After The Watershed

An erotically charged Turkish TV drama has been drawing increasingly hostile fire from some very powerful people, according to reports in the New York media. Magnificent Century, a sort of Ottoman-era Sex and the City set during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, is wildly popular in Turkey and across the Middle East. Yet one person who is decidedly not a fan is Turkey’s conservative prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is so incensed at the show’s steamy depiction of the heroic sultan that he has urged legal action against the series.

In the latest cultural battle to erupt in Turkey, the New York Times reports Mr. Erdogan last weekend slammed the lavish historical drama, which chronicles the palace and harem intrigue swirling around the sultan, including the rise of Hurrem, the slave who became his powerful wife. Suleiman ruled the Ottoman empire from 1520 to 1566 at the height of its glory and is revered as a valiant warrior and wise Kanuni, or Lawgiver.

Responding to criticism from the opposition that Turkey’s intervention in the region was undermining the country’s security, Mr. Erdogan baffled some observers by apparently conflating the critique of Turkey’s robust foreign policy with the portrayal of a debauched Suleiman on the show. Suleiman, he seemed to underline, had been a brave and adventurous conqueror. Critics "ask why are we dealing with the affairs of Iraq, Syria and Gaza," Mr. Erdogan said in a speech Sunday at the opening of an airport in western Turkey, according to Reuters. "They know our fathers and ancestors through ‘Magnificent Century,’ but we don’t know such a Suleiman. He spent 30 years on horseback, not in the palace, not what you see in that series."

He said that the director of the series and owner of the channel that broadcasts it had been warned, that judicial authorities had been alerted and that a judicial decision was expected. "Those who toy with these values should be taught a lesson within the premises of law," he said, according to The Hurriyet Daily News.

Cultural critics and political rivals railed against Mr. Erdogan, accusing him of cultural authoritarianism and censorship. Muharrem Ince, deputy chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party, accused Mr. Erdogan of behaving like a sultan, saying that he was jealous of the series’ popularity and determined to be the only sultan in the country. Mr. Erdogan, whose governing party has Islamic roots, has sought to embrace and rehabilitate the Ottoman Empire, a period of grandeur when the sultans claimed the spiritual leadership of the Muslim world before the empire’s ignominious decline by World War I.

Turkey’s culture and tourism ministry responded that popular Turkish soap operas were generating tens of millions of dollars in export income for Turkey and were widely watched across the region, expanding the exposure of the country. Magnificent Century attracts a third of the prime-time audience in Turkey and draws an audience of up to 150 million from Cairo to Kosovo, analysts said.

Even the sultan’s real heirs appeared more sanguine than Mr. Erdogan. Osman Selaheddin Osmanoglu, son of the last prince in the Ottoman Palace, told The Hurriyet Daily News that while he did not appreciate the lascivious portrayal of his ancestors, he wasn’t all that bothered as it was only a fictional work. "I am following the series," he said. "But I don’t take it seriously since it is only a soap opera."

The show is no stranger to controversy. After it was first broadcast in January last year, the Supreme Board of Radio and Television said it had received more than 70,000 complaints, and said that Show TV, the channel broadcasting the series, had wrongly exposed "the privacy of a historical person" and owed the public an apology.

Mr. Erdogan at the time called the program disrespectful and "an effort to show our history in a negative light to the younger generations." Dozens of egg-throwing protesters chanted 'God is great' outside the Show TV studios. Some viewers were irate because the series showed the Sultan drinking alcohol — banned in Islam — and womanizing with concubines in the harem. They also complained that the scriptwriters were engaging in dangerous and disrespectful historical revisionism.

Melis Behil, a film studies professor at Kadir Has University, said in an interview that the show, which has helped spur a cultural revival of the Ottoman Empire across the country, had been inspired by the success of historical dramas like ones about the Tudors and thus focused on the manners and personal lives of the characters as opposed to the traditional battlefield scenes of many Turkish epics. "The religious right are complaining that Suleiman was a great leader and all you are showing is his sex life and private parts," she said.
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The BBC have been plunged into new controversy after irate naturists accused the channel of "falsifying history" by putting clothes on the actors appearing in Andrew Marr's History of The World. British Naturism said that the people of Africa, Ancient Egypt, Australia and other areas of the world would have been naked during many of the periods of history depicted in the reconstructions. In what is claimed to be BBC censorship, they are shown wearing costumes of animal skin and cloth often dreamt up by the corporation, says the organisation.

According to today's Telegraph, the group is now complaining to parliament after the BBC admitted it had been 'obliged' to compromise accuracy to take into account 'sensitivities' of audiences. It described the move as another example of the "once proud bastion of journalistic integrity, sacrificing its reputation for commercial reasons".

Malcolm Boura, BN's Research and Liaison Officer, said the 'world audience' referred to is overseas broadcasters paying the BBC to use programmes. "We do not pay the BBC licence fee for the systematic falsification of history in the pursuit of profit," he stated. "We do not pay the licence fee to be fed falsehoods intended to appease a misguided minority. The BBC is encouraging attitudes known to result in widespread and often serious harm, mainly to children and young people. The objective evidence on that is crystal clear. It is inexcusable."

British Naturism (BN), with 10,500 members, is the UK's officially recognised naturist organisation. The group said that in the Exodus from Africa, Ancient Egypt, the Minoans, the Caribs, the Australian aborigines, and members of a contemporary South American tribe, the costumes were the product of the BBC censors, not history. Mr Boura said: "This series is not an isolated case, BBC programmes and the website often self censor to the point of dishonesty. Most of the censorship is hidden so without specialist knowledge few people realise what is being done. Whatever happened to the BBC's high ideals of education, journalistic integrity, and honesty? The BBC considers this conduct acceptable so we have written to the Culture Media and Sport Committee and we are pursuing this lack of honesty through to the BBC Trust as rapidly as possible."

In a response to the compliant, Paul Kettle from BBC Audience Services, said he was sorry about the 'compromises in accuracy' that the corporation felt 'obliged' to make in the production of dramatic reconstructions. "You are of course correct in pointing out that, in reality, natives in various scenes in the early part of the series would have been naked," he said. "But in making a series like this we have to take into account the sensitivities of the widest possible world audience."

A spokesman insisted it was no excuse. "The BBC has admitted to the systematic falsification of history for profit and for fear of upsetting anyone,” a statement read. "There are at least six falsifications in the few episodes of Andrew Marr's History of the World that we have reviewed. The facts are actually very clear, as the BBC concedes. The costumes in many of the re-enactments are either dubious or quite undeniably false."
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With its usual mix of prurient interest and compunctious self-loathing this morning's Daily Mail managed to garner an entire article from the fact that Lindsay Lohan 'keeps her clothes firmly on' as she plays a family friendly Elizabeth Taylor in Lifetime's recently screened TV movie Liz & Dick. "Viewers hoping to see Lindsay Lohan bare some flesh during steamy on-screen sex scenes in Liz & Dick had just a naked back to contend with," reports Julie Moult. "The troubled actress, who last year posed for Playboy, was coy in front of the cameras during her comeback role portraying Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor during her two decade love affair with Richard Burton. Despite spending plenty of airtime in the throws ['throes'] of passion, Lohan, 26, remained firmly beneath the sheets, presumably to keep TV broadcast regulators happy with the prime time slot. But the audience were treated to a shot of Lindsay's bare back as she lay on a bed after one love scene."

In a seemingly endless display of salacious screenshots, the newspaper provides a reproachful commentary of the film's more intimate scenes; "Bare back naked: Lindsay Lohan's turn as Elizabeth Taylor only showed a glimpse of naked flesh" reads the first. Followed by "Caught skinny dipping: Grant Bowler, as Richard Burton and Lohan appeared in a non-revealing naked pool scene" and then "Lovers entwined: The drama showed the couple in several love scenes, but none x rated; before going on to describe how "the couple were shown enjoying a steamy bath together during the two hour drama."

The TV movie, which has met with near universal critical opprobrium, spans their two decade famously on-off affair, beginning on the last day of Richard Burton's life as he lay dying of a brain haemorrhage on August 5th 1984 aged just 58. The couple narrate their story from a darkened film set as the great actor's mind drifts back to the first time he spotted Taylor one summer at a Hollywood pool party. He admits to being instantly smitten.

The pair next meet in Rome on the set of Cleopatra while Taylor was married to Eddie Fisher and Burton to his first wife Sybil Williams, the mother of his two sons. But, notes Moult, "things do not start well and the co-stars are at each other's throats - Taylor mocks his classical training while Burton calls her rude and dumpy. Burton's love of the booze is seen early on as he turns up on set with a terrible hangover and fumbling his lines which leads to the first of many furious spats.

'A love scene? With him?” shouts Taylor to an assistant. 'A love scene? With her?” Burton played by Grant Bowler says to his assistant. The duo sit on a bed moments before filming is due to start and Burton struggles to get into character asking for a moment before cameras start running. He turns to Taylor who appears disinterested and begs her to help him get into the role. 'Now I have to act that I am in love with you and that you are in love with me and that is not easy. Help me. Please.' With that, the pair begin to kiss to the embarrassment of the crew and a director who interrupts asking Burton to finish reading his lines first.

