How TV Shows Get Stars Naked

Where there's a thrill, there's a way.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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We'll remember our favorite nude scenes for the rest of our lives. Anyone who claims that he or she didn't practically break their VCR from rewinding and fast-forwarding like a man or woman possessed when they happened across that Halle Berry topless scene in Swordfish is a liar. And, let's be real, many people consider the notorious ménage-â-Bacon scene in Wild Things their first sexual experience.

Films have long been the home of gratuitous nudity, but for many years, finding nudity on television took intense effort. Either you had to settle for Dennis Franz's bare ass on NYPD Blue or you had to pray that your dad's jerry-rigged Skinimax feed wasn't so fuzzy that you couldn't make out the two women inexplicably dressed as maids taking feather dusters to each other on a king size bed.

Now that nudity-friendly cable dramas have come to dominate the air waves, television nakedness is made to order. Do you want rough medieval nudity? Game of Thrones and The Tudors proffer many a doffed corset my Lord. Are you more into sun-kissed actress-models concocting the most flimsy of excuses to peel their clothes off? Californication and Entourage will gladly provide you with a dose of Maxim-style male fantasy. Do you want to feel awful about objectifying women and come face-to-face with the embarrassing chauvinism innate in the male gaze? Lena Dunham is happy to oblige while sitting naked on a toilet and eating cake on Girls.

Yes, there are innumerable varied, creative ways that showrunners are working nudity into their shows. Here is our guide to the situations, channels, series, and actresses that are the sure sign of a nude time. This is how TV shows get stars naked.

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They're a stripper or a prostitute.

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They're caught in the shower.

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They're gambling and/or betting their clothes.

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They go skinny dipping.

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They're a stalker.

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They're a spy.

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She's his mistress.

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They're "prepping for a role."

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They have a ladies locker room heart-to-heart and/or cat fight.

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They need to prove they've still got it.

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They already get naked for their day job.

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They want the power.

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They're on Game of Thrones.

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The show takes place in the distant past.

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They're on drugs.

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They're lesbians.

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She's a MILF going through a midlife crisis.

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There's an attempt on their life.

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They're on True Blood.

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They grew up In the public eye.

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It's for sheer hilarity's sake.

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They're dead.

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They're on an artistic mission.

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They're contractually obligated.

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They're on a Starz show.

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