Rosie O'Donnell Joins Bette, Shane, Alice on The L Word: Generation Q 

Less than 24 hours after the reunion of Bette and Tina on The L Word: Generation Q last year,Showtime announced that the reboot of the beloved series has been picked up for a second season, although production has been held up with COVID-19 shutdowns since March. Now it's been announced that Rosie O'Donnell, who recently spoke with The Advocate, will join the series as Carrie, a public defender who works closely with Jennifer Beals's iconic Bette Porter. Other cast announcements include that Jordan Hull (who plays Bette and Tina's daughter, Angelica) has been upped to a season regular and that Donald Faison and Griffin Dunne will join the cast.

The reboot kicked off last December with an eight-episode season that features original cast members Beals, Leisha Hailey, and Katherine Moennig (who are also executive producers) along with several new characters that reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.

Dunne (After Hours, I Love Dick) will play an art dealer who moves in Bette's circles while Faison (Scrubs) plays an editor who works closely with talk show host Alice (Hailey), according toDeadline.

O'Donnell appeared on several episodes of Freeform's groundbreaking queer series The Fosters and recently in HBO's Mark Ruffalo starrer I Know This Much Is True.

Screenwriter and playwright Marja-Lewis Ryan (The Four-Faced Liar) is the showrunner who shepherded in a new generation of LGBTQ+ people in the world that creator Ilene Chaiken built in 2004.

The series features original L Word characters Bette, Shane (Moennig), and Alice alongside new characters like Bette's former mayoral campaign manager, Dani (Arienne Mandi), and her fiancee, Sophie (Rosanny Zayas); Lex Scott Davis as Shane's wife, Quiara; and Stephanie Allyne and Sepideh Moafi as Alice's love interests. Other newcomers include Jacqueline Toboni as Alice's assistant Finley and Leo Sheng as Micah.

Generation Q picked up 10 years after the original L Word ended its six-season run in 2009 and features several trans actors, including Sheng, Jamie Clayton as the manager of a bar that Shane buys, Brian Michael Smith as Bette's first campaign manager, and Sophie Giannamore as Jordi, a love interest for Bette and Tina's daughter Angie.

The first season featured a long-awaited reunion between The L Word's original central couple, Bette and Tina, when Laurel Holloman appeared partway through the run.