5 Times Full-Frontal Nudity Changed TV Forever
Seeing bare bodies on the small screen has become pretty standard, but not every flash of skin is enough to impact the whole television industry. From sexy vamps to behind bars romance, these are the shows that really upped the ante.
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00:00 Seeing bare bodies on the small screen has become pretty standard, but not every flash
00:04 of skin is enough to impact the whole television industry.
00:08 From sexy vans to behind-bars romance, these are the shows that really upped the ante.
00:14 HBO is one of the biggest peddlers of small screen nudity out there, and the network's
00:18 vampire drama True Blood was no exception.
00:22 Based on the book series The Southern Vampire Mysteries by Charlaine Harris, the show stars
00:26 Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a humble waitress living in Bon Tom, Louisiana.
00:32 Sookie can hear people's thoughts, whether she likes it or not.
00:35 As the small town grapples with the fact that vampires are coming out of the coffin, now
00:40 that synthetic blood, known as True Blood, is readily available, Sookie meets charming
00:44 vampire Bill Compton, whose thoughts are a mystery to her, and they immediately establish
00:49 a mutual attraction.
00:59 Sex and vampires typically go hand in hand in pop culture, and True Blood takes that
01:04 idea and runs with it.
01:05 In season one, Sookie's brother Jason beds several women who later turn up dead, and
01:10 those scenes are all pretty graphic.
01:13 Then in season two, Marianne Forrester, a newcomer to town, turns out to be a mean-act,
01:18 and the scenes at her lavish parties, which devolve into sex-crazed bacchanalia where
01:23 everyone involved is possessed by Marianne's malevolent magic, are explicit to say the
01:28 least.
01:29 The central love story of True Blood might be between Sookie and Bill, but audiences
01:33 got plenty of chances to look at Eric Northman's butt, establishing it as one of the raunchiest
01:38 shows on television.
01:40 Game of Thrones literally created the term "sexposition," and there's no question
01:44 that it opened the door to a string of very naked shows to follow.
01:48 Based on George R.R. Martin's novel series A Song of Ice and Fire, the show kicks off
01:53 with Emilia Clarke going fully nude as Daenerys Targaryen, and later sees twin siblings having
01:59 sex, followed by one of them attempting murder after a child catches them in the act.
02:03 There's also a season one scene where Peter Littlefinger Baelish delivers an entire monologue
02:09 while two sex workers practice with each other at his brothel.
02:12 That scene is the epitome of sexposition, as Littlefinger is providing a central character
02:17 backstory while two women writhe next to him.
02:20 Game of Thrones' reputation was set in stone from that point on.
02:23 The show never shied away from explicit sex scenes, and that trend continued in the spin-off
02:28 prequel, House of the Dragon.
02:30 People in Westeros like sex, and aside from its controversial ending, the legacy of Game
02:35 of Thrones is largely centered around its raunchy sex scenes, both for better and for
02:40 worse.
02:41 Euphoria isn't a particularly realistic show about what high school kids do in their
02:45 free time, but it is a raw, unflinching exploration of sexuality and addiction, featuring a wildly
02:52 talented cast who are thankfully all above high school age.
02:56 Created by Sam Levinson, the show follows Rue Bennett, a recovering drug addict returning
03:00 to school after time in rehab.
03:10 Besides Rue, who narrates the show and serves as its protagonist, the series manages to
03:14 shift its focus throughout its supporting cast.
03:17 To say these kids are troubled is a major understatement.
03:20 Whether they're grappling with sexual identities or broken families, every young Euphoria character
03:26 has their vice, be it sex, drugs, or alcohol.
03:30 That's where the nudity comes in.
03:32 From Cassie to Nate to Jules, we see each character's intimate life.
03:36 There's actually so much nudity on the show that both Sweeney and season 2 recurring actor
03:41 Minka Kelly asked Levinson to tone down some of their full frontal scenes, which is precisely
03:47 why Euphoria remains one of television's most controversial and discussed shows.
03:53 Whether you love it or hate it, there's no denying that Girls was one of the biggest
03:57 lightning rods in recent pop culture history thanks to rampant nudity and a fair amount
04:01 of bad faith takes.
04:03 A spiritual successor to Sex and the City, Girls proved that it was different right out
04:07 of the gate when Hannah Horvat, played by creator Lena Dunham, gets high on opium tea,
04:13 has a meltdown in her parents' hotel room, and steals the tip they've left for housekeeping
04:17 as she exits in the morning.
04:19 Girls was completely unrepentant about showing its characters intimate lives.
04:23 Whether free spirit Jessa is spitting old flames or Marnie is shredding her reputation
04:28 as a buttoned-up prude with her lover Desi in season 4,
04:31 "You're definitely like a Carrie with like some Samantha aspects and Charlotte hair.
04:37 That's like a really good combination."
04:39 That's to say nothing of Dunham herself, who disrobed almost constantly, especially
04:43 in her scenes with Adam Driver's Adam.
04:45 Dunham's body, which reflected those of real women far more than super slim Hollywood stars,
04:51 drew criticism just by virtue of having curves, which was never a good take.
04:56 But Dunham bared all seemingly without concern, including a season 2 episode where she plays
05:01 ping pong completely nude.
05:03 Girls was always divisive, but it absolutely pushed the envelope when it came to nudity
05:07 on television and embraced the idea that all sorts of body types can be celebrated.
05:13 At first glance, Netflix's original series Orange is the New Black is about Piper Chapman
05:18 and her time in federal prison after she's caught smuggling drugs for her girlfriend,
05:22 Alex Voss.
05:24 What the show really does, though, is use Piper as a sort of Trojan horse character.
05:28 Through Piper's story, audiences meet a diverse cast of women carrying on a variety of relationships
05:34 inside and outside the setting of Litchfield Penitentiary.
05:42 From Laverne Cox, a trans actor playing a proud trans woman, bearing all to multiple
05:47 scenes where Natasha Lyonne's Nikki Nichols gets down with women in the prison chapel,
05:52 to the sexual awakening of Poussey Washington, Orange is the New Black never shied away from
05:57 showing women's bodies and queer love.
05:59 It told stories in which its characters find joy within the walls of a women's prison.
06:04 Because of the earnest and respectful way that showrunner Jenji Kohan and her team approached
06:09 the material, the nudity never felt exploited in.
06:12 But it did cement Orange is the New Black as a show unafraid to show absolutely everything.
06:18 And that reputation stuck with the series until it came to a close after season 7.
06:23 [music]