UPDATED!
[TV Line] Hit Drama Planning X-Rated Treat – Will It Make It Past the Censors? (Warning: NSFW)
As the saying goes, “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.”
But this October, fans of a certain hit drama will probably be screaming for a splash of cold water on their faces after they witness what goes down between one of the show’s randier couples — a hook-up so racy, it almost didn’t make it to air.
Allow me to set the scene: Ice cream parlor. Lovers on a date. Each enjoying a sundae. The male half of the pair reaches under the table to, ahem, melt his partner under her dress. He then takes that same hand and dips it in her sundae. And finally, the frisky female laps up a spoonful of the “tainted” dessert.
Hot fudge, indeed!
As you can imagine, this is where the road gets rocky. Standards and Practices at the unnamed broadcast network initially balked (though, were the tryst to play out on a pay cabler like HBO or Showtime, no one would so much as blush). Eventually, I hear the debate escalated to the highest office at the network – the forward-thinking president – and the scene was OK’d. (Of course, anything can change between now and the airdate.)
Now, while the series in question has pushed the envelope before, sexually speaking, this incident is still bound to raise eyebrows. But should it? After all, the broadcast networks — competing as they are with the likes of Game of Thrones, Dexter and Boardwalk Empire — have been getting racier for years (and years). Wasn’t it just a matter of time before they leveled the playing field? And should the network prez be lauded for having the guts to do just that?
Oh, and while you’re you’re busy discussing whether greenlighting the bit is smart business or evidence of moral decay, perhaps you’d also like to take a stab at guessing the identity of the couple in question?
Show:
Couple:
It’s Kalinda and Nick on The Good Wife! Source: TV Line
From TV Line:
Three weeks ago, TVLine shared with you news of an upcoming sequence on a hit drama series that nearly sent Standards and Practices at the unnamed broadcast network into sugar shock. The racy scene in question was set at an ice cream parlor and went something like this: Lovers on a date. Each enjoying an ice cream cone. The male half of the pair reaches under the table to, ahem, melt his partner under her skirt. He then takes that same hand and dips it in her cone. Unshaken, the frisky female proceeds to lap at her “tainted” dessert.
After some internal debate over whether the outré encounter was suitable for the broadcast airwaves, the scene was eventually cleared for air later this fall. But the question remains: What is the network, show and couple at the center of this potentially controversial hook-up?
TVLine can now reveal that the network is CBS, the show is The Good Wife, and the prurient duo is Kalinda (played by Archie Panjabi) and her estranged husband Nick (British actor Marc Warren). At the Emmys on Sunday, Panjabi revealed that the ice cream scene (set to air in the Oct. 7 episode) is but one of several boundary-pushing encounters the two share this fall.
“That’s the beginning of a whole string of scenes which I have never seen on network TV, cable TV… TV period,” Panjabi tells TVLine. “It’s so messed up.” (Asked to name one of the props at the center of another such scene, Panjabi responds with a naughty smile: “A letter opener.” Yikes!)
The Emmy-winning actress is quick to point out that the risky on-screen seduction is not just for shock value. It’s intended to chronicle a truly toxic marriage — one in which Kalinda is powerless to avoid. “She knows he’s dangerous but you cannot stay away,” she explains. “This is a woman who is so in control. For three years she’s been a woman who’s been able to resolve everything and everyone, and suddenly there’s this one person she cannot stay away from.”
Panjabi adds that the exposure to Nick is slowly “peeling back her layers and we’re starting to see the real Kalinda.” What does the real Kalinda look like? “Be afraid,” warns Panjabi. “Be very afraid.”
Thoughts? Happy to see that CBS is supporting the creative vision of series creators Robert and Michelle King? Does it concern you to see Kalinda so rattled?
A letter opener?! What the what?!
Sorry, but nobody got this one right (multiple guesses don’t count, people). Better luck next time!
UPDATE!
Here’s the scene: