Television Nudity

[malenudie]

Before the FCC's "crackdown," what American broadcast network series or specials contained scenes of full rear nudity? I can name some. NYPD Blue, of course. I also seem to remember an episode of Smallville where Clark Kent dropped his towel in a hospital revealing most of his nude buttocks (Correct me if I am wrong on this one! I am not for sure!). Others?

Malenudie

[nacktman]

Probably the most known was Ms. Hemingway's scene in LA Law.

We mustn't forget the almost obligatory 'nude' shows on Public Access cable in the beginning - less so today.

There were numerous "Gaffes" in the early days of TV when it was live but as they were unintended they do not count.

Also the airing of Tarzan with the swimming scene unedited in the last few years has even 'more' nudity than the NYPD Blue or LA Law scenes combined.

There has been nudity on American TV from the get go albeit not anywhere close to what other countries have on their airwaves.

[nakedjohn]

In Western Europe, you see nudity on TV, on a daily basis. It seems to be the normal thing, which it really is, why hide behind a towel or clothes.

[Stu2630]

In Western Europe, you see nudity on TV, on a daily basis. It seems to be the normal thing, which it really is, why hide behind a towel or clothes.

Because you can turn the channel off. In the UK, they have to give you a warning that a programme or film contains nudity so you know what to expect. If I see or hear a warning, I change to something else.

Stu

[Qikdraw]

I seem to remember a show in the Enterprise series where Jolene Blalock had an exposed backside. In the US they cropped it to the top, and I heard in Canada they didn't. I just finished getting the whole series on DvD, and I don't know which version they have.

For interests sake here is one of her quotes:

"Nudity is natural but not until a person accepts and loves who they are."

Qikdraw

[prairieboy]

The problem is that the networks are scared silly that they may offend someone, so they show the warning on almost anything. I have seen the warnings on shows that anyone I know would let their (pre-adolescent) children watch.

[texasjoe]

Let's hope the FCC lightens up in the coming years.

Blood and guts is OK, but a bare butt or breast? OH NO!!!

[roaddog]

The world is indeed crazy.
It is perfectly acceptable for Jean Claude Van Damme to wave around a browning 50 calibre machine gun, killing people by the hundred, but only so long as he has got his pants on, and the guys doing the dying don't actually scream "F*CK" as those half inch steel jacketed bullets rip them to pieces. Damn it looks like the editor has got to me as well.
Cheers
Mick

[SpiderThug]

Because you can turn the channel off. In the UK, they have to give you a warning that a programme or film contains nudity so you know what to expect. If I see or hear a warning, I change to something else.

Stu

Australian tv also gives the couch potato a warning about sex, violence, nudity, etc. My 11 and 7 year olds think it is silly how showing the body is bad bad bad.

They understand what sex is through education from their parents and have formulated their own views that there is way too much sexualisation. They are already light years more mature than most in the western world.

[JeepNude]

I just remember seeing a ton of shows on TV as a kid of Africans without clothing. I remember having a heated discussion with an adult once because of it. The adult insisted that we need to send aid to Africa because those poor children had nothing, not even clothing on their backs. I argued that they were LUCKY because they didn't have to get dressed just because people other than their family were around or filming!

I actually got in seriously big trouble and sent to the principal's office for arguing with that teacher. They called my parents, and after a few minutes on the phone with my dad, sent me back to class. I still think this way today! Ha ha!! Lucky little brats...

[NudonyII]

I came across this link, which is a sort of chronology of nudity on TV:

http://www.tvacres.com/sex_nudity.htm

I don't know why it's listed under "sex"...but oh well.

Valerie Perrine was apparently an innovator:
Valerie Perrine became the first woman to display (on purpose) her nipple's on American network television during the May 4, 1973 broadcast of Bruce Jay Friedman's play "Steambath" shown on Hollywood Television Theater (PBS). The story offered an unusual portrayal of the afterlife with God presented as a Puerto Rican steambath attendant. Bill Bixby played a man who refused to admit that he had died. Valerie Perrine was seen taking a shower from all sides. Only a few PBS stations were adventurous enough to carry the program.

