NEW YORK (CAP) - HBO is touting a new drama series that executives say will "break new ground" in the realm of swearing and showing women's breasts.
"There will be a lot of F-words," promised HBO Vice President of Programming Mitch Frankel. "And if there's an occasion to show a woman taking her shirt off, or not wearing a shirt, or putting a shirt on when she previously had not been wearing one, this show will be taking advantage of that."
The yet-to-be-titled series will star an actor who was critically acclaimed in the '90s but who hasn't had a hit recently, and feature several talented character actors whose faces look familiar but whom you can't name. Also in the cast will be three to five attractive women who don't mind showing their bare breasts on camera.
"That's really key to the whole enterprise," said Frankel, who said that fortunately, HBO continues to be "bombarded" with resumes from actresses without shirts on. "I'm not sure if some of them even own shirts," Frankel said.
As for the swearing, Frankel promises that while a typical one-hour episode will contain 200-300 F-words, the swearing in the show will go far beyond that in its diversity. "You can expect S-words, C-words, M-words, W-words - I don't even know what that last one is, but we'll have it," he said.
Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales said industry buzz has been positive for the new project, which is also said to have a wide array of actors simulating sex "in various positions, not just doggy style like in many HBO shows."
These positions are rumored to include the "stairway to heaven," the "waterfall" and the "hovering butterfly," Shales said, noting that he was aware of them because he reads Men's Health magazine.
But - unlike with the spate of recent Twitter-inspired programs - "they'll do it in an artful way, in service to the plot, with great actors," according to Shales. They'll also likely keep the scenes short enough to make them difficult to masturbate to, he said.
"But not impossible," he added, winking.
Not everyone is happy about the announcement, however. Darlene Fortenski of Mothers Against Everything (MAE) noted that she was flipping around the channels when she came across an episode of HBO's Game Of Thrones, which she said she initially thought must be a new game show.
"Until the brother and sister started having intercourse and pushed that little boy out the window," she noted, whispering "intercourse."
She suggested that HBO's next show should feature upstanding young people who speak well and remain fully dressed. "They could call it Good Choices And The City," she suggested.
But according to Frankel, the network continues to move in the opposite direction, particularly since the CW's Sean Adams show - about a randy surfer dude who accidentally founds the United States - beat HBO's John Adams in the ratings.
"We know where our bread is buttered," said Frankel, adding, "Wait ... is that a sex position?"
- CAP News Staff