The best sex scenes in binge-worthy TV series

Sex on TV? As we now have streaming services like HBO and Netflix, you don’t have to search for obscure porn sites to watch a steamy love scene anymore. TV series have come a long way since the wholesome Brady Bunch graced our screens; they now provide us with the most exciting sex scenes. These are the hottest series to watch!

Spark your imagination

Sometimes you’re in the mood for a quick masturbation fix with the help of PornHub or YouPorn. It’s easily accessible and the graphic nature of the videos is very effective. Sexy? No, usually not. Exciting plot? Nope, it’s mostly ludicrous, if there’s even a plot at all.

And although that’s perfectly fine, sometimes you want stimulate your imagination a bit more without your eyes being immediately drawn to an erect penis or a wet vagina. Bonus: the acting in TV series is much better.

The shameless Samantha Jones

When compared to the small screen, the big screen had always been a bit more willing to show unabashed eroticism. Of course there were references to sex in TV series; even in series like I love Lucy in the early sixties, the innuendos were thrown back and forth. But more than a tongue-in-cheek joke? Definitely not.

The innuendos became much more obvious when Samantha Jones demonstrated the many purposes of a sex swing in the 90s. While her friends were struggling with love and sex, Samantha was a breath of fresh air who always played the game of sex on her own terms. Always looking for a good orgasm and always ready to throw out a hilarious oneliner where she shamelessly showcased her self-love.

And what do you think about this nugget of wisdom?: ‘You can bang your head against the wall and try to find a relationship or you can say screw it and just go out and have sex like a man.’ Samantha wasn’t the type of woman to go out of her way to please a man and she had high expectations of both her bed partners and herself: ‘Fuck me badly once, shame on you. Fuck me badly twice, shame on me.’

Now, almost 25 years have past since Samantha changed our conversations about sex forever and the presence of sex in TV series has only increased since then. Are you curious about the most legendary sex scenes on the small screen? Here they are!

The best sex scenes in TV series

• Hollywood

Ryan Murphy isn’t known for truly exciting sex scenes. They’re usually bizarre (American Horror Story), detached and cocaine-driven (Halston) or an expression of the protagonist’s physchological problems (Ratched). However, in the mini-series called Hollywood, lovers of good sensual scenes definitely get what they want. The series is set in Hollywood in the 40s: the golden years for white, heterosexual men, but not so much for their black or homosexual colleagues. In Murphy’s universe however, women dominate the filmstudios and film icons like Rock Hudson are allowed to be openly gay. This leads to a romantic, moving and sexy scene between Jake Picking as Rock Hudson and Jeremy Pope as black script writer Archie Coleman.

• Vikings

Can Travis Fimmel be any sexier? Yes, he can. Especially when he wears a rough Viking outfit and plays the rol of curious, adventurous and brooding Ragnar Lothbrok for many episodes. This Viking leader forms a fiery couple with shield maiden Lagertha, whether they’re fighting or having sex. Lagertha doesn’t beat around the bush: ‘I want to ride you like a wild bull’, she moans when she climbs on top of him.

Despite all the sexual tension between the two main characters, there are some scenes that exceed the Ragnar/Lagertha love saga. Especially the one between Ragnar and the former slave girl Yidu. Yidu is in the bathtub while Ragnar bends over her, completely clothed. He washes her neck slowly and tenderly, until he glides his hand in the water. Yidu holds her breath while Ragnar stares into her eyes and slowly moves his hand up and down. He washes her hair, caresses her arms with a sharp knife and then suddenly cuts her hair off during a tender kiss. Kinky. And ironic foreshadowing of Yidu’s eventual death by drowning: also by the hands of Ragnar.

• The Handmaid’s Tale

This dark series is based on the book by Margaret Atwood of the same title. It’s set in Gilead, formerly known as the United States, a totalitarian state that is run by Christian fundamentalists. Because the birth rate has dropped drastically due to environmental pollution, the few fertile women left are assigned as ‘handmaids’ to the male elite and their wives. Their assignment? Give birth to a child, give that child away and repeat the same routine for the next childless couple. They’re essentially breeding machines.

