Looking through a hole in the brown fence by her house, a slender, dark-haired woman crouches down, nose pressed to the wood, to watch as two women in the yard next door peel off their clothes and dive into a pool. She pulls back, and her eyes widen, as the women swim toward each other and lock in an embrace.

Such a scene is hardly unusual for Showtime’s new prime-time show, ‘The L Word,’ the first television program centered on the lives of lesbian characters. The show’s renewal on Jan. 29 proves that the increasing trend of finding lesbian, gay and bisexual characters on television is picking up speed. Budding scriptwriters and producers from Syracuse University believe that the trend will continue and question their future role within it.

‘If there’s anything I’ve learned here, it’s the fact that you have to take risks,’ said Tori Socha, a senior television, radio and film major who plans to move to Los Angeles after graduation to become a scriptwriter. ‘When I’m in a position of power someday, I’ll choose to take those risks and hopefully make some progress that will bridge the gap between people of different backgrounds.’

But taking those risks and creating shows like ‘The L Word’ makes many members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community nervous.

‘Whenever you’re beginning to cover a group that’s pretty invisible, a lot of people start to get anxious about how it’s going to be portrayed,’ said Patty Hayes, the graduate assistant of the Syracuse University Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center and fan of the show. ‘And with shows like ‘The L Word,’ there’s no way to portray a lesbian life totally accurately because there is no one way to be a lesbian.’

‘The L Word,’ the story lines of which center around sex, romance and relationships, tiptoes on the stereotypes of the hyper-sexuality of lesbians and ignores lesbians who would rather skip the gym or nightclub. And although real-life lesbians do discuss and engage in sex, dating and flirting like heterosexual women, the show suggests that these issues dictate their lives.

‘Are there some elements that ring true with some lesbians? Absolutely,’ Hayes said. ‘But are there some elements in the story lines or characters that have been stressed? Absolutely.’

The story lines, not the characters, of shows such as ‘The L Word’ can often be problematic, said Evan Smith, an associate professor of television, radio and film.

In the debut episode, two women in a serious relationship want to have a child and search for the perfect father for their future child. This story line is far too obvious and overdone for any lesbian story line, and places the emphasis on these characters as lesbians rather than women, Smith said.

‘That’s lesbian story number 17,’ Smith said. ‘It’s too predictable.’

But these same criticisms could be applied to any program on television with gay or straight characters, Hayes said.

‘Look at the afternoon soap operas,’ Hayes said. ‘Whose lives do they look like?’

Future writers should realize that the best shows would be those that focus on the common situations and circumstances that make us all human, Smith said.

‘If they’re smart, they’ll carry it on to more universal issues and we’ll just see them through the lens of lesbian characters,’ Smith said.

If characters follow story lines that focus on situations and concerns that any person could relate to, then the creation of LGBT characters should be no different than the creation of straight characters.

‘It’s the same challenge no matter what kind of character,’ said Etan Cohen, co-executive producer and scriptwriter of ‘King of the Hill’ on ABC. ‘When I try to think of how to write one I always ask, ‘what’s a real, intelligent rendition of that character?”

Most college graduates racing to Hollywood to launch their careers will not be writing the scripts of a cable show like ‘The L Word.’ They will likely work on a network sitcom or drama, which is far less likely to integrate more LGBT characters, said Gillian Wheat, a sophomore television, radio and film major who plans to work in television production.

‘You’re going to be a step ahead if you’re working on a movie channel like HBO or Showtime,’ Wheat said.

Networks – ABC, NBC or CBS – face restrictions on what shows they produce and how they write them, Cohen said, because these channels must meet industry standards and practices. Cable stations like HBO or Showtime do not face these restrictions because people pay to receive cable stations and know what they are receiving.

‘When you pay extra, you are agreeing to what kind of content is coming in over that cable,’ said Brad Gorham, an associate professor of communications who specializes in communication theory and the effects of the media.

Networks face an additional restriction through their dependence on advertisers. If advertisers worry that an audience may consider a program such as ‘The L Word’ too offensive – due to its same-sex open mouth kissing, for example – they may pull their ads.

‘There are a lot of advertisers who want to be careful,’ Gorham said. ‘It’s unlikely you will see portrayals that will be too extreme or controversial on the networks anytime soon.’

Some freedoms of cable programming have snuck into network programming within the past few years, and if this trend continues, some of the more controversial themes of cable programming could soon appear on network television.

‘Obscenities now creep into the networks; before they were only on cable,’ Cohen said. ‘Who knows what that’ll mean a few years down the road?’

If a controversial cable show sparks viewers’ interest and has the potential to rake in more money, networks may be apt to put their concerns aside, buy the rights and broadcast the show, Gorham said.

‘The networks are desperate,’ Gorham said. ‘The first Newhouse grad that goes out to Hollywood with a script that catches on, generates a buzz and becomes the next ‘Will & Grace,’ or next Cosby, then all those concerns will go by the wayside.’

The success of ‘The L Word’ may prompt network stations to plan programs with lesbian characters, said Sarah Trimble, a sophomore TRF major who plans to work as producer.

‘It’s a definite trend that networks are taking more chances,’ Trimble said. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised if they would have a show with lesbian characters soon.’

Published on February 18, 2004 at 12:00 pm