Already whispers are circulating on set about ladies' man Burton and his fiery co-star. From that moment of their first kiss, they do little to hide their desire for one another. Paparazzi catch them out together on the town in Rome which causes headaches for studio bosses trying to avert the scandal of an affair. As both their marriages dissolve, Burton forces Taylor to chose between her lover and her husband in a room full of people including Eddie. He demands to know: 'Who do you love Eddie or me?' Taylor answers 'You. I love you.' She runs outside in tears and chased by her mother who says: 'If I'm not mistaken you have just ended your fourth marriage. 'That might be a record for a 29 year-old.' Taylor responds: 'What am I to do? I love the man.'

But a blissful summer together ends abruptly when Burton's scorned wife attempts suicide and he rushes to her side. Devastated, Taylor knocks back pills with a bottle of vodka when he tells her their relationship must end for the sake of his two young sons. However, back on set for the final scene of Cleopatra he tells his former mistress: "My heart is broken and you have the smashed pieces.' Taylor travels to Switzerland to get over her heartbreak but Burton tracks her down and sends the first of a lifetime of letters.

It isn't long before they fall for each other again and conspire another film collaboration in The V.I.P.s, ousting Sophia Loren as the female lead. Once more the Welshman is torn between his wife and his lover leading to furious on-set and off-set rows with both drinking heavily. 'It's 8am and they are already drinking,' remarks a member of the production crew. Snubbed by London society because of their adultery, chased by paparazzi and criticised in the press, they head to New York. But the animosity follows them there and under pressure - and after a divorce from Fisher and Williams - they marry for the first time. Burton has stage success on Broadway but an Oscar evades him. Nominated seven times throughout his glittering career, he fails to win an Academy Award which causes friction when Taylor receives her second.

They win their next joint film roles when they are introduced to a movie executive producing Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. To prove they can fight on demand they ad-lib a row. Taylor says: 'Why would anyone hire a vomiting vat of vodka like you?' Burton replies: 'At least when I vomit, I make mellifluous sounds unlike your little mouse-crap squeaks.'

After the success of the film, they head on vacation to Mexico where their business manager flies in to tell them they are broke thanks to their lavish lifestyle. In a bid to save money and escape the press they move onto a yacht in the Mediterranean. Despite their financial woes, Burton continues to shower his wife with the expensive jewelery she loves and even buys her a $1 million private jet. Meanwhile, the boozing continues.'I've ordered breakfast,' Taylor announces before two bloody marys are brought out to the deck.

As she reaches her fortieth birthday the actress begins to fear her career is on the skids and tragedy strikes when Richard loses his beloved brother Ifor. Six months later on the set of Blue Beard, Burton's drinking gets out of control and marks the beginning of the end of their marriage. They divorce in haste after 10 years in 1974. But less than a year later he proposes for a second time at her hospital bed after she suffers a cancer scare. The union was over in months and both go on to marry others - never forgetting their incredible bond. Burton continued to write to Taylor till the end. Years later on news of Burton's death, Elizabeth collapses in shock. She kept his love letters until the day she died. 'I know he really loved me,' she says.
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Masters of Sex (premiering in 2013) is an amazingly attention-getting title for a new TV show, right? According to one of the stars, the Showtime series lives up to it. Speaking to HuffPost TV, Emmy and Golden Globe winner Beau Bridges, who plays mentor to Michael Sheen's William Masters and Lizzy Caplan's Virginia Johnson, the two real-life pioneers of human sexuality studies in the 1950s, described the following hilariously graphic scene:

"It's about Masters and Johnson, the man and woman who instigated all these incredible sexual experiments back in the '50s," Bridges said. "I am the dean of the university where these experiments are happening. I'm sort of mentoring Masters - he's my hope for the future - so I'm a little freaked when he tells me what he's going to do."

So what are they going to do exactly?

"The first thing I have to do is peer at a woman's vagina through a dildo while she masturbates ... and it's outfitted with a magnifying glass. The poor woman who had to have her legs up in stirrups, I couldn't see her face because they had up a cloth ... and then my wife and I are out to dinner in New York, where we filmed, and this lady comes up and was very nice and friendly, 'Oh it's so nice to see you!' and it was this woman that I'd been staring at her crotch all day! [Laughs.] I said, 'I hardly recognize you!'"

John Madden, the British director behind Shakespeare in Love and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, shot that scene and the rest of the pilot episode in and around New York City. "You couldn't do this on regular TV," he says. "It is somewhere between House and Mad Men. It has the period feel, but mainly the pair have such an extraordinary journey and it's their exciting relationship that is the heart of the story." He says of his cast: "Michael is amazing and Lizzy is in a very different role than what she has played before. Caitlin Fitzgerald is Masters' wife. And Beau Bridges plays the chancellor of the university where they started doing their work." So what Mad Men is to advertising, Masters of Sex is to, well, sex? "It absolutely is," Madden assures.

If that description makes it sounds a bit like Kinsey, then Michael Sheen is keen to point out "he was sort of around a few years previous to Masters and Johnson, and his work was really based on questionnaires, so the big difference was that the work the Masters did was with actual people, you know," he says. "It wasn't just asking questions and compiling information. This was about actually looking at the effects on the body of sex, which obviously involves having bodies to research on, and since it's on Showtime, you get total freedom really in terms of exploring it. It should be fascinating." Does that freedom extend to to some candid nudity from Sheen himself? Co-star Lizzy Caplan has recently been agitating for exactly that in the name of equal representation. "Well, I think some things are best enjoyed in small doses!" laughs Sheen.
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It's safe to say love scenes are not most actors' favourite part of the job. Getting naked with a relative stranger can be nerve-wracking enough so having a whole TV crew watching must make it extra hard. But Andrew Scott, best known to fans of Sherlock as consulting criminal Jim Moriarty, has a secret weapon for ensuring a solid performance – chocolate. In his latest TV project, ITV1 series The Town (airing early next month), Scott plays a young man returning to his home town after a decade away. There he rekindles a romance with his first love, played by Charlotte Riley – and the actor admitted things get a little steamy between the pair.

Speaking in the Radio Times, Scott admitted: "There is an element of roooomance – yes, there is. I do get my kit off. I do." What, everything? "Well, no, I don’t think the audience need to see that! I don’t think they’d want to see that. But there’s definitely a bit of that." Scott revealed that he and Riley gave themselves a reward for completing the scene in question: "I had a Double-Decker Duo and a packet of giant buttons after it. Charlotte had a packet of Monster Munch."

Picking up the thread, Riley explains we're first introduced to her character when Mark is trying to just kind of drink his way through something that has happened. happened. "He’s gone to the pub and then suddenly you just see her in the background and it’s kind of strange for him because you assume that he hasn’t been back to this town for years; he’s assumed she moved away, but his childhood sweetheart is just suddenly still there and still very much present and part of the town and his memories," she tells TV Choice. "So you just see a tiny glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye so to speak, and then she goes off and he runs after her and she disappears into the night. And then he goes round to her house hammered because she’s the only person he still feels he might have a connection with. She’s now married and has a child, but he doesn’t know this and turns up really drunk to try and talk to her. She’s not really in a place to be taking on his personal problems, but there’s still a spark between them. Of course there is, or there wouldn’t be a drama!"

So, when you watch that particular scene in question and see the passion in the two actors' eyes, just remember it's not each other they're lusting after – its chocolate and crisps.
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With her sense of humour and friendly smile, Sandra Bullock is normally described as America's Sweetheart. But, reports the Daily Mail, the actress dropped her 'sweet as pie persona' - and her clothes - as she turned nasty in a skit for the new series of late night talk show Chelsea Lately. In a comedy sequence at the beginning of Monday's show, the 'apparently naked' 48-year-old interrupted Chelsea Handler in the staff bathroom and proceeded to chide the TV host over her show.

The 37 year old Handler- also in the pixelated buff- was standing in the shower when she found herself face-to-face with the irate Blind Side actress. Oscar winner Bullock chided her: "You have a responsibility to be a respectable talk show host. This comes directly from Oprah's mouth to my ear, to my mouth, out of my mouth, into your ear, down your body, out your vagina, up my vagina and out my ass. The overall theme of this message is that you are a huge disappointment. Just because you're the only person on late-night television who has tiny little lady bits does not give you a free pass. You have a responsibility to be a role model to young girls... and you need to lay off the booze."

Bullock went on to slap Handler in the face, before adding: "Stop sleeping with your guests. That is why I've not done your show; I do not wanna sleep with you." Referring to her short romance with rapper 50 Cent last year, the host replied: "I don't sleep with that many any more - just some of the rappers." The actress then slapped Handler again, prompting the TV host to start urinating in the shower. Bullock continued: "You're urinating... We don't make pee pee in showers anymore. We make pee pee in the potty." Looking Chelsea's naked body up and down, Bullcok finished by saying: "All of this is disgusting. This is fucking sick. Bye," before storming out of the shower.

