HBO has long been known to push the limits of cable TV and for years has been delivering excellent, well written television shows. I still get sad when I drive by a funeral home now that Six Feet Under is over. I’m anxiously awaiting the Sex in the City movie next year too. But there’s something new on HBO this season and it’s decadent, I tell you. Have you seen it? Have you seen Tell Me You Love Me?

First of all, I’ll be the first to admit, the only reason I decided to watch it initially is because the ladies on The View said it was like porn. But they also said it explored relationships in a different way. I didn’t bring it up to Randy because although the porn aspect would probably intrigue him, I really didn’t have much hope for the relationship exploration part. With Tivo armed and ready, I waited until the first couple episodes aired to give it an honest shoot.

Let me get the sex part out of the way. I NEED to know how these people do it with actually DOING IT, first of all. It’s shocking. If you aren’t into or embarrassed by gratuitous sex, male and female parts flapping around and some all too familiar sounds, you might not want to watch it. Or wait until TBS sanitizes it in a couple years. If you still intend on watching, you’ve been warned!

It’s the relationships that are so complex and real. Basically, there are 4 couples living separate, different lives, but they do slightly intersect on a basic level. There’s an unmarried couple that tries to solve their problems with sex, a couple trying to have a baby (the woman is simply obsessed with it), a married with children couple who aren’t having any sex, and a “mature” (read: old) couple a really healthy sex life. Watching how each couple uses and misuses sex is incredible. How these couples go about their day to day lives but how much the act of sex plays a role. It’s also amazing to me how these couples seem to skirt important issues and fill up their lives with banalities to avoid real conversations.

Surprisingly, I was watching the second episode when my husband came home. He rolled his eyes, thinking it was some Lifetime-esque show, but watched with me. And it was just for the sex scenes, but I think he was grabbed by the male roles. There aren’t many shows depicting men dealing with relationship and sex issues like, well MEN not boys and Tell Me You Love Me does it like nothing I’ve seen. We actually started a dialogue about sex, romance and marriage - not a bad marital aid!

If you’re looking for a program that might spur conversation with your spouse, give Tell Me You Love Me a try. And hey, if it doesn’t get you thinking about the deep aspects of your relationship, at least you get to see some pretty shocking sex scenes!