A Skin Depth Look at 90s Sex Anthologies

<< Blog | Editorial Features Thursday, July 13, 5:00 PMThu, 13 Jul 2023 @ 5:00 PM by Vavavooma Thurman

They simply don't make sex anthology series like they used. Remember the heyday of softcore sex on TV thanks to networks like HBO, Showtime, and Cinemax? These series shared different stories about love, sex, romance, heartbreak, and more sex with every episode telling us a different story...and showing us different naked women undressing for the camera. Let's take a look at those shows. How did they come to be and where did they go?

A Skin Depth Look at 90s Sex Anthologies

Early softcore TV shows owe a lot to documentary series like Eros America and HBO's Real Sex which aired for about two decades. These shows were an attempt at grabbing late-night audiences on premium channels that not everyone had and doing so under the guise of documentary filmmaking, making them somehow different from porn or softcore.

It was a way to drive up viewership and interest - and it worked! That led to even more sex shows - fictional shows with plots and lots of sex. Some networks reveled in it, but interestingly none of these networks seem to anymore. In fact, you can no longer find most of these shows - especially not on HBO. That's why, I'm sure, you're glad that you have Mr. Skin!

While HBO increasingly seeks to distance itself from its steamy past, Mr. Skin is here to treat these sexy shows like a history lesson. Or anatomy? Either way, let's highlight some pivotal sex anthology series:

The Hitchhiker

These sexy anthology series owe everything to HBO's The Hitchhiker. From 1983 to 1990, The Hitchhiker was an anthology series that was not supposed to be explicitly about sex...but it wound up being that way. This series definitely paved the way for another anthology, Tales from the Crypt, but it had a sexier bent.

The series followed a stranger hitchhiking around the country who meets a series of strange people and situations. A lot of stars showed up in the series early in their career and some, like Virginia Madsen and Shannon Tweed, went nude.

Red Shoe Diaries

Next was Showtime's original anthology series, Red Shoe Diaries. From 1991 to 1999, Red Shoe Diaries took the sex anthology mantle from the 80s into the 90s. This show might be the most famous of all of these and it had a lasting legacy. A young David Duchovny played a man who lost his fiancee who also happened to be cheating on him. As a result, he puts out an ad in the paper for lust-filled women to write in with their sordid stories.

Every episode follows David opening a letter and reading the story from a woman who wrote in. There are so many stories of affairs, short-lived romances, and sex. Lots and lots of sex. There are SO many scenes to watch and be satisfied within this series. It is really hard for me to choose even one to showcase here. I basically tossed a coin and landed on boobs, buns, and bush - the best!

Dream On

Not every anthology series was serious - some were funny. That's what Dream On was all about. Brian Benben played a recently divorced editor who tries his hand at New York City's dating scene in the 90s. The women are not at all what he expected! This shocking show teetered on sitcom due to Brian's overarching story and all of the comedy, but it was anthological in its dating stories.

The series was sort of like Sex and the City for men but with even more sex. Who could complain about that?

Love Street

The 1994 Showtime series Love Street tried to be classy in its showing of sex on camera. That being said, it was still deemed softcore by most viewers. The short-lived series is very difficult to find now, but Mr. Skin has plenty of scenes for you to enjoy!

Beverly Hills Bordello

It was short-lived, but it was SO sexy. It was the one and only Beverly Hills Bordello on Showtime. This series took place at a Hollywood Hills home where Madame Veronica Winston - played by three different actresses throughout the series that only aired for two years - sees her clients. Every episode is a fantasy that come to life where the Madame makes her men's dreams come true.

Gabriella Hall and Monique Parent were two busty babes who took on the role of the bordello's madame. They were joined by other lovely ladies who worked in the bordello from time to time.

Kama Sutra

In the year 2000 Showtime decided to try again with this seductively titled series. No, it isn't the 90s, but it was certainly hanging on to the anthologies of the decade. These episodes show the evolution of this kind of series over the decade because Kama Sutra had VERY explicit sex scenes. You might even recognize some of the actresses from previous Showtime series like it!