A Brief History of Sex on TV

Skins
By the time some 3.3 million viewers tuned in on Jan. 17 to watch the premiere of the American version of the British series Skins on MTV (which, incidentally, wouldn't show Madonna's raunchy music video "Justify My Love" in 1990), the Parents Television Council (with 1.3 million members, if you're keeping score) had already deemed it "the most dangerous program that has ever been foisted on your children." In subsequent weeks, amid talk about whether certain episodes violated child-pornography statutes, advertisers began to flee. The audience dropped off as well.

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