It's A Fine Line Between Clever and Stupid

After watching with joy as the Packers stumbled badly in their playoff game and then watching with consternation as a brutal penalty call late in the game for cost the Gopher hockey team a chance for a win against St. Cloud State (the game ended in a 3-3 tie), I was surfing through the multitude of channels when I came across something on Oxygen that caught my eye. Believe it or not I am not a regular viewer of Oxygen. Something about being the channel that Oprah built just doesn't appeal to members of my demographic group.

What did catch my eye was a program called Bliss described on Oxygen's web page thusly:

Acclaimed women screenwriters and directors have adapted the best of women's erotic fiction to create diverse, edgy and provocative drama that honestly explores women's sexuality.

I don't know about how honest the show is but edgy and provocative are certainly apt descriptors particularly for a non-premium cable channel like Oxygen. The plot of this particular episode concerned a fetching young woman who had fantasies about rough, animalistic sex. Her wussie, yuppie boyfriend refused to fulfill her wishes in this area because he didn't feel like it was a proper way to "make love" (too much Alan Alda and Donahue growing up I'm afraid).

Of course her urges must be met and so she ends up hooking up with a guy from her karate class for a little one on one full contact match in a secluded area of a public garden. I was a bit surprised by the rather liberal doses of nudity and graphic language of the show. After the boyfriend turned down her requests to turn it up a notch in the bedroom the young woman was seeking solace from a girlfriend who advised her to quit complaining since "he doesn't blow his load early or screw your friends". We're not watching Lifetime anymore are we Dorothy?

I don't have HBO and so don't know what the episodes of Sex In the City are like. But as far as "regular" cable networks go this one appears to be pushing the envelope. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just wonder what the reaction would be if USA started airing a similar type of show geared to and produced by men. Maybe that's the difference between sexy and sexist.

Oh yeah. Saturdays at 11:00pm CST and Sundays at 12:00pm CST.