Later in the episode, Handler revealed she had opted to go fully naked while filming the sequence, while Bullock wore a nude thong and nipple pasties.
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As regular readers of this blog will be aware the Parents Television Council has recently released their annual report about the state of American television, and (spoiler alert) things are terrible. Que escandalo! In tribute to their glorious anti-nipple jihad, Nerve's Alex Heigl has taken a look back at some of the pioneers who made it possible for such debauchery to invade US prime-time...

1964: Gilligan's Island is cool with cleavage, less so with navels

The real battle on Gilligan's Island was fought in the hearts and loins of viewers and concerned Ginger and Mary Ann. But an equally vicious war waged behind the scenes over the amount of skin the pair could show. In the 1960s, the belly button was one of the prime battlegrounds of decency, and so despite Ginger's cleavage-baring outfits, she and Mary Ann were barred from showing their navels. Promo shots exist with navels bared, but on-air, there were a lot of high-waisted shorts and one-piece bathing suits on that extended three-hour tour.

1965: I Dream of Jeannie plugs Barbara Eden's belly button

The story of a meek, submissive genie and her dominant master, I Dream of Jeannie remains a perfect piece of candy-colored '60s camp. Of course, despite all the skin exposed by Barbara Eden's outfit, the show was still subject to the puritanical whims of the Powers That Be. For starters, the only reason censors were cool with the show intimating that the main characters lived together was because it was established that Jeannie slept in her bottle. (Like a good woman.) The pesky navel thing popped up again, too, but the show's creators took a more direct route than a high waistline: they filled Eden's navel with a flesh-colored cloth plug.

1966-67: Star Trek and the "Theiss Titillation Theory"

William Ware Theiss was the costume designer for the original run of Star Trek, and his censor-skirting costumes like the ones from "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "Who Mourns for Adonis?" inspired something called the "Theiss Titillation Theory." It states that "the degree to which a costume is considered sexy is directly proportional to how accident-prone it appears to be," and proves that sometimes when it comes to nudity, less is more.

1973: PBS aims to make plays less boring with breasts

PBS became the first network to intentionally reveal a woman's breasts and nipples with its serialized version of Bruce Jay Friedman's play Steambath. The series positions a steambath as the afterlife; future Hulk Bill Bixby as God; and Valerie Perrine as... the above lady. Perrine was shown from the side taking a shower, and the scene was so daring at the time that only a few PBS affiliates deigned to carry the show. Steambath ultimately ended up showing a few bare male buttocks as well, but it's Perrine's scene that remains a touchstone in TV nudity.

1976: Captains and the Kings fails to account for TV-set variances, with sexy results

Occasionally technical ineptitude yields... erotic results. Beverly D'Angelo (best known as Chevy Chase's wife in Vacation) made her debut as Miss Emmy in the NBC miniseries Captains and the Kings, and one of her love scenes involved a matte cut placed carefully just above her nipples. But the crew failed to account for variances in new television sets across the country, and so the morning after the scene premiered, they received a panicked call that one half of the country had seen more of D'Angelo than the other half. Surprisingly, there were few viewer complaints, though producer Jo Swerling Jr. recalls that NBC's Broadcast Standards warned them "not to cut it that close in the future."

1976: Live from New York, it's Jane Curtin's bra

On Weekend Update, Jane Curtin played the uptight foil to Dan Akyroyd's smarmy conservative, which was why she got such a shocked laugh when she ripped her top open during a debate over whether or not she was sexy enough to fill Chevy Chase's shoes as the Weekend Update anchor, exclaiming, "Get a load of these, Connie Chung!" (Never breaking from her trademark dry delivery.)

1987: Playtex uses real women (and, by extension, real breasts) in advertisements

Prior to 1987, mannequins were the only acceptable form upon which to drape bras in advertisements. Anything other than their cold, unfeeling flesh was naturally assumed to start riots. So you can imagine just how shocking it was when, in 1987, Playtex decided to run an ad that featured real live ladies wearing their products. They were only allowed to air the promo during daytime programming, when it was assumed fewer impressionable young minds would be watching.

1993-on: NYPD Blue shows buttocks, in flagrante and otherwise

NYPD Blue broke barriers to primetime nudity in its very first episode, and continued to do so repeatedly, to the point where it became a joke. That said, the show apparently inspired L. Trent Bozell to start the Parents Television Council, so maybe having a nagging, sanctimonious watchdog group is the price we paid for so much sweet, sweet Dennis Franz ass.

2002: C.S.I. allowed to show a breast, provided it's attached to a dead person

Perfectly illustrating our national hypocrisies over sex and violence, C.S.I.'s first episode with the "partial nudity" warning, "Slaves of Las Vegas," ran in 2002. The caveat? The nudity was of a woman's exposed breast — during her autopsy. I guess they did it to avoid getting "nipple and dimed" by the FCC. Yeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!

2004: Janet Jackson's totally not-planned wardrobe malfunction

It was the breast heard 'round the world. The areola of rock n' rolla. The... time when Janet Jackson's boob popped out. At the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show, Justin Timberlake was incongruously singing, "I'm gonna have you naked by the end of this song," and then he pulled open Jackson's Matrix-esque top to reveal a lovely... metal... pasty thing, instead of the tasteful red bra she no doubt meant to expose instead. The whole thing was famously chalked up to a "wardrobe malfunction," but it ushered in a new era of FCC pissiness, as well as a still-ongoing series of lawsuits.

2011-2012: Pixelated nudity is the new frontier of offense

The PTC has been able to claim a 6300% increase in full-frontal nudity on primetime television in the past year, largely thanks to the relatively new phenomenon of pixelating full-frontal nudity. Everyone from Howie Mandel (in America's Got Talent) to Krysten Ritter (in Don't Trust the B--- in Apartment 23) has been donning a flesh-colored bodysuit to fake-nude their way to ratings gold, and the PTC is pissed, claiming (probably rightly) that such tactics only draw more attention to the censored area. Proponents claim that it's as much a visual gag as the classic black bar, and shouldn't be considered indecent. Moral poison or just a cheap grab for ratings? Either way, it's working.
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Much like real parents, writes AV Club's Sean O'Neal, the Parents Television Council continues to walk into the nation's rec rooms and shriek upon discovering that bras are off, leading to an awkward, embarrassing-for-everyone lecture that's once again been conveyed in its annual report on TV nudity. In short, everyone is going to get pregnant and have to drop out of school and miss prom, because the last year has seen a shocking 6,300-percent rise in depictions of full-frontal nudity, an increase that is tantamount to the networks replacing all commercials with lusty, lingering close-ups of nipples and scrotums, basically.

According to the results of research analysis by the PTC, there were a total of 64 cases of people going au naturel on the five major networks - CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, and the CW - in the 2011-12 season. The Daily Mail reports that figure stands in remarkable contrast to the single instance of full-frontal nudity over the same time period the year before. Perverts may argue that, in the realm of regular, society-destroying dirty boobies and dangly bits, there was only a 407-percent increase of incidents, bringing us only 407 percent closer to total moral decay, reasons O'Neal. But most troubling of all, the PTC insists— in a tone of voice that lets us know it loves us and this is for our own good— is the rise in usage of blurring or pixilation that "could be perceived to be a closer simulation of complete frontal nudity, given that the viewer is seeing all flesh tones," and which could influence impressionable young people to begin experimenting with sex and Photoshop.

The slow trend from Buck Rogers to 'buck naked' began in the '90s with shows like NYPD Blue, but has become old-hat for current titles like The Office, Two and a Half Men, The Bachelor, and Don't Trust the B ---- in Apartment 23, all cited in The PTC study. In all, the analysis recorded 76 incidents of 'full nudity' on 37 shows during the 2011-12 prime-time network lineup. During the prior season, or from 2010-11, PTC notched just 15 instances on 14 shows. The study, which tracked TV shows from September 1 to May 31, drew the distinction between full nudity and full-frontal nudity.

Indeed, in nearly all of the suspiciously specific number of "76 incidents of full nudity in 37 shows," the various sin-mounds were covered in hot, fleshy pixels, rather than the old-timey chastity belts of black bars that once prevented everyone from imagining what the human body looked like naked. As proof, notes O'Neil, the PTC has not only compiled this treasure trove of links to blurry naked people on the TV with all the non-naked stuff cut out—like a porn loop for those with a digital distortion fetish— it's also provided meticulous descriptions of many other incidents that you should now imagine being read aloud in your mother's voice, so that you'll never find anything sexy ever again.

The networks used various techniques to blur character's sex organs from the audience's view, the study showed. The numbers exclude any animated nudity or suggested full nudity in which a person is assumed to be nude on the top, but a portion of their body is blocked by a conveniently-placed table or sofa, for instance. However, the study did include scenes in which individuals are completely unclothed and only the sexual organ is blocked from the viewer.

The study focused on prime-time, broadcast television, including network specials, but excluding news and sports. Surprisingly, the study stated that almost 70 per cent of the scenes showing full nudity during the 2011–12 study period were on shows that aired before 9pm and as early as 7pm. In comparison, a half of the full nudity scenes recorded aired after 9pm the previous year.

