Watch The L Word Season Four Premiere Online

If you missed tonight’s season premiere of The L Word, you can view it on the Showtime L Word Web site. This seems like a limited-time freebie to entice you to get Showtime. Up to you if you’re vulnerable to that sort of marketing. Note, however, that the “exclusive designer top” you get with your subscription does not appear to come in maternity sizes.

I’m not going to post weekly recaps of the show (leaving that to the good folks at AfterEllen), but I will point out any interesting parenting matters that arise. This week, Tina and Bette’s child-custody drama continued, and Bette’s lawyer (the kick-ass Jane Lynch) threatened to use “the race card.” All too-real issues, though greatly simplified for television. Nothing terribly insightful or in-depth.

I did empathize with Bette, however, when she was sitting in a restaurant with her baby and yelled to the other diners, “Does anybody have a sippy cup?” She was being alpha-Bette about the whole thing—but I think many of us have been in situations where we’ve needed or wanted to scream out for that one childcare item we forgot— a sippy cup, an extra diaper, a pacifier, or a complete change of clothing. (Note to Bette: A paper coffee cup with a lid makes a reasonable substitute. Just get a lid with a small drinking hole, a la Starbucks or Dunkin’ Donuts, not the cheap kind where you have to tear out a square inch of plastic on one side. You can even fit a straw in the hole, if desired.)