Nudity in American television

Janet Jackson's exposed breast on network television.

Nudity on American network television has traditionally been a charged topic. Nudity has gained wider acceptance in European television, where in contrast to their American counterparts the audience perceive nudity and sexuality as less objectionable than the depiction of violence.

PBS was the only network to feature nudity on their documentaries and films. But starting in the 1990s, some prime-time series (like ABC's NYPD Blue, CBS's Chicago Hope and FOX's John Doe) featured some nudity. After Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast during a performance at the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show seen by over 40 million American families, nudity all but disappeared from all the prime-time shows on network television (the exception being some late-night documentaries or news programs, in which the nudity presented occurs in a "natural" or spontaneous way, i.e. a report about the indigenous peoples of the Americas, breastfeeding or breast cancer, etc.).

In contrast to network television, cable television is not bound by FCC's indecency rules, and can air shows with nudity and sex in any levels (even featuring full-frontal scenes), like Showtime's Family Business and HBO's Rome, though few if any non-pay channels feature full-frontal nudity in a non-documentary series on a regular basis.

Chronology

Robert Opel streaking at the 46th Academy Awards ceremony.

1973: PBS aired Steambath at the night of May 4th of Hollywood Television Theater. On this made-for-TV movie, actress Valerie Perrine exposed her breasts in a shower scene. Only a few PBS stations carried the film.

1974: While NBC was doing the broadcast of the 46th Academy Awards ceremony, a man named Robert Opel streaked naked across the stage. NBC cameramen reacted quickly and full-frontal nudity was avoided in the actual broadcast.

1977: ABC aired the miniseries Roots. The show, which told the saga of African slaves in the South of the United States, featured some scenes in which a large number of African-American women were seen topless. This was done by the producers to add historical reality to the show.

1980: CBS aired the made-for-TV movie Gauguin, The Savage starring David Carradine as the French painter Paul Gauguin. Three shots of full-frontal nudity were shown during the telecast.

1983: NBC aired the Steven Bochco baseball drama Bay City Blues. The series was the first to show actors nude in a locker room scene.

1993: The first episode of Steven Bochco's NYPD Blue aired on ABC. On that episode, Amy Brenneman exposed her buttocks. The actors that have done nude scenes for the show (over its 12 seasons) include David Caruso, Kim Delaney, Dennis Franz, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Melina Kanakaredes, Sharon Lawrence, Gail O'Grady, Jacqueline Obradors, Charlotte Ross, Rick Schroder, John Wesley Shipp, Henry Simmons, Jimmy Smits, Sherry Stringfield, among others.

1994: Actress Meredith Baxter exposed her breast on the CBS made-for-TV movie My Breast, in a scene with her doctor examining her for breast cancer. The scene was not considered indecent due to its portrayl of nudity in a medical context.

1996: PBS aired ITV's Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders starring British actress Alex Kingston (ER). The actress showed her breasts in some love scenes.

1996: an episode of David E. Kelley's medical drama Chicago Hope broke a major network TV taboo by showing the breasts of a teenage girl after her character undergoes successful reconstructive surgery. The scene, like Meredith Baxter's, wasn't considered indecent due to the medical context of the scene. Note that Kelley's show was also the first to use the word "shit" on a network TV series.

1997: Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List was broadcast on NBC on the night of February 23 sponsored by Ford Motor Company. Per Spielberg's insistence, the network aired the unedited and uncensored version of his film. The telecast was the first ever to receive a TV-M (now TV-MA) rating under the TV Parental Guidelines that had been established at the beginning of that year. Many Christian groups objected to the film being shown on network television, due to scenes of nudity, violence, and the use of vulgar language which weren't edited out for TV airing.

2002: FOX aired the first episode of John Doe. On the series, Dominic Purcell played the role of a man who woke up naked on the middle of an island, and did not know who he was. Trying to leave the island, he fell into the sea, exposing his buttocks.

2004: CBS aired the Super Bowl XXXVIII. During the halftime show, singer Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast on what they would later call a "wardrobe malfunction". As a result of this incident, some episodes of America's top drama shows as E.R., NYPD Blue and Without a Trace had to be re-edited before airing. (See Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy).

2004: The WB aired the first episode of the fourth season of their hit show Smallville. On this episode, Clark Kent (Tom Welling) returns to Smallville re-programmed as Kal-El. Lois Lane (Erica Durance) finds him naked on a corn field and takes him to the local hospital. When they get there, Clark drops the towel Lois gave to him and exposes the upper part of his buttocks.

2004: ABC premiered their new hit show Desperate Housewives. On the second episode of it, gardener John Rowland (Jesse Metcalfe) is seen partially (but not explicitly) with his rear naked. Just like Smallville's partial nudity, this got passed by the censors.