Of the five major networks, NBC actors most often appeared in the buff, with the study recording 37 occurrences of its characters going nude during the 2011-'12 prime-time season. Second was ABC with 24 recorded instances, while CBS came in third with eight cases of full nudity. Fox and the CW brought up the rear, so to speak, with three and four instances, respectively.

And just in case you think pixilated butts and boobs are all anyone has to write alarmist press releases about, the PTC has also compiled this helpful show-by-show indecency guide, which will tell you exactly what's wrong with series like New Girl ("Sex is the show’s main problem, with many prolonged references to sex and anatomy"), Happy Endings ("Language includes 'ass,' 'slut,' 'bitch,' 'douche,' 'hell,' and 'skank'), and Community ("Foul language includes the words 'ass,' 'hell,' 'douche bag,' 'piss,' 'crap,' and 'damn'), and also tell you why none of this is "cool" like your friends say.

In an effort to stave off our "douche"-laden descent into moral turpitude, the PTC has asked that you write your congressperson and call on them to help combat the threat of blurred nudity, in between all that stuff about the economy and war. It's also instituted a new rule that everyone's hands have to be visible at all times in the TV room. And they better not be pixelated. By way of example, and in light of the findings, PTC president Tim Winter sent a letter to congressional members asking them to urge the Federal Communications Commission to move forward in clearing the backlog of 1.6 million unadjudicated indecency complaints. In their analysis, PTC also found trends towards more full-frontal nudity, full nudity at earlier hours of the evening, and a clear failure on the part of the TV networks to use their content ratings system to warn parents. The following are excerpts from PTC’s letter to congressional members:

"In 2006, Congress passed the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act in response to growing outrage from the American people over the broadcast networks’ abuse of the publicly-owned broadcast airwaves. Yet since that time, we have seen a concerted effort on the part of the networks to constantly push the outer limit of what may be considered appropriate for the broadcast medium.

"Contrary to what executives from NBC, ABC, and CBS told you in 2004 and 2005, and contrary to what attorneys for the networks recently argued before the Supreme Court, they are not acting in the public interest; they are aggressively pursuing a dangerous agenda to completely obliterate any remaining television taboos.

"During prime time hours across all broadcast networks, use of the bleeped or muted f-word increased from 11 instances in 2005 to 276 instances in 2010 – an increase of 2,409%... It’s not just the language that’s getting coarser. PTC research has found a staggering increase in the frequency and explicitness of pixelated nudity on the broadcast networks during primetime hours.

"The networks have made it abundantly clear they have no intention of respecting either the broadcast licenses they’ve been granted or the public in whose interest they are licensed to serve. Therefore the American people, whose values are being assaulted on a nightly basis, must insist that the Federal Communications Commission vigorously enforce broadcast decency laws, as mandated by the Congress and affirmed by the Supreme Court.

"We call on you to give the FCC your full support for decency enforcement; to urge the FCC to move forward with all due haste in clearing the backlog of 1.6 million unadjudicated indecency complaints; and to give the FCC the tools it needs to ensure enforcement actions are meaningful and appropriate… Because Our Children Are Watching."
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There has been a decline in concern about the amount of sex, violence, nudity and swearing on television, new Ofcom figures show. A report in today's Telegraph states that the attitudes of UK TV viewers have become more relaxed in general, yet a significant proportion of people are still concerned by what is shown, with 19% of adults, questioned in 2011, offended by something that they had watched in the past 12 months.

Ofcom's annual survey found that 25% of adults are unhappy with the amount of sex on the small-screen, down from 36% in 2005. More than a third (36%) say that there is too much violence, down from 56%, and 37% are concerned about the amount of foul language, a drop from 55% in 2005. The figures also show a fall in the level of concern since 2010, when 30% said that there was too much sex and 43% were concerned by violence and language. The Regulator's report also found that 77% of UK adults, up from 64%, believe that the 9pm TV watershed, designed to protect younger audiences, is set at the right time. Only 12% think that the watershed is too early.

Around half (55%) of the adults questioned said that the standard of TV programmes has remained consistent over the previous 12 months. The proportion saying that standards have declined is at 31%, down from 40% in 2005, but only 12% said that there has been improvement in the last 12 months. Older people are more likely to feel that standards have declined (46% among those aged 65 and over), while the youngest (16-34) were more likely to feel that they had improved (18%).

When describing why standards had got worse, most cited more repeats (71%) and lack of variety (43%). Overall, three quarters (74%) felt the current levels of TV regulation were "about right" but Ofcom said that the take-up of new technology which changed viewing habits would raise new questions.

The report also found that TV is the main source of UK and international news for 76% of adults. Newspapers are the biggest source for 8% of adults, with 7% citing the internet and 5% radio. For local news, 53% say that TV is their main source, with 15% selecting newspapers, 10% radio and 6% the internet. Over half (59%) of adults, down from 66% in 2010, feel that TV is an "impartial" news source. Radio was seen as the second most impartial at 52%, down from 57% in 2010. Around a quarter of adults (24%) say that newspapers are impartial, a similar proportion to 2010. The research found that 34% of adults agree that broadcasters should be able to show programmes that scrutinise the lives of celebrities and politicians without consent.

When it comes to stories about the general public in the media, 19% say that consent is not needed but 63% disagree. Almost half (48%) of UK adults say that newspapers are the most intrusive media into the lives of people in the public eye, followed by TV (24%) and magazines (21%). Four in 10 (41%) thought that the internet was regulated but 51% of parents said that there was too little regulation of online content.

Research was conducted for Ofcom by the research agency BDRC Continental with a sample of 1,700 adults.
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Encouraged by the obvious online anticipation of the series, given the popularity of the search term "lizzy caplan sex," Showtime was very quick to pick up the one-hour drama Masters Of Sex for 12 episodes (a number you can likely go ahead and multiply by at least four, since it will air on Showtime) to begin filming in the new year.

Based on Thomas Maier's book 'Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virgina Johnson, The Couple Who Taught America How To Love,' Lizzy Caplan will play Johnson to Michael Sheen's Masters, the '60s-era scientists whose research into human sexual behavior greatly influenced the sexual revolution that led to a more modern, liberated era where you can show people doing it on premium cable.

So what attracted Caplan to the Showtime drama series, and just how far will it actually go? "It goes far. It goes crazy far!" reveals the Los Angeles born actress in a candid interview with Collider. "The explicit sex scenes were certainly not what drew me to it. There’s this strange thing about doing nudity on camera now, with the internet and everything. I’ve only done it on one other job, which was True Blood, and yet it seems like something that I do all the time. At least, people seem to think that. It was more that I was drawn to the character of Virginia Johnson, who I find to be the most fascinating woman. And a huge part of her personality and who she was, was a woman who was completely comfortable with her own sexuality, at a time where that was almost unheard of, in the Midwest during the 1950′s. It’s crazy that she even took lovers that she didn’t want to marry, eventually. That was her whole thing."

The process of getting the part was lengthy and complicated for Caplan. "John Madden directed it and he's this very fancy, amazing guy who did Shakespeare in Love," she told The Insider. "He really saw me in this part way before I actually saw myself in the role. Typically you're typecast in your comfort zone but this is so far outside that for me. This is a true period piece drama, but when I read the book this show is based on, the character and I are so alike, so I could really see myself in her. Plus, she's such a pioneer and a total badass. If I can raise awareness for what she did at this strange time in America, then sign me up!"

Which raises the obvious question of exactly what did Virginia Johnson do? "A lot of people are familiar with Kinsey – they did questionnaires asking people about their sexual preferences, which was ground-breaking at the time," she answers. "Masters & Johnson were research scientists – well, he was and she pretended to be. They would wire people to electrodes and heart-monitors to watch them masturbate and have sex [in hopes of figuring] out the science of an orgasm. People were adhering to Freudian ideas, which were so masculine and female sexuality was so far in the background. Masters & Johnson, combined with the sexual revolution, gave women power over their own bodies."

Pondering if it easier to perform sex scenes or watch other actors perform sex scenes, Caplan admits: "I get a weird kick of out shooting sex scenes because they're just so awkward. They're so uncomfortable that the situation makes me laugh. There's something sort of fun about it since you're usually doing it with a good looking co-stars, so, whatever, it's part of the job. I'll take it. So I thought watching other people pretend to have sex would be so easy, but I was so uncomfortable. It was so weird to watch other people because it makes you self-conscious and think about what you look like when you're shooting a sex scene. But I better get used to it because [Masters & Johnson] watched a lot of people do it. I mean, they observed over 10,000 orgasms."

Caplan says she knew going for the role that being comfortable with explicit material would be necessary because it’s just at the core of who this woman was. "It’s why she was so helpful to [Dr. William] Masters," she explains. "Why their studies were so successful was because she understood sexuality, more than he did. He understood science, and she understood the human element of it. And she’s such a complicated woman. It’s, by far, the most challenging part I’ll ever play. It has been the most challenging, up until this point. And the story is just amazing and riveting."

