# Could a cable channel like HBO show real sexual penetration, oral sex etc. in it's shows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 23, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781 "2012-05-23T02:12:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/21 "2012-05-23T23:44:19Z")
> [@alphaboi867](#): > > \*Granted it was a documentary, and the camera was placed _inside_ the vagina. I very much want to see this. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/22 "2012-05-23T23:58:36Z")
> [@spooje](#): > > I very much want to see this. I remember seeing this on, like, PBS sometime in the 80s. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/23 "2012-05-24T00:08:35Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > If aliens watched softcore porn that would be convinced that humans reproduce by writhing around on top of each other. And if they saw Japanese porn, they’d think our genitals were 4 pixels big and blurry. > [@spooje](#): > > I very much want to see this. Believe me, it’s not erotic. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/24 "2012-05-24T00:32:20Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > It was hard getting both the cameraman and the director in there. Fortunately they left the tripod outside. And held their breath, I’m guessing. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/25 "2012-05-24T02:08:16Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I remember seeing this on, like, PBS sometime in the 80s. Pretty sure we watched that in health class in high school. Also recall a engorging penis shown in a thermal video. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/26 "2012-05-24T18:18:35Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > I remember seeing this on, like, PBS sometime in the 80s. > [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Pretty sure we watched that in health class in high school. Also recall a engorging penis shown in a thermal video. That would be “The Miracle of Life,” a 1983 episode of the PBS program NOVA. It’s not online in any of the usual places, but it’s available on DVD. We watched it in high school too. Anywho, I join the consensus on the OP – content is regulated on over-the-air channels, _only_. Cable channels – even non-premium – can program anything they want. The reason they don’t is that they feel they’d upset more advertisers or subscribers than they’d attract. N.B. that although there’s no regulation of this stuff now, if cable channels did start broadcasting materail of that nature, it could lead to the passage of new legislation. I think HBO’s pretty happy with the freedom it has and doesn’t feel the need to rock the boat. –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![DonLogan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@DonLogan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DonLogan)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/27 "2012-05-25T20:53:23Z")
Any cable channel can hardcore porn at any time of day. They don’t do it because it’s more trouble than it’s worth. Broadcast stations can show hardcore porn between 10:00pm and 6:00am. They don’t do it because it’s more trouble than it’s worth (ie, they would likely have to defend it against the Supreme Court’s “I know it when I see it” definition of obscenity). Comcast, via pay per view, is the world’s largest distributor of porn. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/28 "2012-05-25T21:32:05Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > It was hard getting both the cameraman and the director in there. Fortunately they left the tripod outside. Isn’t there a porn actor by that name? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![justrob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@justrob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justrob)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/29 "2012-05-25T21:38:33Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Just curious. Not clear of what the content limitations of cable TV are. Could you have real explicit penetrative sex depicted on “Game of Thrones” for example? PlayboyTV is a cable channel (also available through satellite) and they definitely show explicit penetrative sex. Last time I saw it they did not show the money shot. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2012, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/30 "2012-05-25T22:37:26Z")
I’m pretty sure (but not positive) that HBO’s porn show with Katie Morgan shows penetrative sex in the form of porn clips. It might just be that they don’t show erect penises, but the Katie Morgan show has definitely shown a dildo penetrating a vagina. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/31 "2012-05-26T04:49:27Z")
> [@DonLogan](#): > > Broadcast stations can show hardcore porn between 10:00pm and 6:00am. They don’t do it because it’s more trouble than it’s worth (ie, they would likely have to defend it against the Supreme Court’s “I know it when I see it” definition of obscenity). More specifically, they can air indecent or profane material between 10pm and 6am. They can never air obscene material. ([cite](http://www.fcc.gov/guides/obscenity-indecency-and-profanity)) I have a hard time believing they’d be able to convince the court that your typical hardcore porn flick isn’t obscene in most jurisdictions. More than “more trouble than it’s worth” and straight up “know they’d lose 99 out of 100 times”. I also don’t think they’d be going about it even if it were completely in the clear. I mean Leno’s on after 10 but they don’t let him or his guests swear up a storm (not that swearing’s Jay’s thing but just an example) even though it’s legal. There’s also issues like what’s on at 10pm in one area is on at 9pm in another. That’s bitten stations on the ass in the past, certain episodes of NYPD Blue getting ABC affiliates in the central time zone fined while eastern time zone affiliates were completely in the clear. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/32 "2012-05-26T11:56:53Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > More specifically, they can air indecent or profane material between 10pm and 6am. They can never air obscene material. ([cite](http://www.fcc.gov/guides/obscenity-indecency-and-profanity)) > > I have a hard time believing they’d be able to convince the court that your typical hardcore porn flick isn’t obscene in most jurisdictions. More than “more trouble than it’s worth” and straight up “know they’d lose 99 out of 100 times”. The vast majority of hardcore porn is not obscene. That’s why it exists. Obscene content is illegal. Period. Not just for broadcast. If hardcore porn were obscene, you wouldn’t be able to get it anywhere. Very little sexual material has been found obscene under the _Miller_ test, even with the local standards of _Miller_. What material has been found obscene, and, thus, illegal, is mostly child porn. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781/33 "2012-05-26T21:56:47Z")
This comes up once or twice a year here. It’s been done. On HBO, the most famous example is the previously mentioned documentary, with clips, _Inside Deep Throat_. The full uncensored version. Sundance has shown films like _Shortbus_. Starz/Encore has shown _Pink Flamingos_. IFC has also shown such films. I didn’t have Showtime/etc. until recently so I can’t say what they’ve shown. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-a-cable-channel-like-hbo-show-real-sexual-penetration-oral-sex-etc-in-its-shows/622781.md?page=1)