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Read Zosia Bielski's story: The mainstreaming of radically honest sex scenes on television.

Sexually hyper-realistic television is a crowded field today; here are some standout scenes:

Togetherness

Wife Michelle (Melanie Lynskey) decides to kick it up a notch with some dominatrix role-playing. Clad in fishnets, she commands her husband Brett (Mark Duplass) to get on his knees. But Brett's just come home from work and he's "getting a little sugar-crashy" – he pleads for a sandwich and banana. Michelle then tries her hand at spanking but accidentally swats Brett's testicles, which he nurses with a Strawberry Shortcake ice pack.

Transparent

Lesbian sex scenes onscreen usually involve nubile young women. So the smouldering intensity between two fortysomethings on this show is a revelation, not to mention the offhand remarks about female ejaculation. Sarah (Amy Landecker) begins an affair with Tammy (Melora Hardin), an old college girlfriend who is now married with kids. "It's love," Sarah tells her sister Ali (Gaby Hoffman). "She made me squirt."

The Mindy Project

Mining uncharted territory, the show featured the first-ever anal sex scene on broadcast television last fall in an episode titled "I slipped!" The camera remains in a different room as Mindy (Mindy Kaling) snaps, "That doesn't go there!" at boyfriend Danny, who feigns poor eyesight. The truth is that Danny (Chris Messina) assumes Mindy's been to "fifth base" with all of her ex-boyfriends.

Broad City

This show about two women in their 20s often features sexual role-reversals, but this one was groundbreaking. Abbi (Abbi Jacobson) hooks up with her neighbour Jeremy, who misreads her request to "maybe switch" from the missionary position as an invitation for some pegging. As Jeremy pulls out a green phallus strapped to a leather harness, Abbi phones her friend Ilana (Ilana Glazer) for help. Ilana tells her this is "once in a lifetime."

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