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By Emily Russin
Special to MSN Entertainment

There's more to turning on the television viewer than a plain old sex scene. Characters first must be attractive to: (a) the audience and (b) each other. A buildup of sexual tension helps, particularly for those who tend toward the ... moreprudish end of the spectrum. If characters rush to bed, what's the point of telling a romantic story? Early television was very buttoned-up, and sex and sexual references mostly absent. Now, in the more sexually tolerant 21st century, the bedroom doors have been flung open, especially on premium cable, which offers up another sexy series this month, "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" (pictured) on Showtime. Because sexy is one thing to one person and another to another -- gender has more than a little to do with this -- the list below combines the thrill of the chase with the stuff that makes you blush.