"The L Word"'s Hollywood lipstick lesbians and their soap opera lives enjoy a love/hate relationship with many of us. I for one couldn't wait to see The D Word, an "L Word" spoof originally created to air on Dyke TV, a New York public access cable program. Organized in six ten minute segments, it is making the rounds of the film festivals.

The parody takes place in New York City, "populated by people who look like people." There's Dot Parker (Marga Gómez, Laughing Matters, Desi's Looking for a New Girl, Out There, In the Life, Traveling Companion, Fabulous!), the obnoxious type-A partner of clueless Dina Cunnard (Jessica Horstman), who is trying to get pregnant. Drea McClay (Julie Goldman, Out at the Wedding, "The Big Gay Show," Butch in the City, Mom) is the butch slut with cuticle confidence. Daria (Mellyss'ah Mavour) runs a cafe and has a mysterious foreign accent, and Dani Silverman (Meeni Naqvi) arrives in New York to live with her boyfriend Dim (Sergei Burbank), a chess team coach.

The hated Jenny character (Dani) is brilliantly skewered, with so much fodder available, and Gómez is also a standout as the controlling Bette clone. The first few segments were full of laughs as the audience recognized the send-ups of specific scenes and character quirks. Unfortunately after the initial enthusiasm, my friends and I were checking our watches as the production ran out of steam. This would have worked wonderfully as a very funny short, but the gags became tiresome at some point - a big disappointment after great expectations.