While sex used to be saved for cable television shows, networks have been trying to compete by showing some skin themselves. Hits like Gossip Girl and Desperate Housewives have been steaming the storylines, and the ratings, up. Over the past few years the change has been so noticeable, consumer watchdogs, the Parents Television Council, decided to launch a “Happily Never After” study to test how much of the sex being shown was in the context of a wholesome marriage. Needless to say, the numbers reflected what married friends keep telling their single gal pals — sex is way more interesting when you’re unattached. According to the research, which examined four weeks worth of network prime time programming last fall, there was three times as much dirty talk and four times as many eyefuls of un-wedded sexual bliss than there were married couples getting it on. And the sex itself isn’t exactly vanilla either! Voyeurism, masturbation, threesomes, fetishes, S&M, transsexuals and sex toys have been making television shows spicier. But is it too hot to handle? Not even the critics think so. Airing the kinks we’ve all come to know and love is just a sign of the times — it’s art imitating life. [Forbes]
