Friends, I’m going to talk to you about some upcoming web series who need your help. And I know it can be tiring, constantly having to stan and be super vocal for the shows where we have representation. They’re so few compared to the number of shows out there, we’re always on edge and arguing and fighting. There are roughly 140 out of 500 scripted TV dramas on US television today that have queer characters, but some of those are like Law & Order SVU which in my opinion doesn’t really count.
The point being, we’re always having to jump up and shout “Watch this show so we can have more!” And here I come, telling you that we’ve got web series to worry about too! Oh and they want your money?
Yeah I know. But for real here, I need to explain why this maters.
Web Series Push Us Forward
I will cheer and celebrate shows like The Bold Type which showed women, queer and straight, having a frank talk about going down on women — and then showing it. And I will hoot when Vida embraces all aspects of sex and sexuality with a nearly devil may care flagrancy for people and their ‘tudes. But the sad reality is that shows like that, shows that give us more than that soft, sapphic, sisterhood sex scene are so few and far between that I can only name one major network TV show that gave us an out and out scene for women. Person of Interest had only one sex scene in the entire series, and they gave it to Root and Shaw, but even then it was the one scene and I still don’t know why they had the random plate stuff.
This means if you want to see places where people are just queer, without any hackney’d explanations or drawn out coming out stories, and just get some stories about people being who we are, you have only one place to go: The internet.
Web Series are where you get a bajillion Shakespeare-but-gayer series, or other literary inspired series (Carmilla counts, folks). The quality can vary between legit TV quality and cringe worthy, I will warn you, but what you will get that you cannot get anywhere else is the diversity. Want to watch a series about black women who own a TV network, only to run into their ex? Maybe you wanted one about immigration and running away from arranged marriages? Or what if you just wanted to see someone have a totally cringeworthy experience in flirting?
All that is found online.
But They Can’t Do It Alone
Unlike TV shows on Netflix which get a ‘direct to series’ order and a reasonable budget to tell you to take life one day at a time, and unlike shows on network TV where you get a pilot and a change, these series run on a shoestring. The difference between a profitable series and a passion project is pennies. Which means they do need your help in a more direct way than other shows.
For Your Consideration
- BIFL: The Series – The plot may be familiar to you if only because it sounds like a lot of romcom TV series we’ve all seen. Jill is in love with her BFF Chloe, but scared to say anything. Sarah thinks they should just kiss already! Not to mention there are men in love with men, women in love with men, and actual ace characters. After a New Year’s Eve party, someone hooked up, someone almost hooked up, and someone broke up. Oh no!
Fund them on Seed & Spark - King Ester – August 29, 2005, changed New Orleans forever. The city has returned, but it’s not what it was, nor will it ever be. Lives and history were lost, and cultures vanished. One of those stories is of Ester, transwoman who is on her way up but now must make a choice: stay or leave in the shadow of Hurricane Katrina. This drama touches on some of the forgotten people impacted by Katrina.
Fund them on Seed & Spark - RECON – Finally, spies like us! College freshmen are trying to balance life, love, and being spies. So you know, something totally normal. Who doesn’t find their Netflix and Chill constantly interrupted by government conspiracies, I ask you?
Fund them on IndieGoGo - Sam and Pat Are Depressed (Season Two) – I really enjoyed season one, and chatting a bit with Bri (who plays Sam) about web series, computers, and my monumental gaff importing actors to this site. They’re a comedy but they tackle mental illness with exemplary realism. Therapy isn’t bad at all, but why can’t we talk about that in public?
Fund them on Seed & Spark - Sex is a God Thing – This takes place in my old stomping grounds, Chicago, so immediately I was paying attention. Two women find out they’re sisters when their father falls gravely ill. But they have more in common than just blood. They’re also both lesbians, trying to figure out broken relationships with their family and with god.
Fund them on Seed & Spark - Twisted City – The brains behind Maggie Hale’s Corner takes on Dickens with a genderbent Oliver Twisted story about Olive. Come along as she leaves behind her horrible job in Mudfog for the urban capital of Washington D.C. Once in D.C. Olive makes both friends and enemies, and ends up entangled in crime, manipulation, and mystery.
Fund them on IndieGoGo
I’m sure we’re missing some. Let us know in the comments about your favourite ‘coming soon’ web series that might need that signal boost!
