The League S04E08

Nadine Velazquez may not be a name we hear everyday, but that doesn't mean she's not beginning to make an impression in front of the camera. Until recently most people recognized her for her role as the boisterous Catalina in My Name is Earl as an immigrant stripper/maid. The role caught the attention of some other producers who offered her even bigger roles such as – the CW’s comedy drama series Hart of Dixie as Didi Ruano – and FX’s comedy series The League, where she currently plays Sofia. Yet a recent eye-popping role alongside Denzel Washington in box-office smash movie Flight followed by a particularly 'cheeky' appearence in last night's The League, means the Puerto Rican actress is rapidly becoming a face (and body) we won't forget.

Her aforementioned nude scene at the opening of Flight, can only be described as… memorable. When the Nadine received the script, she knew what it entailed, but she didn’t hesitate because she trusted the players – Oscar winners Robert Zemeckis and Denzel Washington. As she explained to NBC Latino, her response was… "let’s do this. "When I auditioned for the film, one of the first things that they asked me was, 'Are you comfortable being nude?' and I said, 'I’ll take off my clothes right now!' Of course, everyone got a big laugh out of that." In fact, she smiles, she was surprisingly very comfortable [being naked on set]. "There’s something about being nude, knowing that you are so exposed," she says. "There’s not a lot of dialogue in that scene, it’s just waking up and getting dressed. There’s just such a tone that you are naked and making it as realistic as possible."


It was also the first day of shooting and was a closed set. The fact that Washington was a 'gentleman and a professional', also helped she explains. He called her the night before and invited her to dinner, in order to get acquainted, and have her be comfortable with him and vice-versa. Since she had never met before, she says, this was exactly what the doctor ordered. Velazquez is happy with the outcome of the scene, "I think the director did a great job and I trusted him. There’s nothing malicious about it, and it’s not a sexual scene," she states, before a funny memory of the filming causes a giggle.

"There was a scene where I bend over and I have no clothes on," she explains. "In the opening shot, my character is getting dressed after a night of partying, there’s a moment where I have no underwear under my dress, and I’m bending over to him, not to the camera. I wasn’t nervous about being nude, but I was nervous about bending over because it just seemed like too much. The director told me he wasn’t going to do any shots that made me feel uncomfortable. So I asked this makeup artist to give me the piece of flesh-colored tape to wear on my private parts and covered it, so when I bent over he didn’t see any parts I was protecting. I kept bending over and everything was fine. So when we were waiting for our last take, we were underneath the sheets and he asked, ‘Can I ask you a personal question?’ and I said yes, and he said, “Is that a piece of tape that you have down there?” I thought that was the most funny moment. I knew he was looking at that wondering if it was a deformity or an alien! He must have been so confused since it was so close to my skin color. I just told him “Denzel, you can’t have it all!"

Romping naked with Denzil and recently voted one of the sexiest women in the world, it is a good job she has an understanding partner. "My boyfriend is a creative director, so he’s very artistic," she says. "This kind of thing doesn’t really bother him at all. He doesn’t get jealous. If I had a man on my arm and I was going on a date with him, then of course he would get jealous, but when it comes to acting he doesn’t." And does she consider herself sexy? "You know what, I think I am," she states. "I don't mean that from a superficial perspective, but instead my attitude and the way I carry myself. I've always exuded some connection to my sexuality even as a kid. So to me, being sexy means staying connected to that part of me."

In reference to future nude scenes, the actress believes that if it is a good role and it feels right, she wouldn’t turn it away. "If it’s a sex scene, I feel like I would need to consider who the director is and the actor I would be opposite to, and what happens in the scene and what my role in the movie is, in order to make the right choice." As for what she likes more, television or the movies, she says she will continue to appear in both as she has no intention whatsoever on just focusing on one. "I love working, I could work every single day. It’s my dream and I love it."

