Share recs for similarly-themed shows here!

[Cranberry]

While Faking It is on a break and lots of our other shows are off-air for the holidays, it's probably a good time to catch up on some good shows we may have missed the first time around. Here's your spot to suggest shows that you think your fellow Faking It fans might like. How do these shows handle their LGBT characters? What about them is better or worse than Faking It?

 

South of Nowhere is the only other teen show I can think of where the main character was a lesbian and the main relationship was between two girls. The first season was mostly about Spencer's coming out process and was pretty well done, especially any scenes involving her homophobic mother. Later seasons tried my patience somewhat (I frequently wished that Aiden, SoN's Hottie Doucheface, would drive his motorcycle off a cliff), and it aired on The N/TeenNick and therefore often showed us chaste hugs or hairbrushing instead of kissing (although there were a few good kisses), but in general, the show was more good than bad.

 

The Naomi/Emily relationship on Skins (UK) was also pretty well done. These characters were around for two seasons, 3 and 4. Never watch the follow-up special, Skins Fire, unless you are a masochist of the highest order. I'd say more about that, but I'd probably end up ranting for days.

 

phoenixrising mentioned the new webseries

in another thread, and I have to agree with that rec. One of the actresses said in a tweet a while back that approximately 50% of the cast and crew is queer, and it shows. There's no coming out in this story; girls just like girls and everyone's cool with that. The show is low-budget, shot with a stationary camera to mimic a webcam, and each (four-to-eight-minute) episode is done in one take, making it more like live theater than TV. It doesn't always work perfectly -- it's not high art -- but the dialogue is stylized and snappy, the cast has good chemistry, and when the actors are on, they're on. The first season just ended, and I enjoyed it. Here's an article explaining the premise.

[superman1204]

Ok so it's a movie not a show and I can't recommend it because I haven't seen it yet, but I saw the trailer for a new movie called Life Partners and the premise seemed really similar to Faking It.  Also it's only has 58% on rotten tomatoes so it doesn't sound like a masterpiece but if anyone really needs their Faking It fix this movie seems worth checking out.

 

The trailer if anyone is interested:

[Cranberry]

It's similar in that it's a comedy with some snappy dialog, but the relationship's very different. The lesbian is not in love with her straight best friend; they're just codependent and neither one handles it well when the straight girl gets into a serious relationship and the lesbian is floundering personally and professionally. It's a good movie. Great rec, thanks!

 

If we're talking movies, D.E.B.S. is a lot of fun. The trailer doesn't really reflect this, but a romantic relationship between main character Amy and super-villain Lucy Diamond is the main story of the film.

 

http://youtu.be/BIWrGxawS7E?t=11s

[Misty79]

All good recommendations. Sadly I've seen all of Cranberry's except Carmilla - which I'm 5 webisodes into and struggling to maintain interest. I suspect it gets better. 

 

I adored the first season of SoN, and there have been quite a number of little parallels with Faking It. It was a brave show for its time, a real trail blazer. I remember it copping an enormous amount of flack from the Christian belt. It's definitely the closest thing you'll get to FI, but there's some terribly clunky acting outside of the two leads and Spencer's mom. The worst thing about that show was its pretense at having a plot outside Spashley! 

 

Another web series I quite enjoyed was Anyone But Me.  

Edited December 9, 2014 by Misty79

[viajero]

South of Nowhere is the only other teen show I can think of where the main character was a lesbian and the main relationship was between two girls.

 

 

The British comedy series Sugar Rush, from about the same period as South of Nowhere, not only had a teen lesbian as the main character, but she also falls for her straight best friend, before hooking up with a slightly older lesbian girl.  The main plot is centered almost entirely around the three girls, though there are also important subplots involving the protagonists parents and her cross-dressing little brother.  I thought the show was hilarious even if its more than a bit extreme and over the top at times, though perhaps no more than the original UK version of Skins.  But there is a lot of sex, a lot of boozing it up, and a lot of cigarettes get smoked, so I'm not sure how it would go over with a North American audience.  An interesting side-note is that the actress who plays Sugar later went on to play the role of the ghost in the excellent original UK version of Being Human.

 

In any case, it turns out that the entire two-season series is available in four installments on YouTube, beginning here:

 

Edited January 10, 2015 by viajero