Exes and Ohs is the brainchild of Michelle Paradise, who both stars in and writes this series based around a group of lesbian friends living in Seattle. When I first began watching Exes and Ohs, my first thought was that it was a poor man's The L Word. The first two of the total of six episodes contain acting that is so pitiful that is it almost painful to watch. Jennifer (Michelle Paradise) is the central character and the show begins with she and buddy/ex-girlfriend Sam (Marnie Alton) bumping into her current lover wrapped in the arms of their couples' therapist in a sauna. Thus begins the saga of poor Jennifer and the fact that she can't hold onto a meaningful relationship.

Soon, we are introduced to Kris (Angela Featherstone) and Chris (Megan Cavanaugh), a couple who have a fledgling pet accessories business, Krutch (Heather Matarazzo, The Princess Diaries, The L Word), a flame-haired wannabe rocker who can't stand on her own two feet, and we learn more about Sam (Alton), who appears to be a complete and total tramp who doesn't want a meaningful relationship and just runs through woman after woman. As the series progresses, we get to see the "Lesbian Rules" as told by Jennifer in a very Ally McBeal way. She looks at the camera and explains one of the "rules". Some of them seemed a bit far-fetched to me, as did some of the things that happened on the show, such as Jennifer almost engaging into a one-night stand on a cruise ship during the wedding of her former girlfriend. Isn't she still supposed to be grieving over her lost love? Now, I am not a lesbian, but I do have a number of lesbian friends, so I asked two of them to watch the show and give me their impressions. I opted not to share my opinions on the show with them because I didn't want to taint their views. Well, they hated it. They thought it was ridiculous and unrealistic and I couldn't get them to view more than 2 episodes. 40 minutes of their time! While I had to agree with them, I did need to know if the "lesbian rules" were at least somewhat realistic. Well, I got my answer and the answer was a resounding no. And keep in mind, both of these girls are huge fans of The L Word.

While Michelle Paradise, Marnie Alton and some of the other's acting improved considerably as the show progressed, Featherstone and Cavanaugh really didn't improve at all. In fact, Cavanaugh was so completely annoying to me that I cringed every time she came on screen. Another thing I found really silly was that Krutch had a terrible crush on "Emmy" since she would write and sing songs about her, yet until the very last few minutes of the last episode, I had no idea that "Emmy" was Emmy Beavers, the owner of Beaver's Café, the place the girls liked to hang out. Why? Because I can't remember a single time in the show that anyone called her by her name. She and Krutch never really seemed to flirt with one another and when she came up and kissed Krutch on the last episode, that's basically when I realized it. So maybe I missed something, but the fact that I could go six episodes means the show didn't convey things very well.

Topics included being yourself, which was explored when Krutch tried to get a corporate job and dress the part, coming out to one's family, via Sam's relationship with her father. There's the cringe-worthy (simply because it is partly focused on Chris) episode of Kris and Chris deciding to have a baby and enlisting a gay friend who is a vet to be the father.

All in all, I just didn't really find this show entertaining. If you were a fan of it when it was on the air in 2006, this DVD may interest you. But if you are looking for something to tide you over until the next season of The L Word, this isn't it. Take up Dexter or something.