(2005) US TV sex scenes 'on increase'

The number of scenes on US TV featuring sex has nearly doubled in the last seven years, a study has suggested.

The survey for US health pressure group the Kaiser Family Foundation showed there were 3,783 scenes in a 1,000-hour sample, compared with 1,930 in 1998.

It found that 70% of shows had sexual content, ranging from a reference to full depiction, with five sex-related scenes per hour on average.

TV bosses said parents have technology to bar content they deem inappropriate.

The foundation's survey found the number of sex-related scenes in the leading teen TV shows was nearly seven per hour.

Behaviour link

It cited examples including a discussion of sex on the WB's Gilmore Girls to a depiction of sexual intercourse in Fox's The OC.

The study examined programmes on ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, WB, PBS, Lifetime, TNT, USA Network and HBO.

Lead researcher Dale Kunkel said it was generally accepted that TV influenced children's behaviour.

"Their sexual knowledge, attitudes and behaviours are all shaped in part by the characters in stories that television conveys," he said.

Tony Vinciquerra, president and chief executive of Fox Networks Group, said parents had controls such as the V-chip, which is built into TV sets to allow parents to block shows based on ratings.

Safety message

He added that TV bosses were aware of parents' concerns.

"We have debates every minute of every day about what goes on television," he said.

The Kaiser study suggested a slight rise in shows promoting a message about contraception and the risks in having sex.

Among the shows that featured sexual content, 14% had discussions about waiting to have sex or safe sex, up from nine per cent in 1998.

The report follows a review in April by the Parents Television Council, which claimed that many US shows did not have enough prior warnings on sex and violence.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4424366.stm Kaiser Family
Foundation: http://www.kff.org/

- Submitted by Trisha

(2005) Girl power rules on 'Gilmore'

October 25, 2005

BY DOUG ELFMAN TELEVISION CRITIC
'GILMORE GIRLS' / **1/2

Fans of "Gilmore Girls" and TV critics wring their hands about why the show, now in its sixth season, gets shafted by the Emmys and remains a niche in TV ratings. But its fate -- to beat ceaselessly against the currents of mass consumption -- is sealed.

Why? Because it seems as if one must have enjoyed the escapist, female sensibilities of literature classes to get "Gilmore." If you were won over by Hemingway's expatriate cafe dwellers and Fitzgerald's lushly wasted lives, you might be among those who like spying on the chronological narratives in "Gilmore's" idyllic village of Stars Hollow, Conn.

Just like in those early 20th century fictions, the value of idle wealth is both questioned and glorified in "Gilmore." Earlier this year, daughter Rory stole a yacht with her rich boyfriend. When she was released from jail, her Yalie friends threw her a party where everyone dressed in black-and-white prisoner outfits and sang, "For she's a jolly good felon."

That Gatsby-esque gathering followed last season's extravagant outing where everyone dressed as a character from a Quentin Tarantino film. Such references to pop culture and intellectual sustenance whiz by in a flurry. In another episode, verbal allusions covered painter Frida Kahlo and the 1970s sitcom "Benson,"; the movies "Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice" and "Paper Moon," and Mennonites and meth heads.

To say "Gilmore Girls" leans implicitly to the cultural left, then, is an assumption about intellectual fiction that, regarding "Gilmore," is not off base. That's why Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state, fits in during a one-scene appearance tonight (7 p.m., WGN-Channel 9).

The significance of Albright's role is to comfort Yale dropout Rory (Alexis Bledel), who was such a bluestocking as a small child she became upset after learning the late Charlotte Bronte was unable to attend her sleepover.

There's even a difference struck between old wealth and new. A few shows ago, a new-wealth woman took a dig at the riches of Rory's grandmother, Emily (Kelly Bishop), who then put the woman in her place -- during a Daughters of the American Revolution party, no less. Each affluent woman smiled with grace during the exchange.

"You were a two-bit golddigger fresh off the bus from Hicksville when you met Mitchum in whatever bar you happened to stumble into," Emily told the woman with royal composure. "He's still a playboy, you know. Well, of course, you know. That would explain why your weight goes up and down 30 pounds every other month. But that's your cross to bear. But these are ugly realities. No one needs to talk about them."

A sharply feminine aesthetic of the show is acted out by the leads, Lorelai (Lauren Graham), her daughter Rory and grandmother Emily. It's womanly, not because Rory's boyfriend this season bought her a handbag costing between $800 and $8,000. Such consumerism would merely make it a mainstream show targeted at women.

It's womanly in its empowered, lit-class way. The females, who wear youthful applications of blush, are captains of their ships. They never seem to cry. Their witty anger turns outward, not inward. They lead. Men follow.

This isn't man-bashing fiction. It's a positive-reward system for males, though. They keep women satisfied, and for that wise choice, they are allowed to be peripherally heroic. Lorelai asked her boyfriend to marry him. He said "yes" faster than a Jane Austen bride. They celebrated by drinking Zima and falling into bed.

"We should drink Zima and have sex every single night," Lorelai announced.

"OK," he said meekly.

