# Could HBO legally show intercourse with visible penetration? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 16, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276 "2011-07-16T20:02:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/1 "2011-07-16T20:02:13Z")
Just wondering. On a few prominent HBO series lately the sex scenes are pretty much softcore porn levels in that everything is shown except visible genital-genital or genital-oral contact. Could they show full contact sex if they wanted? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/2 "2011-07-16T20:05:50Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Just wondering. On a few prominent HBO series lately the sex scenes are pretty much softcore porn levels in that everything is shown except visible genital-genital or genital-oral contact. Could they show full contact sex if they wanted? Yes. But they would probably only do so in the middle of the night. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/3 "2011-07-16T20:14:13Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Just wondering. On a few prominent HBO series lately the sex scenes are pretty much softcore porn levels in that everything is shown except visible genital-genital or genital-oral contact. Could they show full contact sex if they wanted? I assume you’re talking about shows like Sopranos. HBO/Showtime does actually do real softcore porn, but they stop just shy of showing actual penetration, but it’s considerably more graphic then something like Sopranos (or probably any other series), blowjobs being blocked by only her hair, or real sex carefully choreographed so the actual penetration stays just barely out of sight). Not that this answers your question though. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/4 "2011-07-16T20:34:56Z")
HBO did **Taxicab Confessions**. At least one episode showed the passengers having sex in the back seat. ---
**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:** [July 16, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/5 "2011-07-16T20:46:53Z")
The premium movie channels have already done this. HBO in particular aired the full NC-17 version of _Inside Deep Throat_, which had an extensive clip of Linda Lovelace’s most famous scene, including the finale. (It was even on HBO on Demand, so you didn’t even have to wait until late night to watch it.) Starz, IFC and Sundance have shown movies such as _Short Bus_ and _Pink Flamingos_ as well. Civilization was not destroyed, Armageddon did not happen, Cthulhu didn’t show up. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/6 "2011-07-16T21:09:54Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Civilization was not destroyed, Armageddon did not happen, Cthulhu didn’t show up. And I’ve voted for him. Twice. You’d think he’d at least give a concession speech, but now; there’s just a big sucking portal and the screaming of the Hounds of Tindalos. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/7 "2011-07-16T21:12:36Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Yes. But they would probably only do so in the middle of the night. Well duh. That’s the only time people can have sex. ---
**Author:** ![Optimistique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Optimistique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Optimistique)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/8 "2011-07-16T21:20:26Z")
I don’t understand this whole movement with graphic sex scenes in TV shows. I stopped watching True Blood because it felt like there was no actual plot, just people having sex left and right. I don’t mind the occasional sex scene, but it’s getting pretty ridiculous. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/9 "2011-07-16T21:25:21Z")
I used to watch HBO’s \*Real Sex \*back in college, and that show had some graphic, genuine sex scenes. One episode showed a guy going down on a female porn star, another showed women being fucked by machine, yet another showing people having sex in the water… I’m fairly sure at some point they had actual penis-in-vagina copulation. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/10 "2011-07-16T21:27:57Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Armageddon did not happen The movie snobs keep saying this - but I enjoyed that movie. > [@Lev Andropov](#): > > This is how we fix problem in the Russian space station! ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/11 "2011-07-16T22:05:12Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > The premium movie channels have already done this. HBO in particular aired the full NC-17 version of _Inside Deep Throat_, which had an extensive clip of Linda Lovelace’s most famous scene, including the finale. (It was even on HBO on Demand, so you didn’t even have to wait until late night to watch it.) > > Starz, IFC and Sundance have shown movies such as _Short Bus_ and _Pink Flamingos_ as well. > > Civilization was not destroyed, Armageddon did not happen, Cthulhu didn’t show up. Shortbus? Really? They must have called it ‘art’. I actually do like that movie (rented it twice), but IMHO, that’s full on, hardcore porn with a plot…good movie though. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2011, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/12 "2011-07-16T22:51:37Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > And I’ve voted for him. Twice. You’d think he’d at least give a concession speech, but now; there’s just a big sucking portal and **the screaming of the Hounds of Tindalos**. > > Stranger (bolding mine) Just throw them a couple of Milk-Bones™, that should do the trick. ---
**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:** [July 17, 2011, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/13 "2011-07-17T00:41:56Z")
Oh, golly, for a pre-Internet horny teenager without Cinemax, _Real Sex_ was as good as it got. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/14 "2011-07-18T14:51:54Z")
HBO had a series called **Tell Me You Love Me** that had pretty graphic depictions of intercourse and oral sex. As I understand it, though, the male parts shown were prostheses. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/15 "2011-07-18T15:21:06Z")
> [@Optimistique](#): > > I don’t understand this whole movement with graphic sex scenes in TV shows. I stopped watching True Blood because it felt like there was no actual plot, just people having sex left and right. I don’t mind the occasional sex scene, but it’s getting pretty ridiculous. The same thing more or less happened to Alan Ball’s last show, Six Feet Under. IMO, when it stopped being about a quirky family that runs a funeral home and starting being about a quirky family of really slutty people, the show really went downhill. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/16 "2011-07-18T15:26:11Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Oh, golly, for a pre-Internet horny teenager without Cinemax, _Real Sex_ was as good as it got. Yeah, but at least when I was a teenager it was all female nudity and very, very rare male frontal. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/17 "2011-07-18T15:33:28Z")
Regular cable can show that if they want. USA, AMC, FX, TNT, and all the rest that aren’t broadcast freely out over the airwaves are \*not \*regulated by the FCC. The only reason they don’t is fear of losing advertising dollars. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/18 "2011-07-18T15:35:24Z")
I was hoping this trend would decrease now that real porn is so readily available. I’m not sitting down and watching TV with the family with my hands in my pants, thank you very much. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/19 "2011-07-18T15:36:07Z")
The very first cable channel in Anchorage, Alaska back in the 80s showed hard-core movies late at night, with no editing. If they didn’t get in trouble for it, I don’t think HBO would. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276/20 "2011-07-18T15:52:12Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I was hoping this trend would decrease now that real porn is so readily available. I’m not sitting down and watching TV with the family with my hands in my pants, thank you very much. “Hey dad, it’s really warm in here, why are you under a blanket?” “Eyes forward son” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-hbo-legally-show-intercourse-with-visible-penetration/589276.md?page=2)