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Nudity in American television is a controversial topic. Aside from a few exceptions, nudity in the United States has traditionally not been shown on terrestrial television. On the other hand, cable television has been much less constrained as far as nudity is concerned.
In 1969, MGM Television filmed a scene for the pilot of the TV show Then Came Bronson where Bonnie Bedelia (who later appeared in Die Hard ) appears topless. NBC aired the pilot with the nude scene cut, but a complete version was released to theaters in 1970. [1]
In May 1973, twenty-four PBS stations broadcast their self-produced TV movie Steambath (based on the play of the same name) with Valerie Perrine appearing naked. [2] In 1974, PBS's KERA-TV began broadcasting the British sketch comedy show Monty Python's Flying Circus [3] with actress Sheila Sands appearing topless in the 6th episode. [4]
In 1974, Columbia Pictures Television filmed a nude scene of Connie Stevens for a TV movie called The Sex Symbol. [5] It aired on ABC in September with the nude scene cut, but was marketed overseas in an uncensored version.
In 1975 [6] (with a rerun in 1986 [7] ), the PBS National Geographic special The Incredible Machine looked into parts of the human body and included in its opening scenes a fully nude woman in an artist's model pose; probably less for this than the innovative micro- and interior cinematography, this was for more than half a decade the most popular single program broadcast on the network.
In 1976, the CBS show All in the Family aired an episode in which Archie Bunker was babysitting his 3-week-old grandson, Joey Stivic. In a scene when Archie changed the baby's diaper, the boy's genitals were briefly shown. Reruns of the show did not show the nudity.
In October 1976, the ABC show Charlie's Angels aired an episode Angels in Chains, in which Farrah Fawcett-Majors briefly flashed one bare breast as the Angels crossed a stream.
In November 1977, PBS's Masterpiece Theatre broadcast BBC's I, Claudius series with its nude scenes intact. The next year Tim Harvey won an Emmy for his production design work on the original series.
The special-event miniseries, Roots on ABC, featured some partial nudity of its cast, usually fleetingly, but more so than other commercial network programming in the United States in the 1970s.
In 1985, the two-night adaptation of Ken Follett's The Key to Rebecca , shown on WPIX Channel 11 in New York City on April 29 and May 9, had non-pixelated toplessness from both of its female stars, Season Hubley and Lina Raymond.
The Public Broadcasting Service, which features nudity in anthropological documentaries as well as some films, was the first network to display national programming that featured frontal female nudity on television. [ citation needed ]
Throughout the United States, many metropolitan areas had independent television stations that were not affiliated with any of the national networks and showed programming only to people within their limited broadcast range. During the 1980s, many of these stations experimented with content containing frontal female nudity in movies during prime time. KTLA in Los Angeles, for example, showed an unedited version of the Academy Award-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest , which featured fully exposed female breasts, between 7:30 and 11 p.m. The channel began the time slot with a video of director Miloš Forman stating that the film was too controversial to be allowed a faithful television broadcast (NBC's earlier broadcast had cut the film to fit the two hours format with commercials), but that KTLA believed that the culture had changed such that a complete broadcast would be tolerated and appreciated. Then, it was followed by a disclaimer that was repeated after each commercial break.
From the early 1990s until the early 2000s, some prime time series (such as ABC's NYPD Blue and Once and Again , [8] CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Chicago Hope [9] and Fox's John Doe ) experimented with nudity. NYPD Blue is noteworthy for featuring nudity in the context of people engaging in sexual activity. While fully exposed female breasts were never shown, the show often depicted full back nudity of men and women.
In 1997, NBC broadcast an unedited version of Steven Spielberg's Holocaust film Schindler's List in prime time. The film features brief full-frontal nudity of both sexes in non-sexual contexts. Then-Congressman Tom Coburn criticized NBC's airing of the film for its nudity, violence and profanity. Both Democrats and Coburn's fellow Republicans criticized Coburn for his reaction, and defended the film and NBC's choice to air it in full. Coburn subsequently apologized for his reaction. [10]
In 2013, Buying Naked premiered on TLC that the real estate agent Jackie Youngblood shows homes in clothing optional communities to house-hunting nudists. [11]
In 2014, Dating Naked is an American reality series dating game show shown on VH1 the series debuted in July 2014, and ran through 2016. [12]
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After Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast during a live performance at the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) tightened its indecency rules due to public pressure.
