# First Oral Sex Scene on Network TV **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749 "2010-08-19T16:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/1 "2010-08-19T16:25:08Z")
In [this TV column for the Washington Post](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/18/AR2010081806384.html), we learn some details about the easily-offended and apparently easily-confused Julianna Margulies: > [@](#): > > This week, [CBS] invited a select group of TV reporters based in New York to an on-set Q&A with the cast of “The Good Wife,” which was one of this past season’s most successful scripted series launches … > . > . > . > The results were sensational. > . > . > . > In the clip, Peter (who, we cannot state often enough, is played by Chris Noth, fantasy boyfriend of millions of American women) is seen clearly getting turned on at the sight of his gorgeous wife in court, acting all competent and in control. Later that night, when Alicia’s in the bathroom brushing her teeth, he comes up behind her and, after waggling her about a bit, the scene “fades out [and] it’s clear that the couple engage in oral sex,” as the Associated Press reporter on the scene described it. > > “I was wondering if there is going to be a little more sex in the second season,” asked one reporter, speaking for us all. > > “That wasn’t enough for you? I mean, I think that is the first time network television has had an oral sex scene – no?” Margulies responded sweetly. > > That is what is known in the journalism business as Handing a Reporter His Lead. > > The AP reporter, David Bauder, whom we know and who we can attest works very hard to make sure he gets his facts straight, asked Margulies if she could substantiate that “network first” claim, according to a transcript of the Q&A session, a copy of which was obtained by The TV Column. > > “Have you researched that, Julianna?” Bauder asked. “Is that the first time there has been an oral sex scene on a network television show?” > > “Honestly, is that the question you are going to ask me? That is despicable!” Margulies shot back, clearly offended, according to witnesses. > > “You brought it up,” Bauder noted, correctly. > > “I didn’t bring it up!” she shot back, incorrectly. Bauder did not belabor the point. Leaving aside Ms. Margulies’ fleeting concerns over history and propriety… is it? I have to say no. If nothing else, _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_’s “Once More, With Feeling,” features a scene that clearly is intended to convey oral sex between Tara and Willow. Perhaps (before she became offended) Ms. Margulies meant heterosexual oral sex. I can’t imagine she’s right even then, but I can’t think of a counterexample. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/2 "2010-08-19T16:30:44Z")
[Here is an article](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7Anch4HoJYgJ:www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2010-01-20-sexcov20_CV_N.htm+oral+sex+on+television&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a) written last January which sites some earlier examples. Including: _Blue Mountain State Cougar Town_ I never watched it, but was there any in _The L Word_ or are we only talking about hetero oral? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/3 "2010-08-19T16:34:14Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > [Here is an article](http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:7Anch4HoJYgJ:www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2010-01-20-sexcov20_CV_N.htm+oral+sex+on+television&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a) written last January which sites some earlier examples. > > Including: > _Blue Mountain State > Cougar Town_ > > I never watched it, but was there any in _The L Word_ or are we only talking about hetero oral? I can see excluding Blue Mountain State as not being a broadcast network show, which I think was implied, but Cougar Town’s example seems to fit. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/4 "2010-08-19T16:36:41Z")
How do they make it clear that it’s oral sex? Is there dialogue after the fade-out? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/5 "2010-08-19T16:43:40Z")
_How I Met Your Mother_ had a scene in the second season where Marshall and Lilly got pulled over for driving in the carpool lane with only the driver visible… if you know what I mean. ---
**Author:** ![Rocket\_Man\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@Rocket\_Man\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocket_Man_1)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/6 "2010-08-19T16:44:51Z")
I don’t have an answer for the American networks, but the BBC passed this milestone in 1973, with the ‘Play for Today: The Operation’. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/7 "2010-08-19T16:45:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > How do they make it clear that it’s oral sex? Is there dialogue after the fade-out? Probably just a lot of humming. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/8 "2010-08-19T16:56:28Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > I never watched it, but was there any in _The L Word_ or are we only talking about hetero oral? Not a network show. ---
**Author:** ![GHO57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df788c/32.png) [@GHO57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GHO57)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/9 "2010-08-19T16:56:33Z")
apropos… what’s network TV? ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/10 "2010-08-19T17:00:18Z")
> [@GHO57](#): > > apropos… what’s network TV? TV shows that air on the major networks, i.e. ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox. ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/11 "2010-08-19T17:01:13Z")
> [@GHO57](#): > > apropos… what’s network TV? [this is](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_network) ---
**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:** [August 19, 2010, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/12 "2010-08-19T17:01:29Z")
Then \*Buffy \*doesn’t count. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/13 "2010-08-19T17:02:30Z")
> [@GHO57](#): > > apropos… what’s network TV? The free, public airwaves networks that you don’t have to pay for – that would be ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, PBS and whatever else you can get without cable. ---
**Author:** ![Chicagojeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@Chicagojeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chicagojeff)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/14 "2010-08-19T17:04:44Z")
In the first season of Joe Millionaire…it was pretty clear in the next to last episode that Sarah was going for hers behind a a tree with Joe… I remember you could hear an audible slurp. The fact that she denied it in a Playboy interview confirmed it to me… ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/15 "2010-08-19T17:05:04Z")
Seinfeld had an episode all about it. And there were some very obvious scenes with George under the covers. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/16 "2010-08-19T17:10:10Z")
I recall a scene from a 1987 movie called [**I’ll Take Manhattan**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092378/), where Valerie Bertinelli – yes, Barbara Cooper herself – unbuckled her guy’s belt in a manner that left no doubt whatsoever what was about to transpire. It was so blatant (even on its network TV broadcast) that even my mother-in-law commented on it. It was at least as clear as the \*Buffy \*episode which everyone always cites. (By the way, \*Buffy \*had another, equally blatant example in the episode “Intervention”, with Buffy and Spike.) ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/17 "2010-08-19T17:10:33Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > > [@Chronos](#): > > > > How do they make it clear that it’s oral sex? Is there dialogue after the fade-out? > > Probably just a lot of humming. That’s awesome. If I ever write a scene in a TV show that is meant to _suggest_ oral sex, I’ll make sure they play “Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm” by The Crash Test Dummies in the background. ---
**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:** [August 19, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/18 "2010-08-19T17:15:05Z")
Hmm, this thread calls out for a clip of said scene in “The Good Wife” so we can tell what they did that was so groundbreakingly new in network oral sex portrayal. 🙂 ---
**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:** [August 19, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/19 "2010-08-19T17:25:14Z")
A dopey sitcom did this, with the wife trying something new by blowing her husband in the car while he was driving. They crash, cop asks what happened, husband says “Show him, honey!” I forget which show, maybe Everybody Loves Raymond or Malcom In The Middle or something like that. The couple definitely wasn’t young; 40s at least. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749/20 "2010-08-19T17:32:01Z")
> [@fiddlesticks](#): > > Hmm, this thread calls out for a clip of said scene in “The Good Wife” so we can tell what they did that was so groundbreakingly new in network oral sex portrayal. 🙂 The article mentions that the suggested oral sex scene will probably not air… …which makes me sad because I’d love to see the Sexy Mr. Big --er-- Mr. Noth getting his knob polished. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-oral-sex-scene-on-network-tv/550749.md?page=2)