People will probably be tempted to say, 'Oh, they took it really far. It’s a cable show. Of course, they’re turning it into this overly sexualized thing,' thinks Caplan. "But, it’s based on a biography of the two of them and all of the stuff really happened. We’re not amping it up. It really was that strange, and they were doing it for this greater purpose. They really believed in the science of the project. I really believe in this project, so it’s like, 'All right, if I have to be on the internet naked for a few more years, then whatever.'"

In considering how she would crack the code as to who Virginia Johnson was, Caplan says she read the book extensively and picked up on little things peppered throughout that were pretty strange coincidences. "Just little tiny things that wouldn't be mind-blowing but that I started to feel sort of connected to her," she explains. "And there was something so brave to me about this woman who was so comfortable with her sexuality at a time where women weren't. They had no ownership over their own sexuality. And she was this twice-divorced woman with two kids and a nightclub singer and she sort of hustles her way into this hospital and becomes this doctor's assistant all by virtue of her own moxie and personality. And she becomes half of what is the most important sex researcher team that I think has ever been."

As one of half of the team that will ultimately carry the show, Caplan says Michael Sheen is an actor she respects so much. "I refer to him as a real actor because he's like played Hamlet and is one of those trained actors," she laughs. "And it felt like the dynamic was already in place because I felt like this scrappy little comedy actress coming in and playing with this big gun. And that was how it was for the two of these people, so before we even started rolling it was like, 'Okay, whoever's casting this show is smart because they're setting up this like power situation like from the get-go.' And Michael and I have since become good buddies and we're gonna have a blast shooting the show. He’s so awesome and so game for everything that we’re going to have to do. We’re going to be really getting into some stuff, so luckily we get along with each other. It would be a nightmare, otherwise."

All of which explains why Masters of Sex clearly had to be on a channel like Showtime. "Yea. It's interesting still how male full frontal nudity is still taboo most of the time," she says. "I'm going to really push for Michael to show his parts on this show. As an actor, you just really admire the bravery of other actors to do that because it's weird not only for them to have to perform in front of a small crew, but to do it in front of other actors watching them. It's ridiculous."

And the craziest sex fact that she has learned as a part of this gig? "The craziest sex fact that I learned was that before Masters and Johnson kind of blew the lid off this, everybody considered the male orgasm to be the only important orgasm, the only one that mattered," she answers with incredulity. "It's all Freudian shit, like the virginal orgasm was the only one that counted and a clitoral orgasm was bullshit. And like people really lived their lives like that. That's crazy. I'm gonna have to say the word 'clitoral' so many times in the next year!"
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A first look at Cinemax's upcoming action series Transporter, starring Prison Break star Chris Vance, has finally come online, several months later than had originally been intended. Based on the successful film franchise of the same name created by EuropaCorp's Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, this fast-paced series follows the adventures of professional transporter Frank Martin, an ex-Special Forces operator who can always be counted on to get the job done - discreetly. Operating in a seedy underworld of dangerous criminals and desperate players, his three rules are: Never change the deal, no names, and never open the package. Occasionally, complications arise and rules get broken.

The TV version has been written by Alexander Ruemelin, Joseph Mallozzi ,Paul Mullie, Carl Binder, and Steve Bailie, with Lost director Stephen Williams helming the pilot. Other episodes in the series feature Bruce McDonald (Degrassi: The Next Generation, Queer as Folk) and Andy Mikita (Stargate Universe, Sanctuary). Transporter also sees François Berléand returning as Inspector Tarconi, Andrea Osvart as Carla – a former CIA agent, handler and love interest for Martin – Delphine Chanéac in the recurring role of Juliette, a reporter who seems to know a lot about Frank's work, and Rachel Skarsten as Delia, the daughter of someone from Frank's past.

British actor Vance says it was a 'schoolboy's dream' to reprise the role that made lead Jason Statham a star. "You get to drive the fast cars, get in all the fights, get all the beautiful women," he told The Hollywood Reporter on his character in the 12-part TV series. Yet if playing Frank Martin seemed a boyhood dream come true, the actual Transporter production became more of a nightmare, with extensive delays, production and budget battles and a severe on-set injury that put Vance in the hospital last October and put the Transporter shoot on hold for months. Things were further complicated by Transporter's unique set-up. Made outside the network series system, the big-budget show was made as a co-production between Atlantique Productions in France and Canadian operation QVF with four national broadcasters on board: HBO Cinemax in the U.S., Canadian pay-TV operators TMN and Movie Central, RTL Television in Germany and France's M6.

"We had a decent budget so the actual shoot wasn't much different than a network shoot," Vance explained, "the big difference with this kind of international co-production is you have a lot more people involved in the decision making. You have the broadcasters in the different countries – all from different cultural backgrounds, with different markets and different needs - and they all have their own opinions. It took a long time to get everyone agreed on what we were shooting here. I mean the Transporter is really in the sweet spot of the action genre. You can't mess with it."

The high profile adaptation is supposed to be a game-changer as one of global TV's most ambitious projects. Following The Tudors, The Borgias, Combat Hospital and The Pillars of the Earth, Transporter is the latest in the new wave of high-end drama series financed and produced outside of the U.S. that aims to attract audiences both in Europe and North America. Even among this company, Transporter- with a reputed budget of $3.3 million an episode- is arguably the most ambitious. If it works, it could pave the way for a slew of internationally made English-language series, many of which are already in the pipeline.

Airing on Cinemax in the U.S., the success of Transporter is also key because unlike a miniseries like Pillars of the Earth, the show is a one-hour drama - the meat of any channel's schedule. In the U.S., cable outlets such as AMC and FX and pay-TV networks like Showtime, Starz and Cinemax are increasingly using original series to brand their networks. But drama is expensive, and often even successful U.S. shows - think Breaking Bad, Mad Men or Justified - have struggled to get on primetime in the big European markets.

Transporter's international model, in theory, solves those problems; even though the show is breaking a lot of rules, and there have been some considerable setbacks. In addition to the logistical headaches of making a European production in English, turning Toronto into Paris or Berlin and staying true to Besson's original vision while satisfying the show's multiple international producers, the departure of two showrunners early in the process cast a cloud of uncertainty around the future of the Transporter experiment. Weeks into the shoot, Joseph Mallozzi and Paul Mullie abruptly left the production, citing "creative differences." British director Steve Shill (Dexter, Desperate Housewives) and veteran supervising producer Karen Wookey (Andromeda) came on board. The move effectively represented a retooling for a series with lots of working parts - multiple units, second units, fight units – and production on both sides of the Atlantic. Fred Fuchs, a Toronto-based executive producer on Transporter, said the series simply had to raise its production game to achieve the cutting-edge action/adventure scenes intended. "This is a hard show, and we brought in new people, not because of a problem, but because this is the nature of filmmaking. It’s not an exact science," he said.

"We'd just finished shooting the fourth episode [out of 12] and prepping the next two when we parted ways with the production," Mallozzi told The Hollywood Reporter without giving any details. "There was no drama, no big clash, no hard feelings, and no scandal," insists Klaus Zimmermann, whose French firm Atlantique is producing Transporter with QVF in Canada. Yet there certainly had been upheaval on the set, with the director of photography and the costume designer subsequently replaced, along with much of the electrical and transportation units.

The change in on-set leadership was key since Transporter was not using the traditional showrunner model of production. Under that model, a single showrunner - like David Chase on The Sopranos - acts as the creative driver. But on Transporter, the real star is the brand itself - a franchise whose three features have made a collective $238 million worldwide and continue to see top ratings when they air on TV across the globe. So the show's producers took what could be called the Marvel Studios approach. Instead of a showrunner's individual vision, everyone on Transporter was meant to be working to deliver a TV version of the film brand.

"In America, the rule is, 'One show, one showrunner.' But that wasn't the case for Transporter - it was a collective effort," says Zimmermann. "When you're working with a franchise, you have to protect the integrity of the brand. Showrunners may come and go, but the brand stays." Fuchs, the show's Toronto-based executive producer, adds that the show's unique sensibility only adds to the difficulty of translating it to the small screen. "The action is not typical action, there's a Luc Besson story style that we're trying to keep in the series," Fuchs says. Indeed, the Transporter/Besson brand is what the producers sold to the series' host networks, each of which put up about 25 percent to 30 percent of the show's budget. Crucially, Besson got behind the project personally, giving its producers full creative freedom for their small-screen adaptation. "I don't know how to make TV shows - I let the people who know how to do it take it on and hope they're doing their job," he insists.

There were several other logistical challenges connected to the production - not least of which was the balancing act of trying to satisfy four broadcast co-producers across two continents. Sources indicated the four partners - RTL in Germany, France's M6, HBO/Cinemax in the U.S. and HBO Canada - received a private screening in Toronto in late September last year that got mixed reviews, underlining the need for creative improvements. At the time a spokesperson for M6 denied this, adding that the network was planning for media visits to the shoot to quell any rumours of on-set turmoil. Takis Candilis, CEO of Atlantique parent company Lagardere, also denied that there were any problems with the Toronto screening, adding that "everyone is happy" with how the show is turning out.

