Can television go without sex?

Can television go without sex?

Of course not.

TV lost its innocence a long time ago.

From the raging hormones that drive The WB's "Dawson's Creek,'' to the nonchalant bed-hopping of Fox Broadcasting's "Melrose Place" to the bare bottoms that must inevitably pass muster on ABC's "NYPD Blue," it's clear that prime time is no place for

Courtesy of Fox Broadcasting The characters of "Melrose Place" are known for their bed-hopping antics.

virgins.

True, there are some safe havens where one can be "Touched by an Angel" on CBS or take refuge in "The Wonderful World of Disney" on ABC.

But those are increasingly the exceptions.

Sex has cachet in TV. It's traded like currency for ratings. It no longer merely suggests itself into sitcoms and dramas with innuendo and double entendre. It is an insistent, central and relentless force in the medium, one heavily influenced by the red-light district of cable and the anything-goes pressures of the video market.

There's no turning back now -not if you're running a major broadcast network trying to stem the tide of audience erosion.

A little sex on TV? That's like being a little pregnant.

That may explain why Scott Sassa, the new president of NBC Entertainment, called for "less of an emphasis on sex'' rather than outright abstinence when he outlined his "aspirational'' vision for NBC in an address to TV critics at the 1999 Winter Press Tour.

Even "less sex'' seemed a bold proposal given the state of the TV union.

It certainly got the attention of reporters.

"Think about 'Cheers,' of the unresolved sexual tension you had in that show,'' said Sassa, referring to that classic sitcom's Sam-and-Diane dynamic.

OK. We're thinking.

But NBC is the network that brings us "Friends,'' "Veronica's Closet'' and "Just Shoot Me,'' three sexually active and, more significantly, three top-rated shows.

As a result, Sassa, good intentions or not, found himself immediately qualifying his remarks, if not backing away from them altogether.

"I want to be clear,'' he said. "I'm not saying 'no sex.' OK? I am saying 'less sex,' and it depends on the type of show it is. 'Friends' is a show that's targeted for 18- to 49-year-olds. It's about single people that live in New York. They will come into situations where they meet people and they have sex with people."

There's a place for "Friends," said Sassa. But, he said, too: "What I don't want to do is to give notes to producers of shows we have in this kind of forum. It's really about - in some cases - (how) we use sex to get an easy laugh or sex as an easy promotional hook, and we need to be careful with that.''

So was he promoting restraint as opposed to chastity? Hard to tell.

"Sex in situation comedies and things like that is a device that's important and, for the most part, when sex is used in a smart way, it works out OK,'' he said.

In some cases, however, it's clear, "We could use a few more words in between `Hello' and 'Would you sleep with me?'" Sassa said.

"Balance,'' the NBC executive went on. It's all about balance.

"We're not trying to create a Family Channel here,'' Sassa said.

But in an era of immediate gratification, the scales have tipped so far in favor of sex, it's difficult to believe that sex will somehow pull itself back under the covers in Hollywood even if many viewers around the country long for the days of "Father Knows Best.''

"We do not live in a three- or four-channel environment as we did in the '60s and '70s"' said Sassa. "We have to have

different programs."

But at the very least, he said, "Within shows that are supposed to be family shows, we need to be responsible."

Of course, NBC's new family drama series "Providence,'' broadcast Fridays at 8 p.m. EST, managed to have its lovely lead, Melina Kanakaredes, strip down to her panties and bra for all to see as she stepped into a shower - where she caught her boyfriend soaping up with another man.

And the other broadcast networks don't seem inclined to follow Sassa's lead - modest though it is.

Fox's "Ally McBeal'' is all but obsessed with sex - right down to erotic finger-sucking. The lead character on The WB's "Felicity'' got a graphic how-to lesson on condoms in a recent episode.

And every season, it seems, more and more shows find a reason to shoot a scene or two in a strip club.

So maybe Sassa was sassing us.

Or kidding himself.

It's difficult to believe sex will pull itself back under the covers in Hollywood.

01-27-99