Most sex scenes in The Handmaid’s Tale consist of rape, which are extra painful to watch because of main character June’s distorted and traumatised facial expressions. But when she escapes with guard Nick half-way through the first series, it leads to one of the most liberating sex scenes in the history of television. She rips his clothes off his body, shakes her always hidden hair loose and pushes him under her. That’s right, woman on top! In Gilead, sex is a clinical act that women are forced to endure, but here, she takes control of her body and sexuality in a glorious way.

• Bridgerton

There’s always something brewing below the surfuce in British period dramas, but there’s rarely more than an uncovered ankle or a heaving bosom that’s threatening to collapse under intense emotions on display. This isn’t the case in the Netflix hit series Bridgerton.

A few months ago, we all swooned while watching Daphne Bridgerton and her sexy Duke Simon Basset, the love couple who, after a period of ‘will they won’t they’, end up in each other’s arms. And how! From the moment the marriage is allowed to be consummated, that’s exactly what they do. In bed. In the bushes. On the stairs, where Simon introduces innocent Daphne to the joys of cunnilingus. The sex scene in episode five will probably go down in the books as the longest sex scene ever shot. Great for swooning over on your own, but perhaps not as great to watch with your period drama-loving mother next to you.

• Orange is the New Black

Speaking of cunnilingus, OITNB is set in a women’s prison and between all the drama, jokes and displays of power, the main characters are able to find the most creative solutions for their sexual needs. Nicky has the quickest tongue in the entire prison, both literally and figuratively, and she loves to slip it between the legs of her fellow inmates.

Especially in the chapel, where the light coming in through the stained-glass windows softens the normally grim atmosphere. And especially with her best, and fairly insane, friend Morello: check out the exhibitionist shower scene. But also the sex scenes between main character Piper and her girlfriend Alex definitely deserve a mention here. Like in that flashback, when Piper treats her new friend to a shy striptease, which eventually leads to a steaming sex scene in the shower.

• Game of Thrones

If there’s one TV series that pushed boundaries when it comes to sex scenes, it has to be Game of Thrones. Incest, anyone? There’s a sex scene in practically every episode of this fantasy epic, whether it’s tender, or cruel and manipulative sex. Some scenes hurt your eyes a little, but most are as hot as the fire coming out of Drogon’s fearsome mouth. But there are two scenes that stand out above the rest. The first is the one with Daenerys, who teaches her wild husband Khal Drogo that sex is more than just pounding away. She escapes from her submissive position, sits on top of the bewildered warrior and says: ‘Tonight I want to look upon your face’. With this act, she doesn’t just change her relationship, but her position as a woman in a male-dominated tribe as well.

However, the best scene is the one with Jon Snow and Igritte. After weeks of flirting, Igritte lures Jon to a cave, takes off her bearskin and self-consciously says that she wants him to see every part of her. Jon tries to resist, but the temptation is too much and they both give in to a wild, passionate kiss that ends in a steamy licking session between the legs. The best thing about this scene? It’s not about shock value or awful power struggle, but about lust and love. Pure and unbridled.

• True Blood

From the very first episodes, the vampire drama True Blood pushes the boudaries of sex on TV. From threesomes to orgies and from S&M to the incest scene between Viking vampire Eric and his sister Nora, after which he grins and says: ‘We fight like siblings but fuck like champions’. Eric has all the best sex scenes anyway, just look at the wonderful moment where he and main character Sookie make love in a snowy winter wonderland, covered from top to bottom in white fur. Although the scene where Sookie drags her other vampire lover Bill from an undeep grave to go down and dirty at a graveyard at night is hard to forget as well.

Fan of vampire sex? There are also many hot scenes in The Vampire Diaries. Sex scenes between main character Elena and good vampire Stefan Salvatore are loving and tender, but things get a lot more intense when his bad boy brother Damon shows up. Why? Because even this dark, blood-sucking hottie falls hopelessly in love and thanks to Elena, he slowly but surely finds his humanity again. And secretly, there is nothing sexier than that: a monster who hurts the whole world. Except you.

Are you bored of simply watching porn videos to get a quick orgasm? Let yourself get carried away by a bingefest at one of your favourite streaming services. Great for your imagination!

Also read: Must-see TV series about sex and relationships