Starweek magazine
January 19 - January 25, 2002Toppling TV taboos
The year 2002 brings in a rush of new channels and programs pushing further beyond normal boundaries of accepted taste. Our critic takes a measure of constantly slipping television standards today and where we seem to be headed next.
by Jim Bawden
You say you watch television on a regular basis? Then like me, you'll have noticed that these days TV is all about sex.
It starts with the morning shows ("I had sex with my stepmom" or whatever Springer has on), then segues into an afternoon of soap opera lust and then we're into prime time, where people talk a lot about making it.
Jokes about oral sex and masturbation are common on the old TV Family Hour. On Boston Public, teens were recently shown having oral sex in the school hallway.
Formerly a family-friendly medium, the new reality of TV is a universe hundreds of channels deep with everything from family networks to semi-hardcore channels.
My own investigation into the nature of sex on TV begins inside an Etobicoke factory converted into a TV soundstage. It's here that TV history of a sort is being made. On a blustery Friday night the stars of Queer As Folk are going through their paces, and on this occasion all are wearing their clothes.
This is a show that's breaking down all barriers. There's more nudity than in any other current series, more same-sex coupling, more casual profanity. Add group sex, oral sex, lesbian encounters and you should have something that's softcore.
Instead, QAF is fast and funny, a breezy social comedy filled with wacky wisecracks and characters you come to like. The nudity serves as the come-on for an amazing study of five gay men and two lesbians who have bonded as a family.
U.S.-based Showtime says QAF is its showcase series, the one that can compete with all the sex and profanity on competitor HBO's stable of hits (The Sopranos, Sex And The City, Oz, Six Feet Under).
Canadian broadcaster Showcase's own polling indicates that 52 per cent of its QAF viewers are straight women fixated on the male nudity. Showcase expected some strong viewer dissension, but phone calls of complaint have been minimal.
People might be tuning in for naked bodies but they're staying around the the story, believes co-executive producer Daniel Lipman. "On our last series (Sisters) NBC never knew what to expect. We always add a fair degree of comedy to the misture. I think people watch for the sense of fun."
The nude scenes are carefully executed, says his partner in life and work, Ron Cowen. "Some of the actors have come in and balked, saying they weren't told they had to take their pants down."
"Early on we were filming a nude scene and it was 3 a.m. and we realized we were in trouble," Lipman says. "It wasn't going well - it's where Brian (Gale Harold) seduces a hospital orderly and they go at it in the bed next to Ted (Scott Lowell), who has overdosed.
"We decided then and there the scenes needed a co-ordinator just like the stunts. Because we have to suggest a lot, but really show very little."
It's amazing what a little simulated sex will do for the popularity of a series. Canada's Showcase has renewed the series for two full seasons after winning a furious bidding war with Pride Vision.
It's been a booming year for sex on TV. QAF is only one of a number of cutting edge shows toppling most of television's taboos.
[the article goes on to give examples of Canadian shows like Paradise Falls, and cable networks like Playboy, SexTV, Viewer's Choice, etc. and broaches the question "Has TV coarsened society in terms of sex and language?"]
Don't assume the situation is going to get any better. As competition increases, the channels will become ever more competitive. Showtime has ads running on its Web sites promising full frontal splendour on QAF this season.