As in seasons past, the dialogue is quicksilver and often broadcast as loud as in a stage play. "Gilmore Girls" scripts are so wordy, actors have undergone vocal coaching to spill it all out; "Gilmore" is a throwback to dramatically comic plays that inspired black-and-white films.

It's all very unusual for TV or any other contemporary medium. I have found myself rooting for "Gilmore," even though the sixth season has been weighed down by drawn-out story lines and overly eccentric acting. The exception is tonight's episode, the best in some time. It's funny and thematically satisfying.

The season's crisis remains mother-daughter. Will Lorelai and Rory repair their rift -- concerning Rory's dropping out of college -- so that Lorelai may attend Rory's 21st birthday party? One thing's for sure. There will be cake. Rory's grandmother assures us of "a chocolate praline crunch cake completely covered in pearls -- ah, to be 21 again."

Oh, yes, I remember that birthday cake well.

http://www.suntimes.com/output/entertainment/cst-ftr-elf25.html
- Submitted by Trisha

(2005) Gilmore Girls: The One with Madeline Albright

Posted Oct 27, 2005, 2:26 PM ET by Karina Longworth
Filed under: Drama, OpEd, WB, Gilmore Girls

Sweeps aside, only on Gilmore Girls would a character's dream logic transpose their own mother's voice into Madeline Albright. Following in the tradition of such "big name" Gilmore guest stars as Norman Mailer, the former Secretary of State appeared in bed with Rory Gilmore on Tuesday night, as a vehicle for the voice of Rory's astranged mother Lorelai. As Rory fretted over her upcoming 21st birthday, Albright delivered the quips with the proper cadence ("Walk into Denny's before 5, and you'll get a discount"), but still – was this not the most discordant prime time dream sequence since Maddie Hayes looked in the vanity and saw Dr. Joyce Brothers? More importantly: am I the only one watching this show who is old enough to get Moonlighting references?

The best part of this episode, besides for Rory and Lorelai's identical speech about their now-squashed plans for the former's birthday ("We were going to go to Atlantic City. We were going to sit at the blackjack table and be playing 21 when I turned 21, and then we were going to win and buy 21 things and then there was somethng with 21 guys that would be totally inappropriate..."), was Rory's reaction to her grandparents' clueless attempts to regulate her virginity. Noticing that Rory always seems to have mussed hair when Logan comes aorund, Emily informed Richard, "I think she's getting ready to have RELATIONS with that boy!" Oblivious to the fact that Rory and Logan have been doing it forever, Emily invited a reverend to come to dinner to ... encourage Rory to keep her pants on. God's representative launched into this whole speech about Rory's "ultimate gift". "You can only gift it to one man," he reminded her. "If you gift it to the wrong man, then when the right one comes along, you'll have to gift him a sweater." A remarkably composed Rory then broke the bad news: "I'm afraid the ultimate gift ship has sailed. Awhile ago. It's probably in Fiji by now. [pause] So, have you seen The 40 Year-Old Virgin? I think you might like it." The next day, Emily locks Rory out of the poolhouse.

This episode ended pretty abruptly, with Luke agreeing to be part of Lorelai's creepy sausage-spitting Halloween tableau, which we'll never see, because the show is taking next week off. But, when it comes back on the 8th, guess what? Jess comes back!

http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/10/27/gilmore-girls-the-one-with-madeline-albright/
- Submitted by Trisha

(2005) Gilmore Guy Moves to Philly

'Gilmore' guy moves to Philly

THANKS TO W.C. Fields, Philadelphians are so used to the city being a punchline that some of us actually got excited Tuesday night when the WB's "Gilmore Girls" showed some enthusiasm for Philadelphia.

Turns out that Jess (Milo Ventimiglia), Rory Gilmore's (Alexis Bledel) bad-boy-boyfriend-turned-novelist, is now living here and working for a small publishing house on Locust Street.

Who knew?

(Before we get too worked up, let's remember that Rory's been living and working in Hartford, Conn., a place that not even the ever-optimistic "Gilmore Girls" has been able to make look cool. When I came to Philly from Hartford a couple of years after college, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.)

Citing a recent New York Times piece that talked up the city as a new mecca for up-and-coming artists - and others who can't afford Big Apple housing - Rory even remembered the picture that accompanied it of all those twentysomethings standing around on a roof trying not to look as if they were posing for a picture.

At least, though, she didn't pick up on the Times story's eyebrow-raising claim that some Philadelphians refer to the city as New York's "sixth borough."

"Gilmore Girls" executive producer Daniel Palladino, who wrote Tuesday's episode, said yesterday that he moved the New York-born Jess to Philly because "it just sounded different from him going to Brooklyn... It just seemed like the right thing to do."

It was Palladino who read the Times story originally, and after talking to a few people who confirmed that Philadelphia did indeed have a "burgeoning creative arts" community, suggested it as Jess' new home to the show's creator (and his wife), Amy Sherman-Palladino.

"We try to put as much authentic detail in people's lives as we can," he said.

As for Ventimiglia, who left the show a few seasons ago but continues to date Bledel in real life, his character will probably return a time or two this season, Palladino said.

"He is going to remain in Philadelphia," he added.

http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/living/13130260.htm
- Submitted by Trisha