Sex On TV is Becoming Unavoidable

Viewers are about to see full-frontal male nudity, heterosexual, homosexual and group sex, and graphic scenes rarely -- if ever -- seen on mainstream TV. And that's just on pay-cable Starz's fornication-heavy, 13-episode Spartacus: Blood and Sand (premieres Friday, 10 ET/PT), a 300-meets-Caligula epic about the Roman Empire's notorious slave/gladiator.

MTV plans a June launch of The Hard Times of RJ Berger, a scripted comedy about a nerdy 15-year-old whose cool quotient heats up when his anatomical gift is accidentally exposed. And basic-cable network Spike's just-launched raunchy college-sports comedy Blue Mountain State (Tuesdays, 10 ET/PT) showed a masturbating school mascot on the Jan. 12 premiere, while last night's episode featured a scene suggesting oral sex between a coed and jock before the opening credits.

"You need to get eyeballs. You need to be loud," says Spike programming chief Kevin Kay, who is pairing Blue Mountain with reruns of HBO's sex-centric Entourage. "Our viewers are experiencing content on other cable channels or the Web. Movies and video games are going after this audience, too."

TV's latest sexually charged offerings add to the current wave of attention-seeking -- if less visually explicit -- reality and scripted programs filled with frank themes and content, such as MTV's hookup-focused reality hit Jersey Shore.

ABC's Cougar Town -- which had a memorable scene that implied Courteney Cox's character administering oral sex to her date -- premiered last fall. Also new in the past year: HBO's Hung, a dramedy about a well-endowed teacher moonlighting as a prostitute; National Geographic TV's adult-themed documentary series, Taboo; and VH1's titillating Sex Rehab With Dr. Drew.

"You can definitely see an arms race," says FX programming chief John Landgraf, whose groundbreaking series such as Rescue Me and Nip/Tuck set new standards for mature content on basic cable.

Established shows are amping up, too. Nip/Tuck is wrapping its sixth and final season with boundary-pushing themes centered on its often sexually compulsive plastic surgeons, and ABC's Desperate Housewives has cast former Dexter star Julie Benz as a stripper for the series' fifth season.

Showtime's Secret Diary of a Call Girl returns Monday with hooker Belle (Billie Piper) looking for source material for another book through new sexual experiences with clients.

Showtime's aptly titled Californication recently ended its third season with sex-addicted Hank Moody (David Duchovny) getting more booty than ever -- juggling three women while pursuing a fourth. Moody's best friend and manager (Evan Handler) grappled with an ex-wife and randy boss (Kathleen Turner), while guest star Rick Springfield, playing himself, had several solo and group conquests.