In 35 years, we have managed to actually move back...not forward. Gosh...

[Home Nudist]

You know, I actually remember seeing this when it first aired. (But then, I'm OLD! :no:) Haven't given it a thought in years.

Can't believed we've regressed so much in all that time.

[Georgia_Nude]

It also depends on the definition of 'naked.' These days being in one's underwear can be defined as 'naked' whereas a general lack of clothing could be considered 'nude.' Since the FCC and the networks have such an on-again, off-again, love/hate relationship when it comes to nudity on the airwaves, it can be difficult to tell what means what. Though the Superbowl incident probably shamed us all, "us" being the entire western world.

[naturistoftheyear]

I can't imagine anything like that going out on TV in the US nowadays, so yes, it's amazing how things have moved backward.
It's non-sexual nudity - as far as I can see - and it's set in a bathhouse, so the context is completely normal to have nudity.

[nimrod]

For some time PBS would show nudity and it was not blured or pixelated. I was suprized one day watching a documentry on the Spartans and they blured the breast of women who where demostrating some of the fighting skills and "dances" of the Spartan women in traditional Spartan garb. But just recently one station was showing movies uncut, no bluring, no language edits, lots of warnings, but I thought a move towards the better.

[Jason Lee]

Star Trek The Next Generation

Betazoids conduct nude weddings

Ferengi required females go naked

[Quietman1951]

I recall, that back in the 80's, when the Fox network was begining to broadcast, they showed movies unedited. "Paradise" a movie featuring Willy Ames and Phobe Cates, is one movie, that I recall seeing, before the FCC clamped down on them.

Too bad, about the Super Bowl incident. IMHO, that was all for SHOCK VALUE, but it setback the whole skin on TV thing, about half a century.

Personally, I think that the murder and mahem trend of TV programing is sinfull. Don't get me started on the crap they call "Sit Coms". Just my humble opinion.

[Procrastinator]

In 1980-1981, PBS's Masterpiece Theater broadcast terrific a 1979 British TV miniseries, Danger UXB. It was about an army group that defused unexploded bombs. One episode had a scene set in a tropical themed nightclub, with Polynesian-costumed topless dancers. There were several shots of them dancing, and they weren't just shown fleetingly. The last scene scene in the club was of the dancers running, their breasts bouncing up and down, as bombs exploded nearby.

That broadcast just squeaked in before the FCC became politicized.

Joe

[Stu2630]

Can't believed we've regressed so much in all that time.

Regressed? Or progressed? :)

Seriously, though, I do not object to television nudity so long as it is:

1. late at night, and

2. is always preceded by warnings as to the extent and duration of the nudity being shown. That way I can make an informed decision to turn it off!

Stu

[Bob S.]

Jason: Betazoids conduct nude weddings

Ferengi required females go naked

Jason, neither of those things was actually shown in its full glory. The closest we came to the Betazoids was when Lwaxanna Troi was going to get married and she came into Ten Forward. where the wedding was to be performed, au naturel, seen from just above the breasts and up as well as from the back up from the buttocks. The end of the episode was interesting as she was relaxing in a mud bath with Deanna-her adult daughter, Deanna's crewmate Worf, and Worf's young son Alexander, all supposed to be naked.

As for the Ferengis, the only time they showed a female Ferengi was on "Deep Space 9" when they showed Quark's and Nog's mother Moogie. Moogie was a femenist who wore clothes and made profit, also illegal for women. In fact, the rule for female Ferengis to be required to go naked was so that they could stay as second-class citizens not allowed to leave the house, work for a living, or even talk with male Ferengis other than their families at home. By the end of the series, those rules changed.

HomeNudist:" Can't believed we've regressed so much in all that time."

It's actually fear that is control now rather than regression. The govt is responding to a select few complainers with a heavy-handed reaction.

Bob S.