Feb 09
6
“Side Boob” Shots on Network TV
I really like this phrase that my boyfriend coined on his very own, or maybe he heard it somewhere else and ripped it off. At any rate, it’s funny! We’ve been watching episodes of NYPD Blue from the beginning of the series, and one of their biggest traits was to start showing mild nudity on network TV, which is why the show (aside from great writing and acting) skyrocketed to popularity pretty much out of the gates when it was introduced in 1992, the year I graduated from high school.
Two of the shots that the show was known for, and the most it could get away with because it was on network television, albeit at a later hour, were the bare butt shots and the “side boob” shots. We’ve so far gotten to see lots of butt shots of David Caruso, some random hard body guy that was a doped up cop, another cops bare butt, and some perpetrators bare butt in the series. Jimmy Smits just joined the cast, and I’m only hoping we get a glimpse of his (I’ve always really liked him as an actor).
As far as side boob shots, there’s been a few random women, plus we’ve seen side breast shots of actresses Sharon Lawrence (very little though, she was at a severe angle in her character Sylvia’s love scene with Dennis Franz), and the equally stunning actress Gail O’Grady’s side breasts (she’s got big ones if the side view is any indication). The show’s producers said they pushed the envelope with the breast shots because they were warned there were strict instructions for indecency to not show any nipple in the shot.
Jees, we Americans think we’re so progressive, and I guess there are still enough of us that get freaked out over seeing breasts that they have to worry about regulating that stuff. Of course the language in NYPD Blue was a first for network tv also, with the bad words shit, ass and dick being used widely – oh yes, and I believe I’ve heard a view douchbags and assholed in there too. Gotta love that show – it’s groundbreaking tv!