Television Series: The League (S04E08- The Anchor Baby)
Release Date: December 2012
Actress: Nadine Velazquez
Video Clip Credit: DeepAtSea

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Sundance Restless For New Direction

The Sundance Channel, best known for its documentaries and other unscripted fare, is about to present a deliciously suspenseful spy thriller that signals a new initiative for the network: more drama. Restless, a two-part miniseries that begins tomorrow at 9 p.m., would be an attention-getter if for no other reason than its blue-chip cast; including delectable Hayley Atwell (Cassandra's Dream, Captain America: The First Avenger), veteran thesps Michael Gambon and Charlotte Rampling, as well as Rufus Sewell (The Pillars of the Earth), and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey). Yet there is more to recommend Restless than its fine troupe of actors. Based on the best-selling novel by William Boyd, it weaves a double strand of intrigue set at the eve of World War II and in the 1970s. It's a smart, rich cloak-and-dagger yarn that thrums with an air of paranoia and noir murkiness before ultimately delivering a satisfying twist.

If Restless represents a new thrust for Sundance, then it also raises the question of how this sort of scripted programming will set it apart from that offered by such networks as PBS, HBO or Sundance's sister network AMC? "I feel like there is a distinct space that Sundance Channel can carve out within the growing trend of tremendous scripted drama we're seeing," declares Sundance general manager Sarah Barnett by way of summing up her channel's new initiative. "We want to make shows that are smart, layered, morally ambiguous and complex. I think we can tell stories of new worlds well on our channel. But we can also look at worlds you know, in a fresh way."


Two years ago, Sundance aired the Golden Globe-winning miniseries Carlos, which starred Edgar Ramirez in an Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated performance as notorious terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Last year, it presented Appropriate Adult, a riveting miniseries starring Emily Watson and Dominic West. Coming this spring, the channel will debut Rectify, its first wholly owned scripted drama series. From Gran Via (the producers of AMC's Breaking Bad), it is a six-part series created and written by Oscar-winning moviemaker Ray McKinnon (The Accountant; That Evening Sun). It follows an ex-con Daniel Holden (played by Aden Young) who, after 19 years in prison, is released from Death Row when he is exonerated for rape and murder by DNA evidence. He returns to his home where he must readjust to a new life, including unfamiliar family members and surroundings as a mystery that defined a small town is gradually reopened. J. Smith Cameron (True Blood) will play Daniel’s mother, Abigail Spencer (Mad Men) will play his sister, Clayne Crawford will play his step-brother Ted and Adelaide Clements (Parade's End) will play Ted’s wife. In addition, Jonah Lotan will also feature as Daniel’s lawyer, who works for the non-profit Justice Row, and also making an appearence is the legendary Hal Holbrook.

Also in 2013, the Sundance Film Festival- best known for screening buzzed-about independent movies- will screen the channel’s new seven-episode TV series Top of the Lake in the premiere category; making this the first time Sundance has included a scripted long form series in its line-up. Co-directed by the acclaimed Jane Campion (The Piano; Bright Star), who also co-wrote the script, and Garth Davis, Top of the Lake is described as a haunting mystery set in the remote mountains of New Zealand. The series follows a gutsy but inexperienced detective Robin Griffin (played by Emmy-nominee Elisabeth Moss of Mad Men), as she investigates the disappearance of a 12-year-old pregnant girl named Tui, who was last seen standing chest deep in a frozen river. Needless to say, not everything about the case is what it seems. During the investigation, she collides with Matt Mitcham ( Peter Mullan), Tui’s father, a local drug lord (David Wenham), and G.J ( Holly Hunter), a guru at a local women’s camp. The case testes Robin’s limits and sends her on a journey of self-discovery. "Top Of The Lake is an emotional exploration into the depths of the human spirit,” insists Barnett.

Filming on the mini will begin in February in Queenstown, New Zealand, marking the first production Campion will film in her homeland since 1993′s The Piano. "I am in love with the intense beauty of southern-most New Zealand and am excited to be setting a story in this end of the world paradise," she said, before enthusing about the high profile exposure her work will receive. "I am excited to be returning to the Sundance Film Festival with Top of the Lake. I love crime mysteries and I wanted to write one that had room to expand like a true novel so the idea of doing a six hour long story was very exciting to me. To be able to screen the series for the film community is a fantastic opportunity.” The seven-part series will screen in its entirety on January 20 at the Egyptian Theater in Park City, followed by a Q&A with the creators and cast. Campion will also participate in a discussion on the creative appeal of working in TV as part of a Festival pane, titled 'Power of Story: The New Face of Independent Voice,' on January 19.

