NPR – All Things Considered
by NEDA ULABY
Let’s look at some of the buzziest shows on television in the past year or so, shall we? What do House of Cards, Girls, I Love Dick, Orphan Black, Transparent and The Magicians have in common?
Every one of them has featured unconventional romantic or sexual relationships involving more than two people.
Exhibit A: the arrangement between the fictional president of the United States and First Lady on one of Netflix’s most popular shows, House of Cards. The most powerful couple on Earth enjoyed a joint affair with one of their Secret Service protectors. The two also regularly pursue separate romantic interests.
Exhibit B: I Love Dick’s entire premise rests on a couple’s shared crush on a famous artist (named, of course, Dick). And the lead character in Girls gets pregnant after a fleeting relationship with a man in an open relationship. (It’s also worth mentioning the failed threeway turned bonding experience between two of the main characters.)
On the other hand, Orphan Black’s three-ways tend to feature evil clones. A university professor on Transparent insists on non-monogamy with her much younger girlfriend. In The Magicians, polyamorous marriage is literally magical. And a new show called You Me Her concerns a suburban married couple bringing a girlfriend into their relationship.
As for reality TV, surprise! It’s not to be outdone. TLC’s polygamous hit Sister Wives was briefly joined on its home channel by a special called Brother Husbands, both about unconventional marriages. The channel further upped the stakes by introducing a throuple — three people in a relationship — on its bridal gown shopping show, Say Yes To The Dress.
I asked Nusrat Duranni, general manager of MTV Networks, if it was even possible to imagine so many unconventional relationships on TV even five years ago — when HBO’s hit drama, Big Love, about a polygamous Utah family, went off the air. “I couldn’t agree more,” Duranni said. Based on conversations with MTV viewers, he added, there’s probably not enough representation of unconventional and polyamorous relationships on TV.
Of course, pushing boundaries and titillating viewers is nothing new for television. Durrani remembers when networks in the 1990s used lesbian kisses on shows such as L.A. Law and Friends to goose ratings during sweeps week. “You can do that for a little bit, but I think it becomes old and tired and I think your audiences see through that,” he said.
What’s happening now, Duranni notes, is that many of these open relationships currently shown on television are an ongoing part of storylines, key to driving plots and understanding major characters. They’re not just stunts.
“People have more and different kinds of relationships than just opposite-sex committed marriage,” says Dan Savage, the nationally syndicated sex columnist and podcaster. “That’s not all there is under the sun. In a way, it parallels debates about representations of gay people on television.” …