Sex & Violence

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

Tabs

About

“Whenever I have something violent happen in a picture, there’s an emotional undercurrent to it. It’s not something to be celebrated. It’s something about me as a person that I’ve grown up and I’ve seen so much stuff at a young age that I’m still affected by it. So as a storyteller I try to be very, very responsible with it.” - John Singleton, Writer/Producer/Director

Interviewees discuss sex and violence on television.

Highlights

John Singleton on representations of violence in his work

02:16

Darren Star on controversial storylines on Beverly Hills, 90210, including "Brenda Walsh" sleeping with "Dylan McKay" in the first season's "Spring Dance" episode

04:17

Edie Falco on violence on The Sopranos

01:11

William H. Macy on being proud of the way Shameless deals with sex and his personal objections to the unrealistic way violence is depicted on television

05:11

Jay Sandrich on having fun finding ways to depict sex in a subtle way on Soap

01:45

Who talked about this topic

Alan A. Armer

Alan A. Armer on the violence on The Untouchables and on the ratings of the show

07:48

Robert Conrad

Robert Conrad on the violence on The Wild, Wild West

01:46

Edie Falco

Edie Falco on violence on The Sopranos

01:11

Robert Halmi, Sr.

Robert Halmi, Sr. on his commitment to family entertainment

01:38

Stanley Hubbard

Stanley Hubbard on the government's role in broadcasting and dealing with FCC regulations

05:11

Angela Lansbury

Angela Lansbury on being asked to curtail violence on TV

01:32

Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis on testifying to Congress about violence in television Westerns

02:33

William H. Macy

William H. Macy on being proud of the way Shameless deals with sex and his personal objections to the unrealistic way violence is depicted on television

05:11

Nolan Miller

Nolan Miller on working on negative critical reaction to Charlie's Angels and on it being dubbed "jiggle TV"

04:46

Sheila Nevins

Sheila Nevins on producing Eros America for HBO (later Real Sex)

04:13

Sheila Nevins on how she handled criticism of sexual content on HBO

04:07

Hugh O'Brian

Hugh O'Brian on The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp's attitude towards violence

02:43

Del Reisman

Del Reisman on Robert Stack as "Elliott Ness" on The Untouchables, and on the violence of the show

04:27

Haim Saban

Haim Saban on initial pushback from affiliates due to the violence on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, which went all the way up to Rupert Murdoch, and on the series ultimately going on the air with great success

04:38

Jay Sandrich

Jay Sandrich on having fun finding ways to depict sex in a subtle way on Soap

01:45

Thomas W. Sarnoff

Thomas W. Sarnoff on his response to criticism of violence on TV while an NBC executive

02:17

Alfred Schneider

Alfred Schneider on a controversial episode of Bus Stop ("A Lion Walks Among Us") and how it led to further inquiries into the effects of violence on television

04:13

Alfred Schneider on regulating portrayals of violence in Roots versus S.W.A.T. and The Six Million Dollar Man

01:55

Alfred Schneider on how and why portrayals of sexuality and other controversial topics have become more acceptable over time on television

01:49

Fred Silverman

Fred Silverman on the "anti-violence crusades" of the late 1970s affecting CBS and NBC more than ABC, which was more family, comedy and fantasy-oriented

02:06

John Singleton

John Singleton on representations of violence in his work

02:16

Darren Star

Darren Star on controversial storylines on Beverly Hills, 90210, including "Brenda Walsh" sleeping with "Dylan McKay" in the first season's "Spring Dance" episode

04:17

Darren Star on the censorship issues that arose on Melrose Place, particularly involving the character "Matt Fielding," who was gay

03:16

Darren Star on a Sex and the City gag that HBO objected to

01:33

William Tankersley

William Tankersley on CBS' expected limitations of violence on television

07:04

Frederic Ziv

Frederic Ziv on criticisms of too much violence on television Westerns

00:55

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