"Secret Diary of a Call Girl:" Filling the Void of "Sex and the City" on Satellite TV - Entertainment - Television

Who knew that the next television series to take a frank and funny look at sex would actually feature a character who gets paid to have it? While the show "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" experienced more than one speedbump on its road to serious success, it's currently gearing up for a third season. Drawing the highest amount of viewers to Showtime in over four years, the show managed to snag a larger audience than "Dexter" and "Weeds" once it got rolling, and is looking ready to do the same thing in its third season on satellite tv, but hopefully better.

An unconventional show could only come from unconventional subject material, so it's no wonder that "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" comes from a surprising source: the blog of "Belle de Jour," a pseudonym for one of London's real-life high-class call girls. The rights to the blog, which also captivated millions, were purchased by British television producers, who made the show a smash hit in the UK. Showtime decided that the same could be done on satellite tv across the pond, and arrangements were made.

Like "Sex and the City," the main character of "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," is smart, well-dressed, and a true city girl. She enjoys drinks with friends, breaking the fourth wall, and meeting men. Only some of the time, she's meeting men because she's on the clock, and the rest of the time, she's meeting men because she's on a leisurely date. And just like in "Sex and the City," the city itself plays a sort of unavailable love interest, with exterior shots of bustling restaurants and sultry nightclubs which are gazed at just as longingly as potential boyfriends. Of course, there's also having to deal with the truth of her occupation, as she dates men who are completely unaware of what it is that she does to pay for her apartment and lifestyle.

While it's obvious why a show called "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" would find success on satellite tv and not, say, network, this doesn't mean that people who might not initially be drawn to the subject material wouldn't enjoy it. While it's definitely a more complicated subject than most of the dramas in chick lit and series based upon women musing over their offers for apartments, jobs, and men, that doesn't mean that there isn't anything fun or entertaining about the program. In fact, in its first season, that is why it got into so much trouble, with different groups advocating that the program be removed.

Why were people so cranky about "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" being on television? Because they thought it it was giving the wrong impression of what the occupation of prostitution was actually like to glamorize it on satellite tv. And while it's difficult to reach the original source material for comment, apparently the message is that while there are serious issues with an illegal and thus unregulated job, apparently the world's oldest profession has its success stories. I'm sure that "Belle de Jour," wherever she is, certainly agrees.

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