Now even those with basic cable can experience the joys of”Sex.”
HBO’s award-winning comedy “Sex and the City” made itscommercial television debut on TBS on June 15.
“Sex and the City” originally aired on HBO, where it became thefirst cable program to win the Primetime Emmy for OutstandingComedy Series. The series also won a Screen Actors Guild Award aswell as several Golden Globes.
In its six seasons on HBO, “Sex and the City” became animmensely popular series, inciting fashion trends and rabid fans,despite only its small premium cable audience.
“Considering the unique circumstances surrounding ‘Sex and theCity’ — airing only on a premium network yet having overwhelmingawareness and critical raves — the program carries with itunprecedented off-channel value,” said Scott Carlin, president ofHBO’s Domestic Television Distribution in a press release.
Now the show is broadcast on TBS Superstation, which has beenranked as the most watched cable network for the last 26 years withan audience of 88 million households according to network pressreleases.
In the series’ first week on TBS, “Sex and the City” occupiedfour of the top 10 Nielsen rated cable TV programs, coming infifth, sixth, eighth and ninth.
Amanda Tillman, an English junior, said she watched the show forthe first four seasons, but did not have HBO for the last two yearsof the series.
Tillman said men had plenty of shows depicting their sexuality,but “Sex” was the first show to focus on a woman’s viewpoint.
“It was the first show that showed women had very intense sexualsides,” Tillman said.
“Sex and the City” on HBO was known for its risque subjectmatter, foul language and graphic depictions of sex — more thanTBS allows in its programming.
On TBS, “Sex and the City” airs with a TV-14 rating withdesignations for DLS — suggestive dialogue, language and sexualsituations.
According to TBS’s Web site, HBO provided TBS with alternatefootage and dialogue to keep the show within the channel’s currentguidelines.
Tillman said even though content might be compromised, shebelieved the basic concepts of the show would remain intact.
“The talk about the girls’ relationships and the emotionalthings the girls went through will still be there,” Tillman said.”Some of the graphic sexual content will be gone, but oh well, Iwon’t get to see Kim Cattrall naked.”
But some said the show, without the sex, is not worthwatching.
Candice Scoby, a speech pathology freshman, has seen severalepisodes and said the show’s take on life is interesting.
But Scoby said with the TBS edits, the show will lose its trueto life standpoint.
“It will be less interesting because life isn’t edited,” Scobysaid.
To some, “Sex and the City” without the sex seemedpointless.
Katie Paine, a psychology sophomore, said she had not watchedthe show before, but thought the censorship would damage theshow.
“It is defeating the whole point of the title,” Paine said.
TBS broadcasts two episodes each Tuesday night at 9 p.m. withthe same episodes rebroadcast on Wednesday night.