By Jillian A. Bogater
Nine months is a long time to go without a favorite television show.
But for podcasting duo KC and Elka, that sabbatical also means a lot of down time for their show "The Planet: The Podcast for 'L Word' fans!"
The Albuquerque, N.M., women – who boast of 20,000 in-season listeners – say they spent the long summer drinking beer and pining for their favorite "L Word" lady: Leisha Hailey, who plays Alice on the Showtime series. Elka was even lucky enough to meet Hailey years ago at a Murmurs concert. After watching Hailey's band, Elka went back to her car to find the battery dead. When she went back into the concert hall, the band members were the only people left.
"I borrowed her jumper cables," Elka said, giggling. "She was so gracious and so nice. So, you could say me and Leisha go way back."
While preparing for their predictions podcast, set to air a week before the Jan. 7 season premiere of "The L Word," KC and Elka talked with Managing Editor Jillian A. Bogater about their podcasting experience.
BTL: Have you read any of the spoilers?
KC and Elka: We always get spoiler e-mails. I don't know if they don't go on the forum or if they don't hear us scream, "Don't send us spoilers!" but we always get e-mails saying, "Hey click on this video," and it's always something that we don't want to know. But I don't know anything about season four, except a few little details about the cast. I'm completely in the dark. Our podcast is completely spoiler-free.
BTL: Have you ever had the lesbian mafia on your ass for something you said?
KC and Elka: We did at the beginning. The first few podcasts we had some serious hate mail. We almost quit. We were like this isn't worth it. At first, we sent out e-mails saying we are so sorry we offended you, but then we were like, "Fuck it! This is what our podcast is about." We're going to say what we're thinking even if it isn't the politically correct thing to say. We're not celebrities. We're just two girls sitting around talking about "The L Word." We don't have that filter. We're just talking about our reactions. The worst thing about it was that the people who were trying to shut us down were the people who never get heard. It wasn't straight people, the religious right … our critics were women in our community. That's what we found disheartening.
BTL: Has anyone from "The L Word" contacted you?
KC and Elka: I can't see why they would … unless they want to date us!
BTL: Who are your favorite characters?
Elka: They change as the characters change. I obviously loved Dana. And I cried and cried and cried in season three. I guess my favorite is Tonya. (KC laughs) I loved Tonya so much. (KC: She's not even a main character!) OK, then I like Dana's mom. (More laughter) We don't make any secret about our Leisha Hailey love.
BTL: Do you have any storyline predictions?
Elka: I predict Jenny Schecter is gonna act frickin' crazy. And there will be a new annoying male character. They seem to do that every season, and they keep getting uglier and uglier. I hope Bette has a new love interest and to see her move on. I have no idea what's going to happen with the Teddy Bears, Lara and Alice. They're going to have to end that soon or they are going to explode from too much cuteness. Also, Shane has got some issues she's got to work through. We all want our characters to have some fun (and) get some play. We want more boobs. The fans demand it. I hope there is more pool parties, and do away with so many het (sex) scenes. I think they had more heterosexual sex scenes than gay last year. That was annoying.
The Planet: The Podcast for 'L Word' fans!
Hosts: KC and Elka
Podcasts available on iTunes, or visit:
http://www.theplanetcast.blogspot.com
http://www.myspace.com/theplanetcast