As a consequence of the public and media reaction to the incident, major networks edited some of their shows. CBS removed a shot of a naked man from Without a Trace , while NBC deleted a two-second shot of an elderly woman's breast from ER . [13] Subsequently, prime time television networks became more reluctant to show even non-explicit nudity in their TV shows. In the current climate, nudity is almost unknown on any broadcast television show — with the exception being animated series such as The Simpsons and Family Guy (which spoofed the conservative phase of American television in the episode "PTV").
Cable television, on the other hand, is not bound by FCC rules and can show whatever material their executives consider suitable. With some exceptions, while cable channels that rely on advertising still do not show nudity during prime time, nudity is often shown on premium cable channels such as Showtime, HBO and Turner Classic Movies (TCM). FX is one of the few commercial–dependent cable channels that features nudity in its programming (notably the controversial Nip/Tuck and American Horror Story ). SundanceTV will allow nudity. Discovery and other documentary-related channels may show nudity in a journalistic context, such as that of indigenous peoples.
Naked and Afraid is an American reality series shown on the Discovery Channel. The fifth season premiered on March 13, 2016. [14] [15] Modelled on Dutch show Adam Zkt. Eva , the show matches up heterosexual contestants who are nude most of the time. The genitals of all participants along with the female breasts, and occasionally the buttocks, are blurred out. Each episode chronicles the lives of two survivalists (one female, one male) who meet for the first time and are given the task of surviving a stay in the wilderness naked for 21 days. [16] [17] The spin-off reality show Naked and Afraid XL is also on the Discovery Channel. Each season in the episodes that more survivalist(s) are giving the task of surviving the wilderness for 40 days. Again, the contestants' crotch area and the women's breasts are blurred out.
In recent years, a number of cable stations in the United States have begun to air R-rated movies uncensored. They include Deadpool and The Wolf of Wall Street airing on FX.
On March 10, 2024, John Cena appeared nude at the Academy Awards ceremony, covered only by a card with the nominees for best costume design. He presented the award to Holly Waddington for Poor Things .
Naked News is a Canadian news and entertainment program owned by Naked Broadcasting Network. It features nude female news presenters reading news bulletins derived from news wires. The show's production studio is located in Toronto. There are six daily news programs a week and they are approximately 20 minutes long. The female cast members either read the news fully nude, or disrobe as they present their various segments, including entertainment, sports, movies, food, sex and relationships. Naked News TV! is an offshoot of the web program and is broadcast on pay TV in various countries around the world. The show recruits women from around the world to appear on a regular basis or as guest reporters, and their auditions are included in the program. Another segment of the show is Naked in the Streets in which a reporter appears topless in the street and asks the public about various topics.
A striptease is an erotic or exotic dance in which the performer gradually undresses, either partly or completely, in a seductive and sexually suggestive manner. The person who performs a striptease is commonly known as a "stripper" or an "exotic" or "burlesque" dancer.
Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. As of June 2012, Discovery Channel was the third most widely distributed subscription channel in the United States, behind now-sibling channel TBS and The Weather Channel; it is available in 409 million households worldwide, through its U.S. flagship channel and its various owned or licensed television channels internationally.
Number 96 is an Australian primetime soap opera that aired on 0-10 Network from 13 March 1972 to 11 August 1977, originally broadcast in the primetime slot of 8:30 pm for 5 x half-hour episodes every weeknight, then later 2 x one hour episodes screened per week.
Red Shoe Diaries is an American anthology erotic drama series that aired on Showtime cable network from 1992 to 1997 and was distributed by Playboy Entertainment overseas. It is a spinoff of the television film of the same name, directed by Zalman King. Most episodes were directed by either King or Rafael Eisenman.
Toplessness refers to the state in which a woman's breasts, including her areolas and nipples, are exposed, especially in a public place or in a visual medium. The male equivalent is known as barechestedness.
The Parents Television and Media Council (PTMC), formerly the Parents Television Council (PTC), is an American media advocacy group founded by conservative Christian activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995, which advocates for what it considers to be responsible, family-friendly content across all media platforms, and for advertisers to be held accountable for the content of television programs that they sponsor. The PTMC officially describes itself as a non-partisan organization, although the group has also been described as partisan and socially conservative.