By mid October production had been halted due to an on-set injury sustained by star Chris Vance. Injured while filming an action sequence on the Toronto set, producers of the series decided to suspend filming to provide ample time to recover. "We wanted to ensure Chris’ return to peak physical condition before putting him back in front of the camera to continue shooting this fast-paced, action-packed series," said showrunner Steve Shill in a statement. With Vance's recovery taking considerably longer than anticipated, the camera would not roll again until earlier this year.

Whatever Transporter's on-set headaches, the international financing model is already catching on. The first season of Canadian/U.K. production Combat Hospital aired on ABC and Global in Canada this year. Atlantique is in talks with Fox about a possible franchise project set in ancient Egypt. Starz and BBC Worldwide, which teamed up for the new season of BBC's aliens-among-us series Torchwood, have entered into a multiyear partnership to develop, produce and distribute original drama series. Germany's Tandem Communications - producers of Pillars of the Earth - have four long-running series projects in development, including the sci-fi crime drama The Sector, which they are developing with Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free shingle. Like Pillars, The Sector will be made using the traditional showrunner model, and Simon Mirren (Criminal Minds) has been tapped to fill that role. Tandem co-head Rola Bauer says that in the end, how a show gets made is less important than what, in the end, it delivers.

"Showrunner or not, the production model isn't as important as getting the voice right," Bauer says. "Transporter is obviously a great brand, and it's very important that they respect that brand. As long as they respect it and deliver the quality that fans of the film franchise expect, everyone will be happy. I hope all the international models work," she adds, "because it will open doors for all of us. Broadcasters in the U.S. know they can't keep putting all the money up for their own series."

Now back home in Vancouver, Mallozzi is optimistic - and diplomatic - about Transporter's future: "There are a lot of talented people working on the show. I'm confident that it will be great and do well." Viewers in North America will be able to judge whether Transporter's producer collective got it right early next year, when the series debuts on HBO Cinemax and HBO in Canada. European audiences have the first say, however. The series pilot premiered on Germany's RTL, drawing an impressive 4.01 million total viewers for a 17 per cent share of the 14-49 demographic. Those aren't blowout figures for RTL - Germany's leading commercial network - but should prove sufficient if the show can hold – or better build on - its initial audience. France's M6 bows the show in primetime next month.

Because of Transporter's complex financing structure, the series has to work in all four of its backing countries to guarantee a second season. The eyes of the international industry are on Transporter, the most ambitious of a slew of new English-language drama series partially or entirely financed outside the U.S.. These series – such as Atlantique's Parisian cop procedural Jo starring Jean Reno and Jill Hennessy; Tom Fontana's British-Canadian-U.S. period drama Copper or Crossing Lines, a European-style Criminal Minds from Germany's Tandem Communications, France's TF1 and Sony Pictures Television International – have long been the buzz of the international TV market.

"If it works, if the channels can make money with these series, I think you will see this model being used more and more," Vance said. "It’s becoming harder to finance television because, frankly, the audience expects more – so to get the budget you need, you have to find ways to spread the risk. It just makes sense to do shows this way. As long as you can make them work for the audience."

Initially, at least, Transporter seems to have worked for the German audience. The coming months will tell whether the ambitious action series works as well worldwide.
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Broadcast television networks won an important constitutional fight Thursday when the Supreme Court said government regulators imposed unfair punishment for isolated profanity and sexual content during evening "prime time" hours. In an 8-0 vote, justices concluded the Federal Communications Commission cannot enforce its current policies against "fleeting" expletives and nudity on over-the-air programs, both live and scripted. The agency had levied hefty fines on all four major broadcasters beginning nearly a decade ago.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled the FCC had not given fair notice of its policy change in three high-profile incidents. The unanimous high court ruling, written by Justice Anthony Kennedy, declared that the FCC's standards were vague as applied to the broadcasts at issue in the case. It did not decide the larger question of whether the indecency policy violated constitutional free-speech rights.

Under the policy which dated to 2001 and was amended in 2004, broadcasters can be fined for airing a single profanity blurted out on a live show or for brief nudity. Government lawyers said it covered the "F-word" and the "S-word" that denote "sexual or excretory activities," respectively. The justices threw out a U.S. appeals court ruling that struck down the policy on speech grounds and the justices said several options are before the commission, including reviewing the current policy and modifying it.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said the agency is reviewing the Supreme Court decision, which he said appeared narrowly limited to procedural issues over actions taken years ago. "Consistent with vital First Amendment principles, the FCC will carry out Congress's directive to protect young TV viewers," Genachowski said in a statement.

Republican Commissioner Robert McDowell said the agency should quickly implement the Court's decision and move on to address a backlog of nearly 1.5 million pending indecency complaints, dating as far back as 2003 and involving some 9,700 TV broadcasts. "We owe it to the American public and the broadcast licensees involved to carry out our statutory duties with all deliberate speed," he said.

The case involved 2002 and 2003 awards shows on News Corp's Fox television network when singer Cher blurted out an expletive and actress Nicole Richie used two expletives. The FCC said the network violated its indecency rules. The case also involved a seven-second shot of a woman's nude buttocks on a 2003 "NYPD Blue" episode on Walt Disney Co's ABC network that led to $1.21 million in fines. The FCC already had launched its indecency crackdown when pop star Janet Jackson briefly exposed her breast during a 2004 broadcast of a halftime show for the Super Bowl football game, drawing half a million complaints.

Kennedy in the ruling based the decision on the constitutional due process requirement, saying that broadcasters had to be given fair notice of the policy and the restrictions. "A fundamental principle in our legal system is that laws which regulate persons or entities must give fair notice of conduct that is forbidden or required," he wrote in the 18-page opinion. He said there was no need to address the constitutional free-speech issue under the First Amendment.

The FCC can impose fines of $325,000 on each station that airs indecent material, including images and words, between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. Critics including the broadcast industry said the policy had been applied inconsistently, with the FCC allowing the television broadcast of profanity in the World War Two movie "Saving Private Ryan" and of nudity in the movie "Schindler's List." "NAB has long believed that responsible industry self-regulation is preferable to government regulation in areas of programming content," said Dennis Wharton, executive vice president of communications at the National Association of Broadcasters.

The FCC policy applies only to broadcast television and radio. Neither cable nor satellite channels are subject to FCC content regulation. Wharton said viewers can continue to expect broadcast programming to be less explicit than pay-TV offerings despite the ruling in their favor. The Supreme Court ruled in 2009 on narrower grounds that the FCC's indecency policy was a rational and legally permissible use of the FCC's administrative powers, but did not reach the free-speech issue at that time.

In the cases decided Thursday, the networks also had asked the high court to overturn its 1978 ruling that upheld the FCC's power to regulate indecency in a case about comedian George Carlin's "Filthy Words" monologue on radio, arguing the media landscape had changed dramatically.

In the main opinion by Kennedy, the court did not address that ruling. But Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with Justice Clarence Thomas concurring, issued a one-paragraph opinion saying the 1978 decision was wrong when it was issued. "Time, technological advances and the commission's untenable rulings in the cases now before the court show why" the 1978 ruling should be reconsidered, Ginsburg wrote. Justice Sonia Sotomayor did not take part in the latest ruling. She considered the dispute previously as a U.S. appeals court judge in New York.

The Supreme Court case is FCC v. Fox Television Stations and FCC v. ABC Inc, No. 10-1293.

For the FCC: Donald Verrilli Jr., Solicitor General of the United States.

For Fox: Carter Phillips of Sidley Austin.
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Hit & Miss bares some interesting questions about nudity on television, argues The Guardian's Mark Lawson. Nudity on screen can often seem unnecessary or gratuitous – but Sky Atlantic's new drama suggests this isn't always the case. A drama producer who has worked in both television and radio once said that the great benefit of working on the wireless was that there was never any hassle from actors or audiences over nude scenes. Apart from strong language, nakedness is the most frequent complaint in TV feedback forums and, in both cases, the objection is that these elements are unnecessary or gratuitous. The difference is that whereas opinions on language are largely generational – the more recent the viewer's birth-date, the less likely they are to be offended by swearing – objections to nudity are more widely shared because of changing attitudes to women on screen, often influenced by feminism.

In this context, one of the striking aspects of new Sky Atlantic drama Hit & Miss, Paul Abbott and Sean Conway's compelling drama about a transgender assassin played by Chloe Sevigny, is that it contains a moment that attempts to make the case for a full-frontal nude scene that is dramatically crucial and completely non-gratuitous.

Sevigny's character Mia, who is undergoing hormone treatment prior to the final transformative operation, stands naked in front of a mirror. The unusual complexity of this image is that the viewer is seeing male and female nakedness simultaneously, being shown genuine breasts and a prosthetic penis.

It might possibly be objected that this scene is prurient – offering up a transgender patient as a sort of freak-show – but Mia is explicitly a character tracking the transformations of her body and it is relevant to the narrative for the audience to know what she has under her clothes at this stage: the information pays off in later scenes when her long-lost son surprises her in the bath and a local lothario tries to grope her between the legs. Abbott and Conway are surely right – and Sevigny seems to have agreed – that the reveal was necessary.

