The Prime-time Pitch
By: Stephanie Hoo

How much do Luna and Renee Foxx love Showtime's gay-themed series "The L Word"? Ha! "We watch it every week -- and all week," Luna says with a laugh. "We have all the seasons on DVD. We also have 'On Demand.'"

Adds Renee: "It's the reason we got TV."

Luna and Renee, who run a small-animal shelter in southern New Jersey, are fans with an enthusiasm that no mere ad campaign can mimic. And Showtime, a perennial also-ran to HBO that is seeking to expand its audience, has gotten wise to the power of that fan base.

The network is running a weekly fan fiction contest, hoping to rev up the passion of core fans so they spread word of the show. Luna and Renee were the first winners, with a script titled "Just Call Me Crazy," parts of which may or may not be used by the show.

They won jewelry and props from the show -- as well as "invites" for their friends and family to rate their winning entry. The result: more "L Word" fans.

"A couple of our friends that read our script said: you know, we really want to watch the show," Luna says. "And one of our friends actually just got Showtime to watch the show and she never saw the show before.


GATHER 'ROUND THE KEYBOARD

"The L Word" cast bares all. (AP Photo/HO/Showtime/Isabel Snyder)

TV shows of all sorts attract rabidly loyal fans who gather online to discuss their favorite plots and characters, on everything from action-packed "24" to policy-wonky "The West Wing" to shows you've never heard of.

Fans transcribe entire episodes, point out continuity errors, compile biographies of their favorite characters and even trade videocassettes.

Yet all this frenzy is typically relegated to "unofficial" fan sites.

"If you look at who's capturing the value from all that fan activity out there, it's not companies like Showtime until now. It's companies like Google, who run an ad on every single fan Web site that's on the Internet," says David Williams, co-founder of FanLib, which is running Showtime's fan fiction contest.

"The L Word" -- L for lesbian -- is a glossy drama that follows the lives and loves of a group of very beautiful women. Now in its third season, the show has attracted raves from real-life lesbians thrilled to finally see themselves portrayed on TV.

Contest sponsors include Saks Fifth Avenue, W Hotels, Lending Tree, and Love and Pride jewelry. Williams declined to spell out FanLib's deal with Showtime or how they would split any profits. He said that, generally, FanLib is either hired by a network or it licenses the rights to a show. Fans don't pay anything to enter a contest.

Each week, an "L Word" moderator posts plot requirements for that round of submissions. Fans are encouraged to rate and discuss each others' scripts. In the end, all the top-rated scenes will be pulled together for a virtual episode or "fanisode."

Weekly winners will also compete for a grand prize -- a mentoring session, via e-mail, with the show's creator Ilene Chaiken.

The process creates a dialogue among fans and with the shows' creators, and the fictional characters become almost communal property. It's the high-tech version of storytellers sitting around a fire, embellishing one another's tales to create something new.

FROM FAN TO AD

The contest lets fans get more involved, and lets the show tap their fever, says Mark Greenberg, an executive vice president at Showtime. "The more involved they are, the more passionate, and they become spokespeople for the show and the network."

With viral or word-of-mouth marketing, "obviously it's much easier when you can define a passion group," he says. But there's no reason it can't translate to other programming, he adds. Showtime lets boxing fans to vote online and invited "Stargate" fans to concoct virtual missions.

That said, devotion to "The L Word" runs especially deep.

"There are misconceptions about people in society and these women are beautiful and they're successful," says Luna Foxx. "And we as lesbians and as a couple, we relate to the show very much."

In Luna and Renee Foxx's winning entry, the character Tina has just had her baby. One requirement for the scene was that Tina and her partner Bette had to meet another lesbian couple while at the hospital.

Many entrants made Tina's hospital roommate a lesbian and satisfied the requirement that way. But in Luna and Renee's script, Tina's roommate was a young girl from a small town who had also just given birth and was giving her baby up for adoption to a lesbian couple.

"Ours was an adoption scenario," Luna says. "We know a lot of people like that."

The submission won raves from the other fans -- and from an unexpected quarter.

"It's funny because we even have our parents watching it now. And that's a stretch for the both of us. I mean, they don't even want to be around us," Luna says.

"But, they were just so excited that we had written something and it won, and now they want to get involved in the show, too, and they've been watching.

"So, it's pretty comical, but it's a good thing, definitely a good thing. For people who haven't seen it and we've introduced to the show, it's opened their minds a lot."