Floozies let loose on network TV
    By: Marisa Guthrie
    (New York) Daily News
    Nov. 9, 2004 12:00 AM

    The vamp is back. Thanks to the modern feminist movement, exhibitionist
    behavior of reality-show contestants and the frank sexual exploration of
    Sex and the City, female taboos on TV have been shattered.

    Nicolette Sheridan's Desperate Housewives divorcee Edie wears her carnal
    heart on her diaphanous sleeve.

    "(Edie's) our libidinous protagonist," said Sheridan, whose character is
    embroiled in a lusty catfight with Teri Hatcher's Susan for the attention
    of the neighborhood bachelor on the ABC drama.

    Eva Longoria's Gabrielle is unhappily married to a cad. So what does she do?
    Has an affair with the 17-year-old gardener, of course.

    And the women of ABC's sizzling drama aren't the only ones hot to trot this season.

  • "Nasty hot" is how a Boston Legal character described brilliant and beautiful
    lawyer Tara Wilson, played by Rhona Mitra.

  • Drea de Matteo may not have the outrageous wardrobe she had playing the
    miniskirted and spike-heeled Adriana on The Sopranos, but as Matt LeBlanc's
    sister Gina on Joey, her behavior and or her assets, haven't been toned down.

  • Even Jenny McCarthy, who rose to fame as eye candy on MTV and the pages of
    Playboy, is enjoying a career resurgence. She'll star in UPN's midseason
    sitcom The Bad Girls Guide.

    "Sex always sells," said Dawn Esposito, associate professor of sociology and
    chairwoman of the sociology and anthropology department at St. John's University
    in New York. "I think the success of Sex and the City becomes a standard for
    new shows, and it's titillating. I think that TV has expanded its own boundaries."

    "We're in a time of tremendous social crisis in this country. And it's part of
    the media's job to divert us," Esposito said. "Shows that have a motif of sexual
    titillation are easier to watch. They're more brainless, and we seem to be in a
    time where being brainless is welcome."

    © The Arizona Republic 2004. All Rights Reserved.

    http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/arizonaliving/articles/1109vamps1109.html

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