Most dramas, though, can't claim such an easy absolution. In British cop shows of the 1970s and '80s, it sometimes seemed almost obligatory for the central detective to be interrupted during love-making by a call-out to a crime-scene. As he heaved discreetly out of bed – often conveniently wearing boxers or even trousers – his big-busted girfriend would walk, in the foreground of the shot, naked past him to the bathroom. Lawson's memory suggests that The Sweeney was a particular offender.

Greater sensitivity to the exploitation of women has reduced the popularity of such shots, although one contributor to the Guardian's letters page reported that he had stopped watching Homeland after episode four because of the frequent female nudity. The correspondent found these shots of women's bodies "misogynistic" and accused reviewers who admired the series of either ignoring or privately revelling in this woman-hating parade of flesh.

Lawson's view was that the other qualities of the series (acting, shooting, writing, plotting) were enough to overlook the inequalities of its costume policy. And the far greater quantity of female than male full-frontal scenes in screen drama results from something more complicated than just male chauvinism in the production process.

The standard compositions of TV sex scenes – the woman, with her breasts showing, on top of the man; or the man on top of the woman, whose breasts are showing – follow from the widely acknowledged theory that sexual arousal in men has a more dramatic visual indication than for women, and the regulatory and legal convention that erect penises are seen only in pornography or, more recently, 18 certificate movies. So, on television, if an actor is shown walking fully-naked towards a bed before a passionate love scene, application of the editorial guidelines raises distracting issues about his enthusiasm for the relationship.

But, while this excuse is true, it does also encourage lazy direction. The fact that an actor can't be shown fully naked during sex but that an actress can doesn't mean that the latter has to be. It is possible to film bedroom scenes while protecting the modesty of both participants – and certainly Homeland would not have suffered from a lower nipple count. Hit & Miss, however, fascinatingly fleshes out the debate over how naked bodies should be shown.
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Last month, Showtime revealed that it was casting a 'major female role' for the sixth season of Californication with an eye towards creating a spinoff for the series. Writer-executive producer Tom Kapinos is said to have created a new professional groupie character, named Faith, who will feature prominently and possibly form the basis for a subsequent stand-alone show. She’s a beautiful American in her mid-to-late 20s, and described as "what happens when an innocent young Catholic school girl is exposed to the evils of rock and roll and falls heads over heels in love with the music and the men who make it." Faith has been on the road with various bands for years and is considered a muse by some elite artists. Though she has a fondness for sex, drugs and rock and role, she remains quite religious. Think a modern-day Penny Lane in Almost Famous on a spiritual quest to reconcile her extreme behavior with her conservative background.

Injecting new characters into an existing show is one of the preferred methods lately to attempt a spinoff, such as NCIS and Bones introducing characters for NCIS: LA and The Finder, respectively. Entertainment Weekly suggests the Californication plan is more unique since Faith is expected to play a significant role next season rather than just appearing in a one-off 'backdoor pilot'. At this early stage, the spinoff is by no means assured. First the producers will have to cast the right actress, then the role must connect with viewers.

The first part of that equation has now been addressed, with Maggie Grace signing on for an extended run. Grace is perhaps best known for her role as Shannon Rutherford on the first two seasons of Lost, in addition to her appearances in Taken, Knight and Day, Lockout, The Fog, Suburban Girl and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 & Part 2. Grace will also appear in the upcoming Fox series, The Following opposite Kevin Bacon. As Faith, she will befriend David Duchovny's Hank Moody early in the sixth season and if you've ever watched the show then you know that it is a very safe assumption that they will wind up as lovers at some point. Grace's stint on Californication is slated to run for nine episodes and the fate of the potential spinoff hinges upon how eagerly the audience embraces her.

You would imagine that the male half of the show's audience will be sold immediately upon the character's planned introductory scene; namely, a "dream sequence in which Faith is being 'eaten out' by Jesus. Slowly- naked save for a little cross of gold around her neck- she rejoins the land of the living, an 'angel beneath the sheets'. The detailed character description then describes Faith, still naked, as having a pretty long conversation with a nameless rock star, before she "gets him to cum, he writes a song and then she gets out of bed. Naked and beautiful. Walking inspiration." The musician watches her, hypnotized by Faith's 'intoxicating combination of sunshine and sin'. Unsurprisingly, given the character and the show, the role requires both tasteful nudity and simulated sex.

It should be noted again, in the interest of balance, that introducing a recurring character on a show with the intention to possibly spin them off into a new series is not as definitive as a traditional planted spinoff. For instance, the producers of Fox’s House explored the idea of a spinoff starring Michael Weston’s recurring PI character on the medical drama but ultimately opted against it.

Californication season six will debut in early 2013 on Showtime.
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When Myles McNutt popularized the term sexposition last year to describe scenes in Game of Thrones where one character explains a concept while other characters have sex unrelated to that conversation in the same frame, he came up with something really funny and useful. But, thinks Alyssa Rosenberg, people have now ended up suggesting that all the sex and nudity in Game of Thrones is prurient rather than relevant and feels really strongly that isn’t true. In truth, she believes, they’re being somewhat more thoughtful in season 2.

There are scenes in season 1 that are just ludicrous, admits Rosenberg — Littlefinger’s yammering around his prostitutes, the Dothraki wedding sequences. That said, she feels nudity is a driver of personality more the show got credit for in Season 1. There was something really likable, for example, about the good cheer of the prostitutes bursting in on Tyrion in our introduction to the character. It’s okay to use female nudity solely to advance our impression of a male character, but given the show’s very impressive investment in Peter Dinklage as a sex symbol, Rosenberg thinks that scene was kind of remarkable. She also liked the scene of Ros flashing Theon as she leaves for King’s Landing, a moment that showed her comfort with her body as a commodity while also reinforcing Theon as kind of a randy idiot. And Dany’s nudity at the end of the finale felt powerful for the same reason Margaery’s does: her femininity is as exposed as it can get, which should make her vulnerable, and instead it’s a moment of triumph and dignity for her.

This season, there have been a couple stand-alone examples that have felt particularly important. When Theon has sex with the daughter of the ship captain who’s bringing him back to his childhood home on Pyke, the show spends a lot of time lingering on her face and body, neither of which are particularly conventionally attractive. But Theon ends up complicit in our judgement of her. He tells her to shut her mouth so he won’t have to look at her teeth. He ignores her requests to go with him when he leaves the ship, and ignores her when she says her father will punish her for sleeping with him. He’s using her, and assumes that because she’s an ugly girl, she ought to be sexually available to him and grateful for the attention. The whole scene, including her nakedness, is about explaining Theon’s sexual entitlement, his voraciousness, the inflated sense of self that will later lead to his spectacular humiliation.

You can feel the same way about Margaery Tyrell’s scene with her husband, Renly Baratheon, argues Rosenberg. The scene starts with him acknowledging how beautiful she is. But he’s profoundly uncomfortable with her naked body, repulsed by the sexual attraction he knows he’s supposed to be feeling. The contrast between her beautiful body and his reaction, which I thought was a really beautiful piece of acting, is part of what makes the scene. The other part of what makes the scene great is her utter comfort in her body, in her nakedness. Margaery may be a woman, and she may be in a situation where most of us might feel sexually vulnerable. But she’s better equipped than her husband to talk about the fact that they need to get pregnant, and quickly, and she’s more at home in her body, what her body craves, and what other people want her body to be used for than Renly is. Even Melisandre’s sort of cheesy seduction of Stannis Baratheon bears literal fruit in the terms of a quick-gestating smoke monster.

Equally, she insists, the scene where Joffrey orders Ros to first beat Daisy and then rape her with a scepter was the perfect example of why people shouldn’t dismiss nude scenes and sex scenes as they come up in the show and forget that they might pay off later. We meet Daisy when Ros is giving her a tour of Littlefinger’s brothel, including scenes where she’s instructing other prostitutes on how to fake pleasure with clients more convincingly. We see Daisy naked in an interrupted tryst with Pycelle, huddling naked on the floor as her client gets his beard cut off and sent to prison, and we see Tyrion pay her off, adding a tip and a smile. These scenes, as well as non-sexual ones like Daisy crying over a colleague’s murdered child, give us a relationship with these small characters (neither of whom exist in the books, by the way). And then we see these women turned against each other, one forced to torture the other at pain of death. Without those previous scenes, Joffrey would be torturing anonymous whores. With them, he’s torturing people. That arc gives Game of Thrones a lot of credit. You would be hard-pressed to dismiss a silly sex scene now, because how do we know it’s not going to pay off painfully later down the road?

Besides, we actually don’t see a lot of the female characters nude. Two of them are children. Catelyn is a widow deep in mourning. On a factual note, Lena Headey may be naked less as Cersei because she has significant tattoos and covering them up would be a lot of work, so it may just be a tech thing. Brienne is a knight. Interestingly, we haven’t seen Shae naked at all this season, though she is Tyrion’s lover and a sex worker. I guess, concludes Rosenberg, I don’t mind seeing women naked at the same time that the show is giving them personality and humanity they don’t have in the novels. The show may make Ros and Daisy naked, but Ros is literally a line in the novels and Daisy doesn’t exist at all. Now, they’re people to us, and hurting them makes us feel pain.
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Game of Thrones, HBO’s hit drama based on George R.R. Martin’s much-loved “Song of Ice and Fire” fantasy series, can be counted on for a few things: severed heads, insider intrigue, mythical creatures, and a huge and confusing cast of characters. Oh, and naked women. Lots of them. Writing in the Washington Post, columnist Anna Holmes questions whether the constant exposure of skin is starting to wear a little thin.

Frequent and often outlandish, the show’s eroticism often overshadows or distracts from the actual story, thinks Holmes. It’s not just me, she says: After the copious amounts of tits & ass during the show’s first season reached a nadir of absurdity with a now-notorious scene involving two prostitutes pleasuring each other, Onion AV Club television critic Myles McNutt was moved to coin the term “sexposition” to describe the way the show’s producers often arbitrarily shoehorn sex into the narrative as a way to cover up potentially snooze-inducing exposition.

The second season isn’t much better. April 8’s episode, “The Night Lands,” depicted a three-way peep show of sorts that seemed to serve no purpose except to show as many kinds of heterosexual sex in as short a time span as possible, states Holmes. And on April 14, just two weeks after the new season began, NBC’s Saturday Night Live ran a faux promo joking that “Throne’s” success is partly attributable to the involvement of a creative consultant named Adam Friedberg, a fictional 13-year-old boy.

HBO is by no means the only cable channel to traffic in gratuitous nudity, she notes, but it may be the most notorious, what with a backlist that includes Rome, Deadwood and The Sopranos. But unlike those shows, Game of Thrones is based on a much-loved and closely analyzed series of books, which means that fans can — and do — compare the scenes Martin imagined with the ones that show-runners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff often arbitrarily insert.

These scenes seem not only forced but exploitative. As Huffington Post television critic Mo Ryan put it in a review: “Sometimes ‘Game of Thrones’ uses sexual scenes to shed light on character. But quite often, it shows naked women because it can.” It is telling that few, if any, of the series’ most fully realized and complex female characters — and there are many — are ever shown naked, with the exception of Emilia Clarke’s Daenerys Targaryen and the just-introduced Margaery Tyrell (Natalie Dormer). And it’s probably no coincidence that as the character of Ros — a titian-haired prostitute played by Esme Bianco — becomes more nuanced the less the series requires her to disrobe.

Television critic Alyssa Rosenberg, a writer for the political and pop culture Web site Think Progress, disputes the proposition that sex and nudity that don’t appear in the book serve no purpose in the series. “I feel nudity is a driver of personality more than the show gets credit for” in Season 1, Rosenberg says. “And I guess I don’t mind seeing women naked at the same time that the show is giving them personality and humanity they don’t have in the novels.”

One could also argue that the series’ creators are only trying to communicate Westerosi society’s disregard for the lives of women or trying to establish a connection between the way they are objectified and the accompanying, constant threat of assault, but the show’s softly lit and erotic staging of any scene involving a naked woman evokes Playboy of the 1960s and ’70s more than it underscores sexual politics or a culture of violence. “While readers wade through sex, violence, and even sexual assault as part of the ruthlessness of Martin’s fictional world, television audiences can seemingly only handle two out of three,” wrote the Daily Beast’s Jace Lacob last June.

As for the men, well, they aren’t asked to bare all very often, if ever observes Holmes. By my count, she states, it has happened only once, to actor Alfie Allen (brother of pop singer Lily) who plays the turncoatish and arrogant Iron Islander Theon Greyjoy. But Allen’s nude body is not presented as pleasurable eye candy; viewers are not persuaded to desire him but to despise him. And the man straight female fans are arguably most likely to want to see disrobe, Kit Harrington’s Jon Snow, is likely to remain bundled up in the animal skins and iron armor favored by his military brotherhood, the Night’s Watch. Said one Twitter user, @Aurelia_Nicole, “I understand sex as a currency in Westeros but I need it to be a bit more egalitarian.”

Like the writers of “SNL,” Homes insists she is trying to have a sense of humor about Game of Thrones — or, at the very least, look on the bright side of all the breast-baring. It’s a great source of unintentional humour, for starters. She insists she can often tell by the sort of dress a female character is wearing whether she is likely to disrobe. (If it has buttons, they will come undone.) She also marvels at the semi-medieval society’s standards for personal grooming, which seem to anticipate the Brazilian waxes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries: calling the pubic hair pattern so often seen on Westerosi women “the King’s Landing Strip.”

Yet there is something wearying and numbing about the series’ relentless oogling of the female form, concludes Holmes. It’s a constant reminder and reinforcement of the fact that pop-culture creators make content mainly for heterosexual men and then, maybe, for everyone else. They get tiring, these continued nods to the male gaze. (The implication is either that women aren’t watching or that the women who are watching have no interest in erotic eye candy of their own.) They’re also alienating, particularly when the sex seems to serve no purpose other than to titillate. Ultimately, her cluck-clucks of disapproval are as much about the situating of women as sex objects as they are my own sudden and reluctant prudishness.
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Corrina Lawson is relatively new to Game of Thrones fandom. She got hooked on the story about halfway through HBO’s televised adaptation of the first of George R.R. Martin’s books and when the show ended she kept reading. Having caught up with A Dance of Dragons, she then started indulging in the same pastime as everyone else who’d read the books — namely examining the show for differences. So far, she notes, the biggest difference is that the HBO show seems determined to introduce sex as a method to explain the hefty backstory in the books. Writing in Wired, Lawson states she finds this frustrating, a little bit offensive but mostly detrimental to the story.

In season one, she notes, there was Petyr Baelish’s monologue about who he really is set to the tune of two female prostitutes learning how to pretend to please each other for a male audience. Grand Maester Pycelle had a lovely morning with yet another prostitute, then we had a scene with Theon Greyjoy and his hired companion to explain why Theon is, well, Theon. (The same prostitute was in both Theon’s scene and Balish’s scene. I can just see the wardrobe order for the actress: ‘supply this one with easily shed tunics.’) Now, Shae’s night with Tyrion is in the books and Cersei’s liaison with Lancel is in the books too. Those were absolutely necessary scenes, especially given how those liaisons turn out.

But in only four episodes the second season, we’ve had Joffrey beat up two prostitutes hired by his uncle, Margaery Tyrell’s nudity to add something to Renly’s story, namely that he’s really, really gay, as if we didn’t know that from his (mostly clothed) scene with his lover, Loras; Baelish again, explaining to one of his prostitutes how he’s going to sell her to a seriously abusive person if she doesn’t stop being upset about watching a baby be destroyed; and Theon again, with the daughter of the captain of a ship and trying to fondle his sister. Theon’s escapades are in the book, too, and the scene with Yara is character driven, so you can give that a pass too. We also won’t count Melisandre’s “your vagina is haunted” moment either because that was one of the most harrowing scenes in the books, concedes Lawson, before countering you can count her and Stannis on top of the battle plans in an earlier episode, however. Seeing Stannis have sex was not on anyone's list of most wanted scenes in an adaptation.

Lawson insists she has no objection to nudity on cable channels. Spartacus on Starz is one of her favorite shows and you really can’t fit more nudity or sexual escapades than are in that show. But there’s a balance to Spartacus, in that the men are often as the women to be involved in either sex or violence and the nudity is equal opportunity for the most part. It feels part of the fabric of the story.

I also don’t find A Song of Fire and Ice as a whole anti-female or anti-feminist as some other critics of Martin’s series have. He’s chosen to write in a medieval-style world where women are valued as they were in our medieval age: for the children they produce and the alliances they can make. HBO has even made Catelyn Stark somewhat stronger on screen than in the books, especially in this new season. I credit that to the actress, Michelle Fairley. Similarly, Cersei comes off as more sympathetic on the show than in the books. There’s also Daenrys and Arya, characters who are as strong in the show as in the books.

Yet this constant need on the part of HBO to insert naked women to let us know that, say, Joffrey is a sadistic creep or that Baelish is someone not to be trusted is completely unnecessary and throws you out of the story, argues Lawson. It was very clear that Joffrey is a nasty piece by the scene where he wants to have Sansa beaten naked in front of his court and Baelish’s betrayal of the honorable Ned Stark last season is plenty of reason to remember that he’s not a good guy nor one to be trusted in any form.

There’s so much story in these books and some of it, such as the full story of Davos Seaworth, get only a quick mention instead of the greater focus that it deserves. We could see more of Joffrey’s Kingsguard and what they’re like and more of the City Watch as well. I know what they’re like from the books but if I were watching the show without reading, the banishment of Commander of the City Watch wouldn’t have meant nearly as much.

For this reason she hopes the trend doesn’t continue because it’s frustrating to watch the show resort to nudity as a device to catch viewers when the books are so rich. With Joffrey’s scene last week, this is now firmly a trend. Enough. There are plenty of actual reasons for nudity to happen for the story, we don’t need to add more because someone high up on the show or at HBO thinks the story needs more breasts to be good.

Because what’s happening is exactly the opposite, she concludes: it’s making the story worse.
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