Who dat?

You like lesbians, right? And you like crime shows, right? And you like lesbians in crime shows, right – wait, are there any lesbians on crime shows? (“Rookie Blue” is the only one, I think…which reminds me, I should probably watch “Rookie Blue.”) But if you want even more, then you’re in luck. Because “Nikki & Nora” is finally here. Who dat, you ask? Once a failed TV pilot, now a brand-new webseries, the show is a crime show about a pair of former cops turned private detectives working in New Orleans. And those former cops turned private detectives are also a couple. So you could say it’s sorta like “Rizzoli & Isles,” except they actually make out.

The show is from Nancylee Myatt (creator of “South of Nowhere” and fellow webseries “Cowgirl Up) and features former “CSI” actress Liz Vassey as Nikki and former “Better Than Chocolate” actress Christina Cox as Nora. And, after a successful crowd-funding campaign, the series is now live.

The first episode premiered yesterday and you can watch it with a premium membership to Tello Films ($3.99 for a month of unlimited streaming). There will be new episodes each Sunday for the next seven weeks (so, that’s eight episodes in all). You can watch and find out more at the Nikki & Nora site.

The premiere episode is only 11 minutes – which is tantalizingly short. It sets up Nikki and Nora’s work and makes the most of its New Orleans backdrop. But mostly it leaves you wanting more. Like, seriously, is it Sunday yet?

I haven’t been a big webseries watcher, admittedly. It’s not necessarily that I don’t think they’re good. It’s more like I have so much to watch already. Also, OK, some of them aren’t that good. Fine, some of them suck. But from what I’ve seen so far, “Nikki & Nora” certainly isn’t one of them. High hopes, ladies – high hopes. As a sucker for both lesbians and crime shows, I’m ready.

When Nikki met Nora

Want to watch a series with two hot female leads who solve crimes and make out? No, really, do you want to watch them make out? And not just in your head? Subtext is all fun and good, but we always need the real deal. So imagine my pleasure when I heard that the folks behind the unaired pilot of “Nikki & Nora” were back. Almost a decade after giving it a go for network TV, the series lives again in the form of a crowd-funded webseries.

For those of you unfamiliar with the 2004 pilot, “Nikki & Nora” was a crime drama about two female police partners in New Orleans who go the bad guys and each other – if you know what I mean. Nikki Beaumont was played by “CSI”-alum Liz Vassey and Nora Delany was played by “Better Than Chocolate” star Christina Cox. Did I mention they made out in the show, because they did. At the time it was billed as the first lesbian-themed drama series up for serious consideration for network TV. And, yes, get prepared to scream “Tasha!” and “Agent Derek Morgan!” shortly after pressing play.



(You can watch the unaired pilot in full here on DailyMotion.)

Now, nine years later, the pilot’s creator Nancylee Myatt (also creator of that teenage dream “South of Nowhere”) is back with “The N&N Files.” She’s co-producing with “SoN” writing alum Paige Bernhardt and Tello Film President Christin Mell. Also back are the pilot’s original stars, Liz and Christina. The project raised $65,000 on Indiegogo (way to go-go, guys) and now they’ve released their first trailer. The result is big-time easy (see what I did there, Big Easy/big-time easy – oy, the puns today) on the eyes.



Watching was, once again, a game of spot the co-star. Look, the principal from “Buffy!” Look, the lab tech from “CSI!” Look, the friend from “SoN!” And of course Liz and Christina – who are playing private investigators instead of police detectives this time out – are lovely together. Look, you know I love me some silly subtext (p.s. your gayzzoli recap of the week will post this afternoon), but nothing beats the real thing. No we just need a chocolate body painting scene between these two, for old time’s sake.

The fist first (Freudian typo alert) season of series should be available on One More Lesbian soon was just announced will release on Dec. 1.