TV

‘Work In Progress’ Is The Show About A “Fat, Queer, Dyke” That We’ve Been Waiting For

Not much TV gets made, and even less gets made about queer people, and even less gets made about older, fat, butch queer people.

by Rebecca Shaw  3 February 2020
Work In Progress Stan

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“I feel like Shane is the only person I’d feel safe doing acid with”

“Alice’s relationship doesn’t make sense, they are obviously both bottoms?”

“God I miss Dana, RIP you beautiful angel”

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We Talked 'The L Word' Reboot With Shane, Queen Of The Lesbians

These are just some from a series of many, many, many texts that I have received and sent (miss you, Dana) to various people about the new series of The L Word: Generation Q, which just completed screening on Stan. It has the queers abuzz, like the opening of some kind of new pot plant/astrology/talking about your feelings store.

So yes, we are all of course watching it.

But does this mean that we would claim that it is “good” television? Was the old L Word series “good television”? These are very complicated questions. Because….not really.

BUT, because I am a queer woman in my thirties who grew up desperate to see any semblance of queerness on screen, it means forgiving a lot, and being greedy for every little gay morsel that is thrown on the ground for me to scavenge.

The Stories We See On Screen

The original L Word had many issues that have been discussed at length over the years by people much smarter than me, and these are problems that they have attempted to rectify in the new series. The cast is much more racially diverse, and various characters are played by trans actors.

They’ve also made some great casting choices, such as a recurring role for the stunning model and disability activist Jillian Mercado, who I believe should be in more episodes, perhaps all of them, because she is great and gorgeous, and also for other less shallow reasons I will try to think of later.

Less importantly, but still notable, everyone on the show is still thin and beautiful, and the entire original cast have become rich in various ways. Shane has moved from being a hair stylist, to being a world famous hair stylist who flies on private jets, for example.

As a grown up who has now kissed adult humans in real life, and who is part of my own queer community, I do find it easier to be more discerning about the kind of stories that are told on screen. Obviously I will still watch and enjoy every single solitary second of The L Word and beg for more, I haven’t lost my mind.

But it means that I can be more critical about the kind of representation we see, and the stories we are being told. This is not about pitting these shows against each other; it’s just about appreciating it when actually great written shows about queers are made.

Work In Progress

That has never been more relevant when watching Work In Progress, a new show that started with little fanfare on Stan around the same time as Generation Q.

Work In Progress tells the story of a different kind of queer. First of all, it’s a dark comedy that centres around Abby, described by the show as “a 45-year-old self-identified fat, queer dyke.” Watching this show play out about a grey-haired, older, butch dyke, friends and I exchanged text messages like:

“This is amazing and HOW THE FUCK did this get made?”

“Did Hannah Gadsby’s Nannette run so this could walk?”

“When can I have MY own show?”

Yes, that last one was me, again.

But in reality, not much TV gets made, and even less gets made about queer people, and even less gets made about older, fat, butch queer people.

How DID This Get Made?

The story of how this one did get made is great. It’s the baby of Abby McEnany, a mainstay of the Chicago improv scene, who had never broken into the mainstream, or done TV at all.

She did a stage show a few years ago performing material about her life, which she called ‘Work In Progress’. Her director friend Tim Mason saw it, and together they created the pilot, which ended up garnering some buzz at Sundance.

Then the co-creator of The Matrix, Lily Wachowski, who Abby knew previously, basically came out of retirement and got on board as a producer and writer and showrunner. I love this story so much.

Is it because I am a fat queer dyke who has dreams of making a TV show, I couldn’t possibly comment!

A Different Show

You can tell this show is going to be different as soon as it opens. The first episode (CW: mental health/suicide ideation) begins with Abby speaking with her therapist.

She tells her therapist that a co-worker gave her a jar of almonds in a back-handed attempt to tell her she should lose weight. She has laid out 180 almonds, and she says she is going to get rid of one almond per day. If by the time they are gone, her life hasn’t improved, Abby is going to kill herself.

Now, that is obviously quite dark.

But discussion around mental health is something that is so prevalent in the queer community, but so lost in the usual depictions of queers. Mental health does not have to be a taboo subject that we never discuss, and in my experience, it isn’t really.

It is discussed freely and honestly amongst the queers I know. It is discussed openly, it is discussed via memes shared on Instagram; it is discussed using humour. It has to be.

Through flashbacks, Abby is shown to have long-running depression and anxiety and OCD. The show knows that dealing with mental health might be an ongoing part of someone’s full and beautiful and hard and complex life, and it’s not something that can be ignored.

Dating Chris

Abby’s story is surprising in another way.

Usually you would not expect a show about an older butch dyke to go where it goes next — her journey as she meets Chris, a trans man she first mistakes for a lesbian. They start dating, and this allows the show to explore issues like pronouns, top surgery, and dead names, as Abby learns about Chris, and they become integrated into each other’s lives.

We see her introduce Chris to her friends, mostly older lesbians. As we all know, there is an ongoing battle in the real world between the LGBTQI community and TERFs. But in this show, Abby is really taking no debate.

When watching the way that Abby — an established dyke who had only previously dated cis women — takes dating Chris in her stride, it gave me the sense that this also came from real life. And an interview I found with her confirmed it, in the best way possible:

“To me, my relationship with Chris is based on a real relationship I had with a young trans man I met. I was in DC for a month, years ago, and I met this lovely man. We dated and then we did long-distance. And this woman who I’ve known in the community, was like, “You’re dating a trans man? Well, I guess you’re not a lesbian anymore.” I’m like, “Who fucking cares? Do you have a list?” In my mind, she has this big whiteboard in her home.”

And indeed, who fucking cares?  That’s the attitude that comes across as you see Abby be dazzled by Chris, and open up to him, and let her mind be open. And it’s seeing Chris’s life, and parties, and friends that cemented my love for this show. As a queer person who has a diverse group of friends and lovers and community, it just feels authentic. It feels true.

Chris’s people are queer and sexually liberated, some are non-monogamous, they are racially diverse, trans and gender non-conforming, and it comes the closest to representing fully my community as anything I’ve seen on screen before.

And it’s not some fairytale; it’s not done in a tokenistic manner, or to correct issues from the past. It’s there because those people exist, and that community exists, and they should be seen. In an ideal world, the show would just be about those people, but this is an okay start.

It was just announced that Work In Progress has just been renewed for a second season, as has The L Word, so I implore you to give it a try. If my words haven’t done enough, may I present to you the person who plays Chris, Theo Germaine.

Every week is a masterclass in Theo’s beauty and talent and also me alone saying “HUBBA HUBBA!!!!!!!!” at least ten times out loud to my computer. Because I too am a work in progress.

Work In Progress and The L Word: Generation Q are both streaming on Stan.

Rebecca Shaw is the co-host of the very regular comedy podcast Bring A Plate. She tweets @brocklesnitch.