Our friends over at Redeye Chicagoanalyzed all the ways HBO's programming has massively impacted pop cultureover the years, a feat achieved predominantly by how skilled the network is at pushing boundaries. Thanks to its premium channel privileges, this meant something major for us at Mr. Skin as well: TONS of nudity.
According to Redeye contact reporter Lauren Chval(and, you know, the rest of us), it all began with the prison drama Oz and branched out from there. Sex and the City spurred the creation of several HBO and non-HBO, as did The Sopranos, Six Feet Under, and more. This got me thinking—HBO certainly had a massive impact on pop culture, but did all that boundary pushing create a Nakedness trajectory I could follow, too?
In a word, yes! The nude, sexual exploits have gotten even kinkier since the Golden Ages of TV began, and—as always—we have HBO to thank for that. Shall we go on a journey together?
Sex and the City
After Oz was SATC, a long-running, legendary show that completely changed the game for on-screen female sexuality (and, in turn, nudity). These girls weren't just passive recipients of casual sex—they actively sought it out, and none did it better then Kim Cattrall's Samantha. There was a sex swing, there was bush dying, there was role play and Tantric sex among so much more. WhenGirls—a show some would call the modern day Sex and the City—came along, it had plenty of room to up the ante.
And I know I don't have to explain the epic ass-eating scene to any of you. Part of this marks a shift in the ways we see kinkier sex, but that begs a chicken or the egg question—I, for one, would argue that HBO directly helped do that both on the small screen and in our own bedrooms. (Thanks, Samantha. I'll never swing and not think of you.)
The Sopranos
Chval'sarticle calls The Sopranosthe blueprint for "antihero series"—aka, shows about those protagonists who really kind of suck sometimes. Of all the similar series listed, Dexter has some of the best nudity despite itscrime-centric plot. The show called station Showtime (another nudity haven) home and never failed to deliver plenty of skin one way or another, thanks to a roster of incredible leading ladies.
For a serial killer, Dexter sure got a lot of action.
Six Feet Under
Helmed by Alan Ball, Six Feet Under was one of the first on HBO that wasn't afraid to get weird in all the right ways. A show about a mortician's family, it (oddly) predominantly featured mostly standard sex scenes. Still, it was one of the most critically acclaimed shows on TV andfeatured tons of warm-blooded, living naked people. Soon enough, Ball penned another show, this time ripe with the undead:True Blood.
Lucky for us, he kept the historically erotic nature of vampires (and humans) alive and well throughout the seven seasons, which featured some of the kinkiest content on TV. I'm talking sex about sex graveyards, sex on drugs, orgies, wet dreams, biting, choking, threesomes, and more; it would seem, interestingly enough, that crossing over into fantasy meant that nudity and sexualitybeyond-the-vanilla was perfectly acceptable—and more or less ubiquitous. (Guess what road that paved the way for? Game of Thrones, of course!)
With fantasy shows dominating mainstream TV charts, BDSM films blowing up the big screens, and more accepting attitudes toward sex and adult entertainment, it looks we're ramping up for another major explosion in on-screen nudity. HBO's Westworld is on its way, and if I had to guess, I'd say my list is only just beginning.
