Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Exploiting the 'Sex Box'
Townhall.com ^ | August 29, 2014 | Brent Bozell

Posted on 08/29/2014 6:46:22 AM PDT by Kaslin

We recently came across a rather new TV network, Me-TV. It's great stuff for old fogies (like one of us) -- reruns of the best of television from the '60s and '70s. "Twelve O'Clock High" never looked better. You probably missed this network in all the TV clutter.

Few Americans have ever heard of the cable channel WE tv. Apparently, one way to remedy that is to put on a new show in 2015 called "Sex Box." It's another attempt to "help" Americans with their alleged puritanical reluctance to talk about sex.

The Hollywood Reporter described it as a show that follows couples whose relationships are on the rocks. The couples have sex in a soundproof box on the set, and immediately afterward, emerge to address their issues in the afterglow "with a panel of experts for a series of emotionally honest conversations about intimacy."

The obvious question: Can't the "panel of experts" simply talk to the couples about their problems without the sensationalistic intercourse? Not if they want ratings, apparently. WE tv lamely attempts to drag in science, claiming the release of oxytocin -- the "cuddle hormone" -- makes post-coital conversation more honest and effective.

The panel has two therapists, a Florida pastor, and to round it out, "comedian Danielle Stewart will provide backstage commentary." In the British version, the vile American sex columnist Dan Savage was featured on the panel.

Liberal critic Marlow Stern of the Daily Beast rants against including a pastor: "What business does a pastor have lecturing people about his or her sexual performance? Religion is one of the driving forces behind this country's prudishness to begin with."

In a sense he's right. Commitment, devotion, love -- none of that matters in this format, so why bother with a religious figure?

Marc Juris, the shameless executive who runs WE tv, boasted it's a win-win. "Our featured couples will get a once-in-a-lifetime experience, while our viewers will get the kind of bold, break-through-the-clutter programming they increasingly associate with WE tv."

In the U.K. version of "Sex Box," they didn't actually show the sex, but viewers witnessed the couple arrive immediately from the action to talk about it. The conversation could sound more like a post-game play-by-play than a therapy session, with prattling on about who had an orgasm or how they could go for hours, but "the dehydration was incredible."

There's a lot of trashy "clutter breaking" going on across the cable TV "frontier" right now. The Hollywood Reporter asserted the show "marks the latest twist on the dating genre," where VH1 most recently made headlines with "Dating Naked." That show was recently sued by a contestant who was actually shown naked in a pixelating malfunction.

That shtick is becoming its own genre. It follows TLC's "Buying Naked" (watching nudists buy real estate, because that happens all the time). And Discovery Channel's pair, "Naked Castaway" (one nude survivalist struggle) and "Naked and Afraid" (a couple set loose naked in the wild). And "Naked Vegas" on Syfy (people who paint on nude bodies), copied by "Skin Wars" on the Game Show Network, where nude bodypainting becomes a contest.

If copycatting the British TV gutter-dwellers continues, we might next see the American version of "The Naked Office," a show in which businesses attempted to boost employee morale by implementing "Naked Fridays." That takes casual Fridays to a whole new ridiculous level.

This whole trend makes you wonder if Deborah Turness, the British import now running NBC News, has considered the ultimate desperate move toward making public policy interesting. "Naked Meet the Press," anyone?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-43 next last
To: miss marmelstein
One of my aims is to find out who has the highest death total of all the tv western lawmen. I'd think just from all the years, twenty, Gunsmoke was on the tube Matt Dillon would have the most. You'd think the bad guys would eventually know enough to stay away from Dodge City and Marshal Dillon given his unblemished record.

And those mountains around Dodge City have always intrigued me. I've been through Kansas a number of times, and for the life of me I've never been able to find any snow-capped mountains. I must not be looking hard enough. (snicker)

21 posted on 08/29/2014 8:04:36 AM PDT by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 17 | View Replies]

To: cloudmountain

Didn’t someone famous say...’I’ve never had an orgasm I didn’t like’...or something like that?


22 posted on 08/29/2014 8:07:01 AM PDT by southernmann
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: duckworth

Don’t forget Lovey aka Natalie Schaefer. Hubba hubba.


23 posted on 08/29/2014 8:09:52 AM PDT by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: cloudmountain

“Nothing new to see.”

Maybe for you. . .

;-/


24 posted on 08/29/2014 8:10:38 AM PDT by Hulka
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: duckworth

It could have been worse. The Cartwrights were supposed to be a family of mean, spiteful, paranoid, troublemakers who killed anyone setting foot onto the Ponderosa. Ben had 3 sons by 3 wives because he was always getting thrown out of the cities he lived, and the bitterness and hate in him kept growing as his wives kept dying. That quickly changed when the writers realized it was hard to write episodes where the guest stars passing through the area got killed, maimed, or tortured by Ben and his antisocial sons.


25 posted on 08/29/2014 8:13:41 AM PDT by Kirkwood (Zombie Hunter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: duckworth
"Cartwright's offed"

Yes, and no matter the body count, at the end of every episode, the Cartwrights would have time for a joke and a big laugh by the assembled family.
Hoss: "Hey pa, that bad guys's head sure exploded like a ripe watermelon when I shot him with my Winchester."
Ben: "Yeah, but that watermelon was still not as big as your melon son."
Ha, ha, ha, ha.

26 posted on 08/29/2014 8:14:40 AM PDT by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

The question on my mind is are there any Islamic women contestants? If not then the show lacks diversity and must not be watched.

A show lacking diversity is anathema.


27 posted on 08/29/2014 8:15:41 AM PDT by bert ((K.E.; N.P.; GOPc.;+12 ..... Obama is public enemy #1)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: cloudmountain

I am an adjunct instructor at the local college.