Also part of the Sundance Channel's 2013-2014 original scripted development slate is Valentines from producer Robert Redford. Based on the novel by Olaf Olafsson, Valentines is detailed as a white-knuckled emotional journey, capturing the most candid of moments between lovers when unspoken truths and long buried secrets surge to the surface and everything changes in an instant. The story follows Herman Peterson – a high-powered New York attorney, and his three attractive daughters – Cathryn, Margaret, and Soley – as we delve into their upscale homes, cosmopolitan social circles, and volatile personal relationships to discover that not all is what it seems.

With producers including Stanley Tucci and Steve Buscemi, Behind the Sun is billed as a wildly distinct coming-of-age tale set in the surfer paradise of Malibu, California. Written by Dylan Gary (Tell Me You Love Me) it is set during the mid-1980s and follows the growing pains of the Georges – a determined, single child family whose lives begin to unravel after teenage son Farron learns he has an incredibly rare allergy to the sun. The series explores the shifting notions of parenting, and how the delayed adolescence and personal ambitions of the adults within this world are throwing their children into psychological and physical jeopardy.

The Descendants from producer Sarah Condon (Bored to Death) and writer Aaron Guzikowski (Contraband, Prisoners) revolves around a sheriff struggling to keep his family together while simultaneously policing two clashing communities: the small town where he grew up and the neighboring Ramapo Mountains, home of the Ramapo Mountain Indians. After a terrible tragedy and coverup occurs involving the sheriff’s wife, an unholy alliance is forged between the sheriff and a dangerous member of the tribe that will come back to haunt all involved.

Also in development is T; a deeply personal look at Terrence, a transgender male who has recently undergone gender reassignment surgery and is beginning to live life as a man. Written by Anya Epstein (In Treatment) and Dan Futterman (In Treatment, Capote), the series cuts between Terrence’s emotional struggle in the present and his past as Thora – a lesbian, student activist at Mt. Holyoke College circa 2005 struggling to find her true self. It is produced by Ira Glass and Alisa Shipp (This American Life).

Finally, Death in the Modern Age is from producers Bob Cooper, JJ Jamieson and Michael Fuchs and writers Josh Shaffer & Eli Kooris. After his personal and professional lives implode in spectacular fashion, a down-on-his-luck suburbanite who has always played by the rules decides to radically reinvent himself by plotting to fake his own death in order to start life anew. In today’s age of DNA testing, digital footprints, and lack of individual anonymity, his escape and ultimate transformation prove to be much easier said than done.

"We use the word 'daring' when we talk about what we're looking for," Sundance GM and exec vp Barnett told The Hollywood Reporter. "It harkens back to the best of what you think of in independent storytelling that's inspired by the sort of stories that our sister network AMC has been telling over the past few years." She added: "These projects tell dynamic and visceral emotional stories that draw on the best characteristics of our independent film roots, namely new kinds of narratives that surprise you and unapologetically raw characters who feel unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. We try to put creativity first and are delighted to tap into the impressive pool of filmmakers who are turning to scripted television, as well as partnering with quite brilliant and accomplished TV talent."

Barnett concludes Sundance are "thrilled to bring two of our scripted projects to the Sundance Film Festival this year and to have a Sundance Channel original series as the first scripted television series to screen as an official selection. It really shows the captivating quality of these two shows and proves how creators with a brilliant vision can successfully move between the worlds of both television and film."

So, with these promising series, will Sundance’s new foray into TV be a success? We’ll find out next month.
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We All Have Secrets

She remembered something a woman in Paris had told her once. A woman in her forties, much married, elegant, a little world-weary. There is nothing easier in this world, this woman had claimed, than getting a man to kiss you. Oh really? Eva had said, so how do you do that? Just stand close to a man, the woman has said, very close, as close as you can without touching - he will kiss you in one minute or two. It's inevitable. For them it's like an instinct - they can't resist. Infaillible...

