Jiggle television is a term coined by NBC executive Paul Klein to criticize ABC's television production and marketing strategy under Fred Silverman. [1]
Jiggle television is a term coined by NBC executive Paul Klein to criticize ABC's television production and marketing strategy under Fred Silverman. [1]
Klein referred to ABC's programs as "porn" in order to tap into the 1970s moral panic and anxiety over the spread of pornography, [2] using the neologism to describe the use of female television celebrities moving in loose clothing or underwear in a way in which their breasts or buttocks could be seen to shake, or "jiggle". [3] An American invention, [4] it was used to refer to programs such as Charlie's Angels , [5] Wonder Woman and Three's Company , [2] which used the sexuality of young women as appeal to their audiences. [6]
The programs' plots were often full of innuendo and suggestive language, and unrealistic in nature. [7] Producers of such series would make sure that its lead actresses would appear in a bikini, one-piece swimsuit, négligée, underwear, or naked under a towel, in each show. [8] Angie Dickinson, star of NBC's Police Woman (1974–1978), which preceded and influenced Charlie's Angels, said that although "essentially a woman’s job is being a woman", by the show's last season she was tired of scenes "where the phone rings while I'm taking a bath". [9] Due to censorship standards of the time, however, programs made for U.S. television that fell into the "jiggle television" category were not allowed to move beyond innuendo or slight suggestiveness, with actual nudity and sexual content generally not allowed.
At the time, the ABC target audience was 18 to 35 years old. [10] Jiggle was also called "tits & ass television" or "T&A" for short [11] and in the 1970s the amount of sex on television increased, as did its ratings, [2] creating social controversies and consequences. [12]
The term was later taken to new extremes by the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s and early 2000s on such television shows as Baywatch , She Spies , and numerous USA Network series.
The term has been used to describe the dramatic television series of Aaron Spelling such as The Love Boat , Fantasy Island , Charmed and others. [13] Jiggle TV is seen as trashy and escapist entertainment. [1] Programs or female performers are often judged by their "jiggle factor" [14] and many, such as Pamela Anderson [4] had their bodies surgically modified to increase it. The term "jiggle-o" is used to describe a character which uses jiggle factor and "jiggle syndrome" is used to discuss the phenomenon as a whole. [3]
When the show was number three, I figured it was our acting. When it got to be number one, I decided it could only be because none of us wears a bra. [15]
A double entendre is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacceptable, or offensive to state directly.
Ecchi is a slang term in the Japanese language for playfully sexual actions. As an adjective, it is used with the meaning of "sexy", "dirty" or "naughty"; as a verb, ecchi suru means "to have sex", and as a noun, it is used to describe someone of lascivious behavior. It is softer than the Japanese word ero, and does not imply perversion in the way hentai does.
Charlie's Angels is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, airing for five seasons consisting of 115 episodes. It was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Spelling-Goldberg Productions. The show follows the crime-fighting adventures of three women working at a private detective agency in Los Angeles, California, and originally starred Kate Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Jaclyn Smith in the leading roles and John Forsythe providing the voice of their boss, the unseen Charlie Townsend, who directed the crime-fighting operations of the "Angels" over a speakerphone. There were a few casting changes: after the departure of Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd joined; after Jackson departed, Shelley Hack joined, and she was subsequently replaced by Tanya Roberts.
Sex appeal in advertising is a common tactic employed to promote products and services. Research indicates that sexually appealing content, including imagery, is often used to shape or alter the consumer's perception of a brand, even if it is not directly related to the product or service being advertised. This approach, known as "sex sells," has become more prevalent among companies, leading to controversies surrounding the use of sexual campaigns in advertising.
Farrah Leni Fawcett was an American actress. A four-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Fawcett rose to international fame when she played a starring role in the first season of the television series Charlie's Angels.
Lucy Kate Jackson, known professionally as Kate Jackson, is an American actress and television producer, known for her television roles as Sabrina Duncan in the series Charlie's Angels (1976–1979) and Amanda King in the series Scarecrow and Mrs. King (1983–1987). Her film roles include Making Love (1982) and Loverboy (1989). She is a three-time Emmy Award nominee and four-time Golden Globe Award nominee, and Photoplay (magazine) award winner for "Favorite TV Actress" 1978.
Jaclyn Smith is an American actress. She is most notable for her role as Kelly Garrett in the television series Charlie's Angels (1976–1981), and was the only original female lead to remain with the series for its complete run. She reprised the role with cameo appearances in the films Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle (2003) and Charlie's Angels (2019). Her other films include Nightkill (1980) and Déjà Vu (1985). Beginning in the 1980s, she began developing and marketing her own brands of clothing and perfume.
Shelley Marie Hack is an American actress, model, producer, and political activist. She is best known as the face of Revlon's Charlie perfume from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s, and for her role as Tiffany Welles in the fourth season of Charlie's Angels (1979–80).
Panchira (パンチラ) is a Japanese word referring to a brief glimpse of a woman's underwear. The term carries risqué connotations, similar to the word upskirt in English.
Spelling-Goldberg Productions was an American television production company established on May 1, 1972 by Aaron Spelling and Screen Gems' top TV executive Leonard Goldberg. They produced series during the 1970s like Family, Starsky & Hutch, T. J. Hooker, S.W.A.T., Charlie's Angels, Fantasy Island, and Hart to Hart. Spelling's other companies, Aaron Spelling Productions and Thomas-Spelling Productions, co-existed at the same time period and produced other well-known shows. A majority of the series produced by Spelling-Goldberg originally aired on ABC.
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