Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation

***Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation*** is an American drama novel series written by Maryam Wells. It is a sequel series to *Sweet L.A. Life*, which was written by her. Similar to its predecessor, the series follows the lives of two relatives and their LGBTQ friends who live in Los Angeles, California.

A first-look screening of the series took place on December 9, 2019, hosted by House of Pride, to coincide with the US release. In January 2020, Showtime renewed the series for a second season which premiered on August 8, 2021. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.

## Synopsis

The show centers on a group of diverse LGBTQ+ characters experiencing love, heartbreak, sex, setbacks, personal growth and success in Los Angeles. *The New Generation* is set over ten years after *Sweet L.A. Life*. Several actors from the original series returned to reprise their roles alongside a new ensemble of diverse characters.

The series features lesbian screenwriter Riley Carlson, her heterosexual cousin, Chloe Lawrence, a former member of the L.A. Clippers Dance Squad living together in the Sunrise Apartments. Their neighbors consist with Ben Michaels, a bisexual transgender man and a single father to 9-year-old Briana, Hairstylist Erica Myles, her real-estate agent girlfriend, Olivia Davidson, paramedic Lacey Parker, gay couple Luke Tanner and Javi Rodriguez

The series reconnects viewers with Ben, Nathan, Ashley, and the infamous McDaniel sisters, Layla and Callie ten years after we last saw them and meet a new cast of LGBT characters. Like its predecessor, *Generation Q* features intertwined stories about the lives and loves of a group of gay, lesbian and bisexual Los Angeles residents. The characters date, get into committed relationships, consider having families, hook up, break up, question their sexuality, stay in the closet, come out or sleep around -- sometimes all of the above. The main characters endure many social issues throughout the series including same sex dating, same-sex marriage, same-sex parenthood, HIV and AIDS awareness, infidelity, promiscuity, homophobia, transphobia, not being accepted by family, and gay bashing.

## Main Characters

* Riley Carlson - A open lesbian screenwriter
* Chloe Lawrence - Riley's cousin and a dancer. She is a former dancer for the Los Angeles Clippers Dance Team. She leaves L.A. after being offered to join a dance TV series in New York.
* Erica Myles - A hairstylist and Olivia's girlfriend. She came from a tough life and worked hard to escape from poverty. She works as a stylist as Callie McDaniel's beauty salon.
* Olivia Davidson - A young real estate agent and Erica's girlfriend. She came from a privileged Christian background different from Erica's hard life. She abandoned her Christianity and severed ties with her father to be with Erica.
* Lacey Parker - A paramedic and a certified midwife. She becomes Olivia's girlfriend in the second arc after her split with Erica. She is killed in arc four finale after being the victim of a hit-and-run during a Ramsey Street crash.
* Javi Rodriguez - A Latino female-to-male transgender man and a teacher's aide at a Los Angeles elementary school.
* Luke Tanner - A young Texas who moved to L.A. to live free as a gay man. He becomes a cashier at Java the Hutt coffee shop and becomes Javi's love interest. He becomes a father of two to both daughters. One with Javi and the other with Olivia.
* Meena Kahn - A nurse at West Hollywood Medical Center. Because of her Muslim background, she conceals her sexuality from her family along with her relationship with Kiki Taylor. She leaves Los Angeles when she and her family return to India. It is revealed that Meena met a man and had gotten married.
* Kiki Taylor - A social media director for *Scarlet* magazine on the west coast, who moves into Sunrise Apartments after Lacey's death. She dates both Riley Carlson and Meena Kahn.
* Katie Lewis - A Public Relations executive who lives with her collegian sister, Stacie. It is revealed that Sam and Stacie are the nieces of Courtney Lewis, who impregnated Ashley Thomas and abandoned her to raise their son alone.
* Zoey Lewis - Sam's younger sister and a student at California University at Los Angeles. She works at Java the Hutt as a waitress to pay for college.
* Nathan Cross - The owner of Java the Hutt and a former paramedic. He becomes the father-figure of the main characters of the series. He was at odds with Olivia because she was the daughter of a strict Christian senator, but he became close with her upon learning she and her father had a fall out. He later went on a tirade with the Lewis sisters after learning they are the nieces of Courtney Lewis, the biological father of Nathan's godson, Devon. But realized that he cannot hate them for their aunt's actions. He is one of the original characters in Sweet L.A. Life.
* Ben Michaels - A computer technician and single father to daughter, Briana. The first arc of the series saw him having a fling with his daughter's teacher and lying about it to her and his friends.
* Callie McDaniel - The owner of Callie's Beauty Lounge. After her marriage to husband Ethan Griffins falls apart, Callie pulls all her energy into her salon and taking new stylist Erica Myles under her wing. She becomes the mother-figure to the main characters of the series, especially to Luke Tanner and Olivia Davidson due to estrangement from their families who couldn't accept them.
* Layla McDaniel - Callie's older sister, who is an open lesbian and a successful interior designer.
* Briana Michaels - Ben's daughter. She attends West Hollywood Elementary School, where Javi works as a teacher's aide.

## Trivia

* Nathan Cross, Ben Michaels, and Callie McDaniel are the only three main characters from the original Sweet L.A. Life series to be secondary characters of the series.
* Javi and Olivia are similar to Ben and Ashley from the Sweet L.A. Life series
	+ Like Ben, Javi is a Female-to-male transgender man who became pregnant with his daughter, Inez.
		- However, their birth stories were different. Ben gave birth in his apartment during a blackout, while Javi had a c-section when his baby was breech and its umbilical cord came out first.
	+ Like Ashley, Olivia had a shocking pregnancy storyline with a member of the LGBT community.
		- However, their pregnancy storylines were different. Ashley was impregnated by a transgender female fashion model following a fling and had her son, Devon, while Olivia fell pregnant by close gay friend, Luke Tanner from a one-night-stand.
* Michael Taber (Luke Tanner), Hunter Deno (Olivia Davidson) and Erin Cahill (Callie McDaniel) appeared on *Power Rangers*.
	+ Michael in Power Rangers Dino Charge from 2015 to 2016.
	+ Hunter Deno in Power Rangers Dino Fury from 2021 to 2022.
	+ Erin in Power Rangers Time Force in 2001.
* Arienne Mandi is the only actress to be in two spin-offs playing a lesbian character.
	+ She appeared in *The L Word: Generation Q* as Dani Nunez, a lesbian PR executive and daughter of a powerful man.
	+ She appeared in *Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation* as Erica Myles, a lesbian hairstylist in a relationship with a real estate agent, who is a former Christian.
* Lorna Fitzgerald (Lacey Parker), Tilly Keeper (Kiki Taylor), and Rukku Nahar (Meena Khan) are all English actresses and had roles on the UK soap opera *Eastenders*.
* Real-life hard-hitting issues were included to the series like Covid-19, attacks on women's reproductive rights and attacks on LBGTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, and Gun Violence.
* The love triangle between Kiki Taylor, Meena Khan, and Riley Carlson became the series' most popular love triangle storyline in its history.
* Kiki Taylor was the series most hated character due to her actions while being in love with Meena.
	+ She two-timed Meena Khan with Riley Carlson and two-timed Riley with Meena.
	+ Her two-timing actions were exposed by Meena at Luke and Javi's wedding.
	+ Meena's mother, Neeta caught Kiki making out with Riley at her house.