It is no accident that Sundance Channel will premiere the first segment of its two-part World War II female espionage miniseries Restless on the anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack Dec. 7, with the conclusion debuting Dec. 14, both airing at 9 p.m. Based on the novel by acclaimed British novelist William Boyd, who also wrote the teleplay, Restless is based on a little-known chapter of espionage history when prior to the Japanese attack in 1941, most Americans were sturdy isolationists with no inclination to be drawn into the war raging in Europe. The British government assigned a secret intelligence cell to manipulate U.S. news media and opinion leaders with disinformation suggesting Germany planned to attack America. The miniseries was filmed in South Africa and the U.K. and boasts a trio of amazing leading ladies in the shape of Hayley Atwell, Michelle Dockery and Charlotte Rampling; as well as Rufus Sewell and Michael Gambon.

Restless starts off like a pleasant British travelogue, with a pretty graduate student motoring along country roads to her mother’s cottage outside a quaint village. The year is 1976. Ruth, now studying for her Ph.D., has been a free spirit without much contact with her mother, getting pregnant out of wedlock in Germany and keeping that little secret for years. Turns out everybody in Restless has a pretty big secret. The camera, riding in the car and then soaring above it, captures the leafy splendor of the rural scene but also conveys a sense of menace and isolation, slightly skewing the horizon and showing us the lonely house dwarfed by towering trees.

Having deftly established its Penny Lane world in just a few shots, the film stands it on its head. The atmosphere of minor-key dread continues as the younger woman arrives to find her mother is not waiting in the kitchen with a tray of scones; she’s out back, in an agitated state, scanning the tree line for intruders with an antique telescope. Her greeting is anything but maternal: "Did anybody follow you?" So begins a delicious excursion into paranoia and surrealism. Ruth Gilmartin (Dockery) is about to learn that her mother, Sally (Rampling), is no dotty old gardener but a gone-to-ground spy whose real name is Eva Delectorskaya, still hiding out after walking a trail of treachery and murder three decades earlier. Now, Eva fears, the chickens hatched during her days in the secret service have come home to roost in those trees. People are watching her, she says. Ruth, of course, thinks her mother is imagining things. But on a whim she picks up the telescope and looks into the woods when her mother is away and sees the shadow of a man. And, inexorably, Ruth is drawn into her footsteps.


A joint production with the BBC and Sundance, Restless reveals Sally’s history to Ruth and the audience on a need-to-know basis, bouncing back and forth between 1939 and 1976. Introducing Eva’s wartime collaborators amid Europe’s politics during the first years of the war could have muddled the project quickly, but the script, directed by Edward Hall (Spooks) succeeds — as long as proper attention is paid. So it is we are introduced to Hayley Atwell, fresh from playing a superhuman soldier confounding the Nazis in “Captain America: The First Avenger.” Here she once again puts on the smart, World War II-era wardrobe that suits her so well, as the young Eva beginning her journey as a Russian emigré in Paris. When her brother is murdered by fascists, a British agent recruits her, sweeping her into a fascinating whirlwind of intense schooling. When she asks her mentor Lucas Romer (Sewell) what to do without a firearm in dangerous situations, he tells her, "Use your intuition. Use your animal instincts."

It’s also a romance, with Lucas seducing his recruit in the calculated, reticent manner that only the British can get away with. Despite the distractions of her affair, Eva sharpens her skills as an operative during this often-overlooked period. Flashbacks show her in spy mode, working for her boss alongside a cadre of colleagues; including Morris Devereux (Adrian Scarborough), who cautions Eva, "When it looks like a Grade A, incontestable, unmistakable suicide, it probably isn't." Before the United States joined the Allied forces, a desperate Britain was playing every card in the deck to try to sway public opinion in isolationist America. Eva plants international news reports for a while, but parts of her training — call them trash cans, not dust bins — make it obvious she’s headed stateside.

When she arrives in the fall of 1941, as far as the FDR’s America is concerned, she is the enemy, an invader on U.S. soil who must dodge the FBI as well as agents from other countries. None of them know that the Japanese will soon save the British a lot of trouble. What was billed as a routine courier job in New Mexico puts Eva’s life on the line, and her immediate suspicions reveal a true talent for the game. Restless doesn’t cheapen her adventure with extended shootouts or explosions, let alone James Bond-style car chases and nifty gadgets. Eva has no one she can turn to. Her wits are her only weapon.

With or without guns, we know Eva survives the war, because we’ve already met her as a recent widow living in a countryside cottage straight out of Howards End. But her days have none of the afternoon teas or petty class concerns of an E.M. Forster novel. She’s been looking over her shoulder, living for decades with her identity successfully hidden, but now someone is watching her. The forceful Sally is not about to play defence with the shadowy figures skulking in her woods. She makes the decision to confide in her grown daughter, who is understandably incredulous. “Suddenly I’m half-Russian?” Ruth says, before her mother shocks her further by speaking her native language over coffee. After a few scary encounters of her own, Ruth quickly realizes that Mum might be paranoid, but that doesn’t mean no one’s after her.

Ever since a photo ran with her late husband's memorial announcement in the paper, she has been especially fearful for her life, constantly looking over her shoulder and into the distance through a spyglass. She purchases a shotgun for protection. What's a good daughter to do? Help Mum, of course. Ruth and Sally put their heads together to track down the one man who can end her anxious waiting and watching: Eva's former lover and spymaster, who now goes by the alias Baron Mansfield of Hampton Cleeve (Gambon).

Thus Restless weaves back and forth on two story tracks: The tale of Eva’s espionage career in the 1930s, and her conviction that her spy days have returned to haunt her in the 1970s. Her daughter finally accepts the truth of the former, but is skeptical of the latter. "The war’s been over for 30 years, for God’s sake," Ruth chides her mother. "Why are you carrying on with all this cloak and dagger stuff?" Soon, though, she realizes her mother has become her spymaster, running her as an agent against enemies who may be daffily imaginary or lethally genuine. Ruth, a self-sufficient single mother in her own right, eventually puts herself in harm’s way to help Sally solve her final puzzle. But at the end, she can only watch as her mother manages her own affairs, shotgun in hand. After years of cryptic exchanges in hotel lobbies, gunfire in the dark woods and pillows used as silencers, Eva has learned her lessons, and she passes them on to her daughter: Trust no one else. Trust only your instincts.

Ultimately, the uncommon acuity of Boyd’s script is immeasurably bolstered by the outstanding female cast. Restless might be the rare TV show that wins acting awards for two women playing the same role. Atwell is a marvel of nuance as the reluctant Mata Hari with a romantic core who- nonetheless- kills effortlessly and (almost) remorselessly; shedding character skins — innocent schoolgirl, ruthless spy, befuddled dupe — as naturally as a snake. At first wide-eyed, Eva blossoms with her training. She’s a natural. Atwell gives her an earnestness that’s fresh for a spy story, but she’s also able to convince the audience that Eva’s cunning and determination are what separate her from the pack- not some badass attitude. Besides, Eva is in a part of the agency that disseminates information to manipulate the press- and thus the Germans and Russians, so it’s not like she’s Jason Bourne.

Restless deftly switches between the early '40s and 1976, and much of that has to do with Rampling’s superb performance as Sally. Returning to the World War II epoch that made her a star in The Damned and The Night Porter, Rampling imbues the older Eva/Sally with the manipulative skills and paranoia that accumulate over a lifetime of spying. Once the veil of country widower is lifted and we know she’s a former spy, it only hammers home the fact that she was a damned good one and - for reasons viewers must wait on - is still in danger at her advanced age. Dockery also is impressive in her convincing portrayal of a woman whose world is turned upside down. Liberated from the Edwardian costumery and soap-opera theatricality of her role as the shrill Lady Mary in Downton Abbey, she turns out to be both subtle and shapely as Ruth, buffeted by a dawning awareness that her mother is a complete stranger. "We all have secrets," Eva comforts her. "Everyone. No one even knows half the truth about anybody else."

In Ruthless, make that a tenth.
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An Unholy Sex Scandal

It just wouldn’t be Underbelly without a little controversy. Filming on Underbelly: Squizzy got into hot water recently when a graphic sex scene filmed at Abbotsford Convent nearly saw the production banned from its location for the rest of the shoot. The historic 1860s Convent, used by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd for over 100 years, is now a multi-use Arts and Cultural site run by Yarra Council. But when someone copped an eyeful of one scene, which producers thought they had adequately concealed, production had to be stopped for some frank negotiations.

