It’s been six years since Lip Service went off the air, the show American fans often refer to as the “British L Word.” The lives and loves of lesbians in Glasgow, Scotland had us tuned in (or desperately finding a way to be, for those of us outside of the UK) for the drama surrounding Frankie, Cat, Tess, Sam, Lexy, Sadie and all of their friends, lovers, and exes. But what we didn’t know at the time was that the American version we were watching had undergone heavy editing, with many of the sexy scenes being edited down or omitted altogether. That’s right. Lesbian sex (and even kissing, apparently) was just too much for our virgin eyes. Ahem.
The good news is that Tello Films, the streaming platform that is successfully striving to be the Lesbian Netflix (RUN, don’t walk to subscribe), has acquired the rights to stream the original, unedited versions of both seasons.I caught up with Tello Films founder and CEO Christin Baker to learn more.
“I remember the buzz on the internet when “Lip Service” came out. It was a few years after “The L Word” was off the air and it was so exciting to have another lesbian series out in the world. The biggest bummer though was that the US version of “Lip Service” was going to be edited and the sex scenes were going to be edited down for US TV. I completely forgot this fact as I was viewing the episodes before posting them to tello and then I saw one of the scenes and thought “Gosh, I don’t remember THIS scene.” And I remembered how it was edited.
It gives me so much joy that we are able to post the unedited UK version because I believe that the mainstream media rarely gives parody to the lesbian relationships. We never get as many sexy kisses or time in the bedroom as the straight couples so getting the UK version that has some very sexy scenes is so exciting for us to share with our subscribers.”
Can I get a round of applause for Christin Baker? It gives me – and I’m sure all of you, too – equal joy to be able to watch the show the way its creators intended, and especially on a platform like tello that not only supports and makes available lesbian content, but is lesbian-owned and operated. If you agree, subscribe here and let’s tell this new ‘Lesbian Netflix’ we like what they’re doing and we want more!
