The entertainment industry has always been one to push the limits of what is considered acceptable in society, from films like 1933’s Ecstasy to blockbuster The Sign of the Cross. Hollywood has pushed the limits of just how much skin can be shown on screen. After the Hays Code stripped (pun fully intended) Hollywood of its ability to show sex and nudity, things slowed down.
TV came to its heyday in the ‘50s and was always viewed as a clean and family-friendly environment. This all changed with the advent of cable TV networks. Gone was the network TV censors that prevented shows from showing risqué scenes. It was not until the last ten years or so that shows exploded into a frenzy of producing hard R-rated content that some TV reviewers have said goes nearer to pornography than R-rated content. Here are five of the raciest shows on TV
‘Game Of Thrones’
While it’s not much of a surprise to see this show on a list of the raciest shows on TV, Game of Thrones really became famous for its use of “sexplanations” — hiding long, boring plot-building conversations about politics and the greater mythos in the middle of a graphic sex scene. It basically assured that the audience would not flip the channel during the boring conversation and thus ensured stable ratings.
The show did gain a lot of criticism that it was using gratuitous nudity and sex to hide bad plots and that it was degrading to woman. #GameOfThrones show took it in stride and cut way back on its nudity and sex. For the most part, it seems the racy content now has been firmly plot-driven.
‘Black Sails’
This is a pirate-themed program that acts as a prequel to the famed novel Treasure Island. It was produced by Michael Bay and premiered on the Starz network. The show successfully showcased a lot of action and intrigue surrounding the defense of the island of New Providence, as it fought to defend itself from other pirates and the British. The show was also well known for its frequent and graphic nudity involving both men and woman. #BlackSails was also criticized for its gratuitous sex scenes that served no purpose except as filler, thus cementing its place on this list of the raciest shows on TV.
‘Outlander’
Also a show on Starz, #Outlander is the tale of a woman who travels back in time from the ‘40s to the time of the Scottish Highlanders, where she gets involved with intrigue involving the British and other Clans. The show is very well made and very scenic. The program got a lot of attention as it claimed its use of sex and nudity would be fully plot driven and seen from the female point of view. Alas when the show premiered it was full of ‘sexplanations’ and featured 10-minute sex scenes that were only there to fill the plot. It was also criticized that for being a show that was from the female point of view, the women were seen stripping down a lot more than the men were, and the camera was panning in a bit to often.
‘Westworld’
Based on the theme park gone wild plot of the same-titled film from 1973. This iteration followed a similar plotline but dived into the idea of AI and self-awareness far more than the film did. Jam-packed with fantastic performances and outstanding visuals the show was a massive success for HBO. The program was also frequently in the news for its massive amount of nudity and the infamous ad for extras to participate in graphic sex scenes that may have violated SAG union rules (it was later clarified and worked out) The show featured lots of graphic nudity but it was the 4-minute orgy that brought to bear the most criticism for the show, as the sexy scene seemed to add nothing to the plot at hand.
‘Versailles’
Topping the list for raciest shows on TV, is this French and BBC production set in the Palace of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV, the show has been incredibly popular for both the BBC and Canal+ in France. The television show has also gained a reputation as being perhaps the most graphic and salacious show on television right now. The show has become well known for leaving almost nothing on the table when it comes to its use of sex and nudity and was even reported to feature a sex scene every 10 mins of its run-time. Despite critics, the showrunners have promised even more nudity and sex in season 2.
The Naked Truth
Before we finish this article on the raciest shows on TV. Nudity and sex is a part of everyday life, there has been a raging debate about just how much needs to be shown on television. So, the question needs to be asked how much is too much? At what point does a show cross the line and become nothing better than the online webpages that lurk in the dark corners of the internet? At what point does a scene stop being art and become salacious and degrading to the men and woman in the program? While many say that if we are ok seeing acts of violence we have no right to complain about the sight of the human form and the depiction of sex on screen. This is a bad way of looking at things, the human brain can and does decipher between reality and fantasy. Acts of violence as seen on TV is not something that is a part of daily life, most individuals will never see a murder or shooting, while sex and nudity is a part of almost everyone’s private life, when this is brought onto the screen it can make viewers uncomfortable and even encourage unsafe replication in young audiences, so people must think is this the sort of thing that everyone should be watching? I think it’s time we asked perhaps has cable TV gone too far?
Do you agree that cable TV has gone to far in what it allows to be show in its shows? Did all the shows you expected to make it onto this list of raciest shows on TV? Let me know in the comments below.