Bizarre is a Canadian sketch comedy television series that aired from 1980 to 1986. The show was hosted by John Byner and produced by CTV at the CFTO's Glen Warren Studios in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario for its first run, airing in Canada on CTV, and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.
Cerina Vincent is an American actress. She had her breakthrough role starring as Maya in the television series Power Rangers Lost Galaxy, followed by a part in the comedy film Not Another Teen Movie, before going on to star in the horror film Cabin Fever, which established her as a "scream queen" and led to further roles in horror movies. More recently, she appeared as Suzy Diaz in the Disney Channel series Stuck in the Middle. She has also written three books with Jodi Lipper, wrote a regular column for The Huffington Post, and co-hosts the podcast Raising Amazing with Dr. Joel Gator.
In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scenes, had to be justified as part of the story.
A nudity clause/nudity waiver is a paragraph or a section in a performer's legal contract that stipulates which parts, if any, of the performer's body are to be exposed during a theatrical, television, cinematic, or other type of production. The clause may stipulate that a performer will not be required to perform in the nude, or it may specify that a performer is not allowed to perform in the nude. Nevertheless, a character they play may appear to be nude by the use of a "body double" in place of the performer during a nude scene or the use of a flesh-colored bodystocking or a pubic area-covering merkin. Sometimes a performer will refuse to accept a role which involves nudity.
Child Bride, also known as Child Brides, Child Bride of the Ozarks and Dust to Dust, is a 1938 American drama film written and directed by Harry Revier, and produced by Raymond L. Friedgen. It was promoted as educational in an attempt to draw attention to the lack of laws banning child marriage in many states.
The relationship between nudity and sexuality can be complicated. When people are nude, this often leads to sexual arousal, which is why indecent exposure is often considered a crime. There are also social movements to promote a greater degree of nudity, such as the topfreedom movement to promote female toplessness, as well as the movement to promote breastfeeding in public. Furthermore, some psychiatric disorders that can lead to greater nudity include exhibitionistic disorder, voyeuristic disorder, and gymnophobia.
A handbra is the practice of covering female nipples and areolae with hands or arms. It often is done in compliance with censors' guidelines, public authorities and community standards when female breasts are required to be covered in film or other media. If the arms are used instead of the hands the expression is arm bra. The use of long hair for this purpose is called a hair bra.
How to Look Good Naked is a television program, first aired on British Channel 4 in 2006, in which fashion stylist Gok Wan encourages women and men who are insecure with their bodies to strip nude for the camera. The programme is unique among other similar makeover shows in that it never encourages participants to undergo cosmetic surgery or lose weight. The US format premiered on Lifetime Television in 2008 with Carson Kressley hosting, it was the #1 Unscripted Show on the network at the time.
James Spagnola, known as Jim Spagg, was an American artist and host of a controversial public-access television cable TV program in Portland, Oregon, United States, from 1991 to 2003.
"Naked" is the twelfth episode of the fourth season of the American musical television series Glee, and the seventy-eighth episode overall. Written and directed by co-creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan, respectively, it aired on Fox in the United States on January 31, 2013.
Naked and Afraid is an American reality series that airs on the Discovery Channel. Each episode chronicles the lives of two survivalists who meet for the first time naked and are given the task of surviving a stay in the wilderness for 21 days. Each survivalist is allowed to bring one helpful item, such as a machete or a fire starter. After they meet in the assigned location, the partners must build a shelter and find water and food.
Dating Naked is an American reality dating game show shown on VH1, which debuted in July 2014. Amy Paffrath served as the host for the first two seasons and was clothed in her appearances. The first season was filmed on an island in Panama. The second season, re-titled Dating Naked: Playing for Keeps and filmed in the Philippines, premiered on July 22, 2015 and concluded on September 16, 2015.
Naked Attraction is a British television dating game show produced by Studio Lambert and broadcast on Channel 4. Hosted by Anna Richardson, the show premiered on 25 July 2016 and has aired twelve series. The series premise involves a clothed single person presented with a gallery of six nude potential partners, who are hidden behind differently colored booths that concurrently reveal themselves from the bottom up.
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| Nudity and sexuality | |
| Issues in social nudity | |
| Naturism | |
| Nude recreation | |
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| Social nudity advocates | |
| Depictions of nudity | |
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