According to a study conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation, there are twice as many depictions of sex on TV than there was in 1998, when the study was first completed. The Kaiser study counted 3800 scenes where sexual topics were either discussed or depicted, stretching across 1100 shows. In 1998, there were 1900 such scenes. (This to me says that TV is getting better, but I'm single, what do I know?)Examples given of shows that depicted or discussed sex were Gilmore Girls, Law & Order:SVU, and The O.C., who famously had a lesbian storyline earlier this year (above).
The number of shows where safe sex or alternatives to sex were discussed stayed flat since the last survey, in 2002, but the number is up 9% from the 1998 survey. So the producers are making an effort -- a small one -- to tell young impressionable viewers that falling into bed with the first hottie that comes by isn't what real life is like.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-10-2005 @ 12:06AM
Dominic said...
I've seen this report all over the place and it just shows how lamely puritanical we still are in this country. Sex=bad, violence=who cares.
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11-09-2005 @ 3:44PM
Student of The Game said...
"Falling into bed with the first hottie that comes by isn't what real life is like."
Dammit, stop ruining things for young impressionable viewers like me!
Seriously, though, I feel like the trend among the more insightful shows is to present love and sex in a more "real" light. "Nip/Tuck" comes to mind. HIV, sexual identity crisis, and the consequences of sex have all been dealt with on that show in a very serious manner. And then there's a crop of good new sitcoms(!) that have virtually no sexual content whatsoever: "Everybody Hates Chris," "The Office," "My Name Is Earl." Sure, for every "Lost" (One sex scene in 30 episodes so far) there's a "Desperate Housewives" and a "War at Home," but I think things might be improving on the whole, not neccesarily because of Janet Jackson, but because people just want better TV.
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11-09-2005 @ 4:48PM
JudyA said...
I find it interesting that there is no mention of 7th heaven which does nothing but talk about.
Maybe because the family thumps a bible now and then
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11-09-2005 @ 8:54PM
Arun Kumar said...
If you look at what the classified as "sex", then one would have to really question the validity of this study.
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