“NYPD Blue” actually shows bare breasts all the time, but they hide the nipple. They’ll show the woman from a three-quarter angle behind them, so you get the full-on curve going, but the camera’s juuuuust far enough around that the nipple isn’t visible. Or, they’ll show a frontal view with the arm casually draped across, again hiding the center part of the breast, including the nipple.
And in addition (assuming this is about television in the U.S.), the Discovery Channel occasionally shows a fully bare breast, including the nipple, in the context of certain anthropological or sociological programs. Haven’t seen a penis, but I wouldn’t be surprised. And of course, public television (PBS) has done it for years; did you see “Tales from the City”?
So the question would be more accurately stated, when will broadcast network television in the U.S. show a full breast including the nipple? And then when will they go on to the “naughty bits,” i.e. crotch shots?
That’s pretty subjective, and might be suited better for IMHO, but I suspect it won’t be long, say within a decade. The competition from pay cable, not to mention the pressure from impossible-to-predict Internet broadcasts, will just be too great. It might be sooner, in fact, but I suspect political calcification and inertia in D.C. will last way beyond the point of reality and practicality, as it usually does.
Now, as far as the second question, that’s definitely subjective. I personally believe nudity is oversexualized in this country, and that way too many people get way too uptight about it. I suspect a lot of 'Dopers will concur, because this is a pretty enlightened group. However, the vast majority of people in the U.S. don’t use the computer, and of the ones that do, most wouldn’t fit in with SDMB culture, which tends toward (alert! alert! blanket generalization! do not take offense! broad categorization not intended as reflection of any individual!) rational humanism. It goes without saying that the Average American is fairly conservative on most basic social questions, including the old saw that nudity = sexual. So you’ll probably hear a similar opinion from others on this board, but be aware that it most likely doesn’t reflect the majority opinion of the rest of the population.
). In general, the display of nudity is much rarer these days than it was even in the past, like in the 70s, when nearly all leading ladies showed off their endowments. Now things are usually hidden even in films.