A Nine spokesperson told TV Tonight, "There was a minor incident that occurred at Abbotsford Convent during production of Underbelly: Squizzy. Thankfully, the matter was swiftly resolved. We have a wonderful relationship with the staff at Abbotsford Convent and are very grateful that they made their facilities available for filming."


The sixth installment in the iconic Underbelly crime series chronicles the exploits of legendary gangster Joseph Theodore Leslie Taylor - better known as “Squizzy” - and his quest for power from 1915 to 1927. It is being shot on location around Melbourne and features local actor Jared Daperis in the title role of Squizzy; dubbed Australia's first celebrity gangster and the "small man with a big libido". He takes over the role from Justin Rosniak, who played Squizzy in Underbelly: Razor. "Like most people, I had heard of the legend of Squizzy Taylor, but I didn't know much about his actual life," Daperis said. "He's as iconic as Ned Kelly, but for some reason there hasn't been much done about him until now. I'm really excited to be part of Underbelly. There's no franchise like it anywhere in the world."

Daperis, 22, has previously filmed small roles in Halifax FP, Stingers and The Cup. He will star alongside Susie Porter (Puberty Blues) as matriarch 'Rosie Taylor', Dan Wyllie (Tangle), Diana Glen (The Slap) and comedic actor Peter Moon. Camille Keenan, Elise Jansen and Gracie Gilbert will play the three diverse women who loved, and ultimately lost, this complex man shot by rival gangster Snowy Cutmore in Carlton in 1927. Playing the part of Squizzy's main squeeze, flighty teenager Ida Pender, 20-year-old Gilbert explains: "Ida is so progressive for her time, I feel like I'm playing one of the women who really changed things for females." Not that playing a proto-feminist meant the Perth-raised actress was spared the usual Underbelly requirement of baring it all, though. "There's a bit of nudity, sure, but it's very in keeping with the story," she says. "They're young and in love, there's nothing gratuitous. It's exciting to be playing a girl who's about the same age as me but living a wildly different life. Hugely different, actually, just for the record, Mum and Dad, Nana."

The vertically-challenged crime tsar (standing at just 156 cm tall) certainly had an unquenchable thirst for money, power and fame and cared not who he had to step over to achieve it. He was a master manipulator who courted the press and entertained the masses with his accounts of his criminal exploits. His graduation from petty theft to loftier heists gained him huge media coverage and the attention of women. "He did love his ladies so when you are portraying 12 years of his life and you want to do it accurately, you have to touch on that," Daperis says of Squizzy's weakness for women. Executive chairman of Screentime, Des Monaghan, added: "Squizzy loved women and they loved him, which may explain why he became such a legendary figure and his story endures. He was to the 20th century what Ned Kelly was to the 19th."

The latest Underbelly series is being produced by production company Screentime for the Nine Network. As befits the typically unflinching franchise, the eight-part drama series which airs next year on Nine, takes a darker look at the infamous Melbourne crime than the feature film which starred David Atkins. After five previous series, the crew on the show have got the formula down pat. "The Underbelly style is a heightened one," says director Karl Zwickysays. "It's based on fact but it's not a documentary. You bring the emotional peaks higher and lower than they might have happened in real life and you compress time and bring a certain vividness to it." In the case of Squizzy, much of what might look like 'heightening' to the average viewer is surprisingly close to the truth. Taylor was the Carl Williams of his day, a limelight-loving rogue whose ruthlessness was cut with a dash of charm and a whopping dollop of chutzpah. "He became a pop star," Zwicky says. "Society matrons paid to have their photographs taken with him. He really got away with murder, in every sense."
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Sultan Of Swing

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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Dressing Up The Naked Truth

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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No Sex Here!

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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The Mad Men Of Sex

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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Getting Dirty For Chocolate And Crisps

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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The Naked Intervention

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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Great Milestones In Televised Nudity

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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Cover Your Eyes!

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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TV Audiences Relax Views On Sex

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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Mastering Her Sex

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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Transporter Finally Delivered

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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