Undressed is a MTV series that premiered in 1999 for their late night block, created by Roland Joffé. The series is part anthology, part Soap Opera that focuses on the love lives and sexual escapades of teens and young adults in Los Angeles. The series lasted 3 years, ending in 2002 with a reboot currently stuck in Development Hell.
Each episode had three stories; some plotlines would end in 3-4 episodes and a fresh plot and group of actors would take over and some stories were continued through the season. The show is known for employing actors of varying acting ability; some actors were great, others not so much.
Undressed is infamous for its frank discussion of sex and sexuality, as well showing a lot of fanservice from both men and women and sex scenes that pushed what could be shown on basic cable. On the positive side, this was only of the few shows in the late 90's and the Turn of the Millennium to portray gay and lesbian relationships and avoiding But Not Too Gay when it came to affection and sex scenes. Also, the series was pretty progressive at the time in regards to kink, as one episode contained a fair representation of the Furry Fandom.
Undressed is also known for being a hub of Retroactive Recognition and being the acting start of many actors such as Dante Basco, Christina Hendricks, Jason David Frank (who actually worked alongside fellow Power Rangers actor Alyson Kiperman for an episode), Brandon Routh, Pedro Pascal, J. August Richards, Jerry Trainor, Max Greenfield, Chad Michael Murray, Katee Sackhoff, Diane Mizota, and Beth Riesgraf, to name a few.
Not to be confused with another MTV show that aired in 2017, also named Undressed except that was a reality TV dating show.
Tropes showcased in Undressed include:
- All Gays are Promiscuous: One gay character (who seemed to be trying to "convert" his roommate) explain this as something of a perk for being gay. His logic was while women are conditioned from a young age not to put out, guys are conditioned/encouraged to be more promiscuous and thus have less reluctance to sex in general, ergo it's easier to have sex if you're a gay man than a straight man because the target is more willing.
- All the Good Men Are Gay: One plot line saw a woman who dated at least two men who turned out to be gay and she later ended up being their Fag Hag. She tested her latest paramour having her friends flirt with him, but he turns out to be straight.
- Bisexual Love Triangle: One episode featured a guy, Dustin, realize he's bi after fooling around with his best friend Jake, who's also the brother of his secret girlfriend Julie. When everyone finds out they attempt polyamory, but ultimately Dustin finds the whole situation too awkward and bails.
- But Not Too Gay: Averted for both gay and lesbian storylines; surprising considering the time period it premiered in.
- Fanservice: A lot, none of it being actual nudity but a lot of attractive young men and women in their skivvies.
- Gaydar: A woman in college is concerned that her boyfriend isn't sleeping with her, so she goes to a gay friend who, after asking her a few questions about her, decides that he is definitely straight.
- Gay Guy Seeks Popular Jock:
- In one episode, former high school geek is hit on and makes out with the (closeted) former high school jock that tormented him. His Fag Hag teases him about it being the ultimate fantasy of bedding a jock, which he admits.
- Inverted in another episode, where a popular football player, Henry, is more open about being gay than his insecure nerd boyfriend, Brian. Meanwhile, another closeted football player, Nate, is trying to break them up because he wants to be with his teammate. But Henry actually loves the fact that he and Brian are so different and is determined to hold onto him.
- Lady Looks Like a Dude: One episode features a woman named Alex who tends to dress pretty masculinely, and complains to her roommate that everyone assumes she's a lesbian. She finally meets a guy who doesn't...because he's gay and assumed she was a guy.
- Mistaken for Subculture: One plot saw a woman mistaking a guy who wears a panda costume as part of his job as a furry, and asking him out. She later shows off her own fursuit, a squirrel. Despite being unnerved, the two eventually hit it off and compromise with her fetish and his fetish.
- Polar Opposite Twins: Carter and Cody Travis. Cody is a slacker, a jock, and straight while Carter is professional, put-together, and gay.
- Soap Wheel: There were always three storylines: high schoolers, college students, and adults in their twenties. Each season was self-contained, consisting of several dozen episodes, and especially in later seasons, all stories across age groups were in continuity with each other. Stories were of different durations, with starts and ends staggered, apart from all stories starting in the first episode and all stories ending in the final episode of the season. When a story would end, a new story would start in the same age group, often by shifting focus to a minor character featured in a previous story.
- Twin Switch: Carter convinces his twin brother Cody to impersonate him during dinner with the former's boyfriend Joel, as Carter has to meet a client for work but got an ultimatum from Joel about cancelling again. Naturally things go wrong pretty quickly—first Carter tries to put the moves on Cody (thinking he's Carter); then Cody's girlfriend Vanessa shows up to seduce him, so he hides her in the bedroom. Then he tries to "distract" Joel, and while he's doing that Carter returns home and is seen Vanessa, who tries seducing him. Has it been mentioned that neither of their partners know that they have a twin?
- Verbed Title: Referencing how that state is a requirement for most sex, and it features frank discussion of sex and sexuality, as well showing a lot of fanservice from both men and women and sex scenes that pushed what could be shown on basic cable.
