t want to see Bette and Tina separate for the rest of the seasons, watching all the drama around them and only see them happy in the last episode of the series. Bette and Tina fans want at least a season of TiBette love.” I could tell from the way Laurel looked at me that she probably wanted the same and she told me to tell this to Ilene.

There’s no news on season 5 yet because the network needs to see the ratings first. So we talked about the ratings, and I said that in my opinion, after I saw and participated in many polls, Bette and Tina are the most popular couple, and that’s why Season 3 rating were so high up in the beginning because at the end of Season 2 Bette and Tina were back together. Laurel laughed and again she told me to tell this to Ilene. I said, “I’m sure Ilene knows what the fans of the show want; it doesn’t mean that it will happen,” but it seems like Ilene, and I would have to have a serious conversation the next time I’ll see her.

I also talked to Showtime representative about DVD’s extras and was surprised that she wasn’t aware that the DVD sets (especially for Season 3) don’t have very many interesting and exciting extras, like deleted scenes, bloopers, behind-the-scenes features. She wrote it down and promised to bring it up to those responsible for the DVD’s. I hope that something will come out of this for future seasons’ DVDs.

Then Erin Daniels arrived with her boyfriend, and after taking more pictures I asked her about the show and Dana. She is very sad that Dana isn’t on the show anymore and she misses the set and the cast members who became her friends.

After the presentation I talked to her a little more and she basically said that it would be great for Dana to appear on a show again in flashbacks at least, but we definitely won’t see Dana alive, as an angel, as a resurrected being, or in any other kind of form or appearance.

Presentations and Awards After the interviews the guests and celebrities proceeded into the theater. At first, half of the rows in front were reserved for the VIP people and celebrities and the rest of us had to sit further in the back. However, some of the scheduled celebrities didn’t appear, and the audience was invited to move closer. I was among them and soon found a seat right in the middle, about three rows away from where The L Word cast was seated. Among the guests there were also Honey Labrador; Bruce Vilanch who presented an award to Judith Light; and Iva Franks, who appeared on such shows as Las Vegas, Arli$$ and Kingpin.

The program began with several presentations, including the keynote speaker of the evening, Sherri Lewis, an entertainer and AIDS activist, who has been HIV positive for almost 20 years. In between the nominations and presentations Pat Rettig Band performed as well as Deborah Gibson, who wrote a song especially for this event in memoriam of people who died from AIDS and breast cancer.

This year’s “Ribbon of Hope” honorees were presented by CCF Pounder from The Shield, Peter Gallagher from The O.C., Chad Allen from The Donald Strachey Mysteries and others and included:

The L Word (Showtime)

The L Word was selected to receive Ribbon of Hope’s first award outside of the area of HIV and AIDS. Its compelling and informative story about breast cancer represents the spirit and commitment to awareness and television with conscience that is hallmark of all Ribbon of Hope recipients. In its third season, The L Word dedicated a central storyline to the wrenching journey of one of the series main characters, Dana Fairbanks (Erin Daniels), as she is diagnosed with and battles breast cancer. Dana’s story was played out from her discovery of a lump in the

season’s first episode, to her death from an opportunistic infection contracted when chemotherapy weakens her immune system. The story arc explored a myriad of medical issues pertaining to all women and especially to lesbians and their partners.

The L Word and Showtime partnered with the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation, The Mautner Project, and the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation to ensure that the story was told accurately. In addition, the producers wrote Dr. Susan Love into an episode in an effort to expand the educational opportunities afforded by the storyline as well as to expand awareness on the current state of research. The L Word Breast Cancer Feature: Tribute to Dana was produced and broadcast after the episode featuring Dana’s death.

Ilene Chaiken and the cast members went on the stage after a brief video montage of Dana’s breast cancer journey and Ilene accepted the award on behalf of the cast and the show. Ilene said, “This is quite an honor for us. We’re very very privileged to be standing up here. We’re privileged to work in television that can be powerful, pervasive, powerful, glamorous, and influential medium. We’re privileged to be storytellers, people who find their purpose reflecting and illuminating human experience.

We’re privileged that our show is on Showtime, and we can tell our stories explicitly and with nuance, unfettered by sensors…we’re privileged to work collaboratively in company with smart and self determined women…telling stories about smart self determined women, well aware that it’s still rare in the world at large and even in our small world of privilege for women to be as free willed and as self determined as we find ourselves.

The greatest privilege, though, in working on The L Word is that we have come to understand that this pop-culture TV show about a group of gay women friends has been actually meaningful and significant to some people. Lesbians have been virtually unrepresented in the popular culture, and the telling of our stories has proven unexpectedly to be empowering and life affirming and inspirational. We all know how lucky we are just getting to do what we do for a living…getting to do it in the context of a project that sometimes offers hope as a safe harbor has been very special privilege.

And with privilege comes responsibility. We knew we’ll be taking on the responsibility when we chose to tell the story of a young woman battle with the breast cancer, Dana, a professional athlete, who’d already was facing a potentially life-threatening struggle, overcoming her own homophobia and coming out as a lesbian…and we knew we have responsibility, both to Erin Daniels, the actress who played Dana and to fans who had come to love and identify with her character, to portray the story accurately and comprehensively.” Then Ilene talked about how she was contacted about representing on the show the work of Dr. Susan Love and Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation

and how Dr. Love supported their efforts in telling Dana’s story. She met with the producers and actors and discussed the story, read and corrected their scripts, talked to

Erin about what Dana would be experiencing both medically and emotionally. Ilene said, “I hope that’s because in a small way helping us to tell the story was consistent with the mission of her Foundation to eradicate the breast cancer in our lifetime. We’re very honored that the Television Academy and Television Cares equates our story of Dana’s struggle with the breast cancer with the exceptional programs about HIV and AIDS that you recognized tonight and in the past, programs that have done so much to change hearts

and minds and raise awareness, which we all know is critical to raise much needed money for research and treatment. Television has been extraordinarily persuasive in promoting HIV awareness. It’s an honor to be standing here tonight among activists and artists and people of conscience, and it’s a privilege to be a part in making television that makes the difference. Thank you for this Ribbon of Hope award.” Erin Daniels then said a few words before leaving the stage, “…thank you for recognizing the breast cancer story on The L Word. It was an honor and privilege to undertake such an important story, a story that you don’t see very often, and when we do see it, we don’t generally see it in television series format. So thank you very much for recognizing us and…I’m thrilled.”

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