The Pioneer Times

Issue date: 3/31/08 Section: Entertainment

Media Credit: Google Images Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon of FX's 'Nip/Tuck'

Raunchy sex scenes with a fit yoga instructor, a family of con-artists and thieves, and the ideal woman made out of dead body parts is not something normally seen on cable television.

These images are shown on the three popular FX shows: "Dirt," "The Riches," and "Nip/Tuck." These shows often feature crude sexual content and dysfunctional families through their characters and story lines. Shows such as "The Sopranos" on HBO also display explicit sexual content and strong language, which isn't a surprise considering HBO is a premium cable network. But critics question whether images of sex and body parts belong on a basic cable network.

"Dirt" is a serial drama that airs 10 p.m. every Sunday and stars Courteney Cox Arquette as Lucy Spiller, the stalwart, unrelenting editor-in-chief of the tabloid magazine DirtNow. Spiller ruthlessly exposes the secrets and lies of the famous and the infamous through her magazine with harsh accuracy.

Cox shared a steamy kiss with former "Friends" co-star Jennifer Aniston when Aniston appeared on an episode. In addition, the second season of "Dirt" began with Lucy lying bleeding and unconscious after a brutal, in-home attack at the hands of an actress whose career was destroyed by the magazine. Partial nudity and occasional profanity are also featured, but nothing too severe.

"The Riches" is a serial drama that airs 10 p.m. every Tuesday in which the Malloys, a family of scam artists, live their lives posing as a deceased wealthy couple. It's not exactly the picture-perfect image of your typical family. The Malloys survive on thievery and petty scams while educating their children in the arts of forgery, car theft and flimflam. Nytimes.com calls the show "That rare thing, a dark, sophisticated series that speaks to our most childlike natures."

"Nip/Tuck" is a medical drama that recently ended a season and follows the lives of two famous plastic surgeons. "Nip/Tuck" never fails to shock its audience with its steamy sex scenes voluntarily done completely nude by Julian McMahon. Organizations such as the Parents Television Council have criticized and ridiculed this show for its "unbelievable" content and indecency.

Although the show is aired at a late hour with multiple 'Viewer Discretion Advised' warnings between every commercial break, the PTC has numerous campaigns against the show. One scene involving a foursome pushed the PTC to start a campaign to get the show taken off the air by writing to the sponsors of the show. Another scene the PTC criticized showed a funeral home worker removing and assembling body parts from dead women, including his sister's head, then sewing them together to make "the ideal woman." The PTC President described it in a decency hearing as "incestuous necrophilia."

"Nip/Tuck" also shocks William Paterson students with their portrayal of drug use.

"I know I watch "Nip/Tuck" and sometimes "Dirt," and I cannot believe the stuff they get away with," says Chelsea Falato, senior communication major. "During this season of "Nip/Tuck," the drug use and actual portrayal of characters using meth was surprising. I did not know they could even directly mimic the use of drugs on television."

FX is one of the few commercially dependent cable channels that feature nudity in its programming. Unlike many broadcast networks, FX is willing to take risks with their programming and push the envelope of what can be shown on television, having high, TV-MA ratings.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools