Back in the day, you had to go to a video store, look in a private room behind some beaded curtains for a video, drive back home, and then use your VHS player to get nude scenes on television. Or, even worse, you had to call a number and pay over the phone each time you wanted to watch some onscreen nudity. But we've come a long way, baby, and now pretty much every channel and streaming service, barring basic cable, has their own way for a viewer to get their eyes on some boobs and some butts—shout-out to HBO and to Netflix, who paved the way. For your viewing pleasure, we've gathered the most naked shows on television that you can stream now. Happy watching!
'Rome'
Rome, which premiered in 2005, paved the way for gritty/sexy HBO drama series. Which means without its pioneering use of sexy people doing sexy things in period costumes, a show like Game of Thrones may never have existed.
'Masters of Sex'
With a title like Masters of Sex and a home on Showtime, it would honestly be more shocking if this series didn't have a ton of nude scenes. The series is set in the '50s and '60s and focuses on real-life, pioneering sex researchers Dr. William Masters and Virginia Johnson (played by Michael Sheen and Lizzy Caplan).
'P-Valley'
Speaking of sexy premises on premium cable, we have to give a shoutout to Starz's P-Valley, which follows employees at a strip club in Mississippi.
'Carnival Row'
Amazon's Carnival Row is here to fill the "fantasy elements with lots of naked people" shaped void in your TV diet. The steampunk-set series takes place in an alternate reality where faeries, fauns, and other magical creatures exist alongside humans (and get busy with them).
'Secret Diary of a Call Girl'
This ITV classic 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl' follows a high-end call girl (played by Doctor Who alum Billie Piper) who relays the often-hilarious tales of the trade—think British Sex and the City with a prostitute.
'True Detective'
If it's on HBO, you can bet there are going to be naked people. True Detective has had some notable nude moments, like when Alexandra Daddario bared all in Season 1.
'Black Sails'
If you've always wondered what would happen if you took Game of Thrones and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and put them in a blender, then start binging Black Sails. The Starz series is set during the "Golden Age" of piracy and features, you guessed it, plenty of ARRRGH-rated moments (won't apologize for puns, ever).
'Vinyl'
This short-lived HBO series about the record industry boasted an A-list cast with the likes of Olivia Wilde and Juno Temple, as well as some of the rawest, most real moments of TV nudity ever to hit the airwaves.
'Spartacus: Blood and Sand'
Spartacus: Blood and Sand is the first season of Starz's Spartacus series, which follows a gladiator in ancient Rome. Period costumes, action, drama, lots of sexy times and nudity—this is literally the perfect fix if you're ever feeling Game of Thrones withdrawal.
'True Blood'
If HBO dramas and gratuitous nudity are synonymous at this point, True Blood deserves a lot of the credit. The vampire-fueled, paranormal romance made Game of Thrones look tame when it comes to nudity. Seriously.
'Euphoria'
HBO's gritty teen drama Euphoria is all about the darkest side of teenage life, and it dives headfirst into heavy issues like drug use and sex in honest and real ways. So, yes, nudity is a given.
'Californication'
When a show's title is literally a play on the word "fornication," you should know going in that you're in for a lot of sex and, by extension (on premium cable, anyway), a lot of nudity. Showtime's Californication, about a sex-obsessed novelist, is definitely that.
'Harlots'
I mean, this Hulu original series is about a brothel. Nudity is almost built into the equation. Starring Samantha Morton as Margaret Wells, an 18th-century brothel owner and mother who finds her entire way of life thrown askew when a rival madam steps into her territory. Lots of cleavage to be seen in these corseted gowns.
'The Deuce'
Yet another show with a concept just begging for nude scenes. Created by David Simon and George Pelecanos, the same people who brought you The Wire, The Deuce follows life in Manhattan during the late '70s Golden Age of Porn and prostitution. Starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal, this show is sexy as hell, and even more naked.
'Naked and Afraid'
Naked is in the title, I couldn't leave this one off of the list! Yes, it's naked, and no, not the sexy kind of naked. Naked and Afraid takes two strangers—usually a man and a woman—and drops them in a desolate, dangerous environment, with no food, water, or clothing. And they have to just... survive. They've got to make it to 21 days... in the jungle.
'Shameless'
Shameless lives up to its name with the amount of nudity the show has. Following a working-class family in Chicago just trying to make things work, this show's ensemble cast has never shied away from showing a little skin.
'The Affair'
The Affair is another show where the title implies a little bit of nudity must be involved. Following two married couples, Cole (Joshua Jackson) and Allison (Ruth Wilson) as well as Noah (Dominic West) and Helen (Maura Tierney), as Noah and Allison embark on the titular affair, the show shows the affair from both halves' perspective. There's plenty of sex and plenty of skin to be found here.
'Westworld'
Considering the first episode includes a naked Evan Rachel Wood, this list would be incomplete without Westworld. Taking place in the future at a themepark for adults of the same name, allowing visitors to become gunslingers in the Wild West. How his theme park operates is through androids, who look like humans but are easily programmable, or so they initially thought. While the premise may not sound naked-friendly, it's got plenty of boobs and butts to be found.
'Easy'
Easy is an anthology series following modern romance in Chicago, so there's plenty of sex to be found here. Given that each episode follows a new storyline, and the show has some of your favorite celebs, you may get a glimpse on someone who you never knew you wanted to see in the nude!
'Narcos'
Following the story of the rise of the cocaine trade in the 1980's and the real life stories of the drug kingpins and the law enforcement trying to take them down. And yes, there are plenty of nude scenes.
'Orange is the New Black'
Orange takes place in a woman's prison and the catalyst for the show involves a lesbian romance—there's no question about how naked this show gets. Telling the stories of the prison and how the women came to get there, this show has an abundance of nude scenes.
'Altered Carbon'
Based on the 2002 book of the same name, Altered Carbon takes place 300 years in the future where memories and consciousness can be transplanted into an organically created "surrogate" called a "sleeve", following Takeshi, a political operative with mercenary skills as he wakes up suddenly in a new "sleeve" and is given the choice to go to jail for his crimes, or help the police solve a murder they believe his "sleeve" has committed. Everyone gets naked on this show. Naked AF.
'Sex Education'
Sex Education is far raunchier and more explicit than the average teenage drama, and being on Netflix surely helps that. The series follows a lonely high schooler who recruits his sex therapist mother and another girl in his class to open a "health clinic" for teens. It's a show about sex, so no surprise about the naked content here.
'Outlander'
Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan's time-travel romance show is very sexy, and very naked! Balfe plays Clare Randall, a nurse in 1945 who finds herself suddenly back in 1743, and must rely on Jamie (Heughan) to help her. Of course, another period piece means plenty of space for cleavage!
'American Gods'
Well, the first nude scene on this show involves a man getting absorbed into a woman's vagina, so it's needless to say that American Gods is naked-friendly, and equal-opportunity naked (meaning both men and women bare all.) Based on the 2001 Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, American Gods follows Shadow, after the death of his wife, being visited by Mr. Wednesday, a mysterious man who knows a lot about him and his dark past. Mr. Wednesday gives Shadow a warning that things are only getting crazier from there, and spoiler alert: they do.
'The Nevers'
What is it about period dramas and the fantasy genre that pair so well together? Could it be that they both invite a greater amount of nudity than would otherwise be realistic? Ok, probably not, but The Nevers on HBO is as thrilling as it nude. It takes place in Victorian London, where a group of ladies are suddenly bestowed with mystical abilities and must use them to fight for the safety of the world.
'The Americans'
In addition to being one the most award-winning TV shows of the last decade, The Americans also had some hot sex scenes. Part of the magic must have been the natural chemistry between Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, who play two deep undercover Russian spies posing as a regular suburban family during the Cold War. That chemistry eventually led the two actors to get married IRL, so it's no wonder they sizzle on screen.
'Scenes From a Marriage'
No offense to shows that don't have Oscar Isaac in them, but you can put that man on-screen for the purpose of reading the phone book and it'll still be the sexiest thing released all year. In the case of Scenes From a Marriage, he brings the heat and the heart as the struggling husband to Jessica Chastain's unhappy wife. While that might sound depressing, and it is, there are plenty of sexy, tension-filled moments to break up the existential sadness. And, again, those scenes include Oscar Isaac.
'Entourage'
Look, do we feel good about the fact that Entourage, a show so casually misogynistic that it should be taught in college classes, also has some really hot sex scenes? Not exactly. But upon a rewatch, there is in fact much to like about this show, including but not limited to the super gorgeous guest stars, Adrien Grenier, and some solid, naked sex scenes. And if you're inclined to get to those sex scenes more quickly by fast-forwarding through the parts that are just white men talking, that's a fine prerogative.
'The Girlfriend Experience'
In each of its three seasons, this Starz anthology series followed different high-end escorts who provide their clients with the titular “girlfriend experience”—both emotionally and, of course, sexually—and find themselves tangled up in blackmail plots and corruption schemes along the way. Fun fact: Riley Keough’s breakout role came courtesy of the show, as she led the first season as law student-turned-escort Christine Reade.
'Girls'
Girls may not be the absolute most naked of the shows on this list, but its six seasons’ worth of nude scenes always packed a powerful punch. They usually depicted twenty-something women with a range of body types going about their regular, imperfect lives, whether that meant going clubbing in a fully see-through top ("'Cause it's a Wednesday night, baby, and I'm alive!"), taking a bath while gossiping with a friend, or having some of the most realistically awkward sex ever shown onscreen.
'Power'
One of Starz’s highest-rated shows of all time, Power follows James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), a drug dealer who dreams of going legit as a nightclub owner. With an extensive cast of intertwined characters—including Ghost’s long-term mistress, criminal prosecutor Angela Valdes, played by Lela Loren—the show became just as known for its many, many sex scenes as its high-stakes drama and nail-biting cliffhangers.
'Minx'
Minx, which was rescued by Starz in early 2023 after being dropped by HBO Max after its critically acclaimed first season, is a comedy that follows the establishment of the first erotic magazine for women in the 1970s. The show is a celebration of feminism and sexual liberation—and has also made headlines for its equal-opportunity approach to full-frontal nudity. Hey, they’ve got to pick a centerfold model somehow!
'The Tudors'
These days, if you want to revisit Tudor “history,” there are several options much more entertaining than a History Channel lecture. To name just a couple: You can go the pop-musical route, courtesy of Six, or you can see Henry VIII and his six wives—not to mention his multiple mistresses—bare all throughout this Showtime series’ four steamy seasons. The choice is yours.
'Naked Attraction'
This dating show, in which a singleton chooses a partner from six de-identified options, based solely on their gradually revealed naked bodies, has long been a thing in the U.K. It wasn’t until this fall that Americans were given access to the wacky premise, thanks to Max’s quiet addition of Naked Attraction to its catalog—and it quickly blew up to become one of the streamer’s most popular shows in its first few weeks.
‘The L Word’
As if The L Word wasn’t already groundbreaking enough for depicting television’s first cast of queer female characters, it went even further by showing those characters actually having sex, and through the female gaze, no less.
‘Sense8’
Co-created by the Wachowski sisters, this Netflix series lasted only two seasons, but that was plenty of time to build out the complex web of relationships—complete with many steamy sex scenes—among the titular group of mentally and emotionally linked “sensates.”
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