Leisha Hailey gets lead in 'L Word' spinoff

The L Word creator Ilene Chaiken is to write and produce a pilot for a possible spinoff centring around Leisha Hailey's character Alice Pieszecki.

The project will be shot in December, while the sixth and final season of the Showtime drama series will premiere in January 2009.

Showtime's CEO Matt Blank first announced plans for the new show at the Television Critics Association press tour in July.

"[W]e're doing this interesting thing: The storyline at the end of The L Word, the final episode in the final season, there will be an open-ended component to it," Blank confirmed. "And Ilene is going to carry that story along on the Internet, which we think is an interesting way to keep The L Word experience going. Then if we decide to go ahead with the spinoff that storyline will segue into the new series."

Hailey has played Alice, a bisexual journalist, on the show since its first season in 2004.