I teach government.

Part of the curricula involves exploring ‘civil rights.’

I poll the students and ask what percentage of the population is likely homosexual.

Results vary but hold constant—they ALWAYS guess between 20-30%.

I also ask them to name a popular show where a homosexual is not present. . .a real head scratch-er.

Then I ask that when a homosexual is present in the show, identify the show where the homosexual is presented as something other than happy, quirky and funny, open-minded and so much superior than the White Male hetero. Another head scratch-er

Such is propaganda.

(I know, treading on thin ice with the administration. . .)

Oh, why is it popular TV shows always have lezbo’s and it seems ALL lezbo’s are drop-dead gorgeous and downright hot. . .NEVER presented as they usually found in the wild (mean, unhappy, nasty, male-in-drag dyke types).


28 posted on 08/29/2014 8:21:15 AM PDT by Hulka
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: duckworth

Definitely Mary-Ann. . .if given a choice.


29 posted on 08/29/2014 8:22:41 AM PDT by Hulka
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: EQAndyBuzz

I have always said if the have a Survivor in real back country Alaska or Siberia then I might watch it.


30 posted on 08/29/2014 8:24:44 AM PDT by Resolute Conservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: southernmann

That would be Woody Allen in “Manhattan.”


31 posted on 08/29/2014 8:39:37 AM PDT by Southside_Chicago_Republican (If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

Just the program descriptions for MTV shows like Girl Code scare me far away from that channel.


32 posted on 08/29/2014 8:41:11 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Buckeye McFrog

Spot on


33 posted on 08/29/2014 9:25:18 AM PDT by Vaduz
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: driftless2
The Rifleman, according to my tv producer relative, was criticized at the time for being too violent. I laughed at that until I started watching, lol. What's most amusing is that Chuck takes 150 folks (1st Season) down in front of son Mark. And yet Mark does not need some High Chaparral shrink to help him get past these many deaths.

Of course, Gunsmoke, by being on tv so long, might have the highest death rate.

34 posted on 08/29/2014 10:14:28 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: duckworth

You also didn’t want to be a Cartwright WIFE. The carnage among the wives is astronomical!


35 posted on 08/29/2014 10:15:56 AM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Hulka
“Nothing new to see.”

Maybe for you. . .
;-/

===============================

Lol.

36 posted on 08/29/2014 12:46:16 PM PDT by cloudmountain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 24 | View Replies]

To: Hulka
I am an adjunct instructor at the local college. I teach government. Part of the curricula involves exploring ‘civil rights.’
I poll the students and ask what percentage of the population is likely homosexual.
Results vary but hold constant—they ALWAYS guess between 20-30%.

------------------------------------
YOUR students are unusual in that they are attending college. Most people DON'T to college. So, right off the bat you have an "interested" group.

They might have been brainwashed but will figure it out when they get into the working world...OR if they simply GOOGLE the question: How many homosexuals in the world?
It's not a HUGE task, is it? They are ALL computer literate and all KNOW Google...so, if they are TRULY curious they will simply "Google" the answer: .5-1.5%.
Maybe your students don't really care. That's possible.

===========================================

I also ask them to name a popular show where a homosexual is not present. . .a real head scratcher.

------------------------------------
Lol.
They don't watch a lot of
Law & Order--normal, SVU or CE.
cooking shows
Property Brothers
baseball or football games
tennis
[If any of the athletes are homosexual, it's on WORLD NEWS.]

===========================================

Then I ask that when a homosexual is present in the show, identify the show where the homosexual is presented as something other than happy, quirky and funny, open-minded and so much superior than the White Male hetero. Another head scratcher.

------------------------------------
They scratch their heads because not every T.V. show does have a homosexual. I remember on Will & Grace, the side-kick was a MORON, nice, but dumb as a box of hair. He was neither happy nor sad, just abysmally self-centered and ego centric.

===========================================

Such is propaganda. (I know, treading on thin ice with the administration. . .) Oh, why is it popular TV shows always have lezbo’s and it seems ALL lezbo’s are drop-dead gorgeous and downright hot. . .NEVER presented as they usually found in the wild (mean, unhappy, nasty, male-in-drag dyke types).

T.V. sure doesn't allow the following on the air, except as The Exception to show us how REALLY compassionate, understanding and cool the network moguls are.
-- OOOGLY people
-- mean a-holes
-- unhappy people
-- really OLD people
-- bitter middle-aged women
-- race baiters, from any the races
-- nasty, male-in-drag dyke types

The networks portray people in a way that THEY believe will sell the most toothpaste, cars, denture cream, fungus removal, hair growth and toilet paper.


HAPPY PEOPLE
PRETTY PEOPLE

T.V. is FANTASY.

37 posted on 08/29/2014 1:21:52 PM PDT by cloudmountain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 28 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I actually watched the Buying Naked show. It was very entertaining to see how they would cover the naughty bits from view using objects around the houses.

Originally I wanted to watch it because it takes place in Pasco County FL where I am from. I didn’t know they had so many nudist resorts near there.


38 posted on 08/29/2014 2:36:53 PM PDT by CARDINALRULES (Tough times never last -Tough people do. DK57 -- 6-22-02)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Kaslin

I had deleted MTV from the lineup on the cable box just so I wouldn’t have to surf through it. When three of the grand kids came to live with us, the oldest wanted to know why we couldn’t get MTV. I shamelessly told her the TV was too old and would not pick it up. It worked until the next power outage, anyway.


39 posted on 08/29/2014 4:25:09 PM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Minsc

I remember 30 years ago staying up until 3am and watching shows like My Little Margie


40 posted on 08/29/2014 5:49:28 PM PDT by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-43 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson