Maisy Fernandez,
Jul 20, 2009
You don't need a summer fling to get your groove back; passion prevails on premium cable.
Not only do HBO and Showtime offer some of the most compelling characters on TV, they've also got some of the sexiest women around. These ladies aren't held to the same prudish standards as the femmes of regular network programming -- which means they're free to be themselves. And viewers are invited to watch, even when the consequences aren't always pretty.
Here, we size up several scorching characters based on their sexcapades.
8. TARA GREGSON
On United States of Tara, the majority of Tara's (Toni Collette) sex drive is seen through her horny, teenage alter ego, T. No matter how gorgeous her (female) multiple personalities are, it's kind of creepy to see T hit on men that are mentally twice her age. And it was excruciating to watch T seduce Tara's gay son's teen, bisexual love interest in the back shed -- and then get caught red-handed.
7. NURSE JACKIE
We love the clever personality of Nurse Jackie's title character (Edie Falco), although she's not exactly made out to be a sex symbol. However, she does get her fair share of dicey, extra-marital action. She hides the fact that she's married in order to have daily relations with a co-worker who feeds her prescription drug addiction. And of course, they do it in a room full of drugs. Tawdry.
6. DEBRA MORGAN
A tomboy with an extremely profane mouth, Debra Morgan(Jennifer Carpenter) of Dexter has great instincts in her policing job, but when it comes to men, her taste could use some refinement. She dated, and was briefly engaged to a serial killer, leading her to have hot rebound sex with a guy she met at the gym.
After a semi-icky relationship with a decades-older superior, she's most recently been having a steamy affair with a sexy, pot-smoking Miami musician. It's forbidden because of his involvement with an ongoing investigation, but it's fun to see Debra take a risk for a guy with whom she really seems to click.
5. SOOKIE STACKHOUSE
Cute and feisty, it's nice to see the True Blood character's softer side when she's with vampire Bill. Sookie (Anna Paquin) is also a brave lover. During their first sex encounter, she wanted Bill to bite her. But it wasn't until the hot, dirty sex scene during which Bill crawled naked out of the ground in a graveyard and mounted Sookie, that she evolved from starry-eyed young woman to sexpert.
4. MARGENE HEFFMAN
Margene (Ginnifer Goodwin) wasn't raised Mormon, and before marrying into the polygamous Henrickson family on Big Love, had multiple sexual partners. So it's no surprise she's the most experimental of the three wives.
She wears racy lingerie and offers Bill more than standard, missionary position sex. In fact, when she and Bill were seen engaging in oral sex, the other wives got angry because it was too kinky. Jealous much, ladies?
3. NANCY BOTWIN
Nancy (Mary-Louise Parker) began her time on Weeds as a pretty standard suburban mom, but over the seasons has demonstrated her penchant for both adventurous lovemaking and culturally diverse partners.
She's done it in offices with Sullivan Groff (Matthew Modine) and Esteban Reyes (Demian Bichir); on the hood of a car in an alley with Guillermo (Guillermo Diaz) and in the middle of a marijuana grow operation with Conrad Shepard (Romany Malco).
2. BELLE/HANNAH BAXTER
On Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Hannah (Billie Piper) admits she's a high-class escort because she enjoys sex and because the job is easy.
Hannah/Belle is gorgeous, has an endless supply of provocative lingerie and makes sex with even the weirdest and perverse guys seem like it's the best time she's ever had. Her personal relationships with regular men do suffer, but for now, she seems to be living the life she wants. Happily.
1. SAMANTHA JONES
Even though Sex and the City is in syndication, you can't even have a discussion about sexy ladies of cable without addressing Samantha Jones (Kim Cattrall). Samantha claimed she was trisexual, meaning, she'd "try anything once." And during her six seasons on SATC, we're pretty sure she did.
With innumerable affairs, stories and relationships with men and women under her belt (literally), Samantha was confident in herself and made no apologies for her sexploits. Not even when she decided to go the monogomous route at the end of the series.
