Television
- Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal (1989), made-for-TV film. Police investigate underground S&M clubs looking for a serial killer. Vanessa Williams plays a hooker/dominatrix who videotapes her clients.
- Mercy (film) (2000) HBO cable-television movie starring Ellen Barkin and Peta Wilson. Murder mystery leads to a secret S&M society.
- Jack of All Trades is a comedy-adventure series set in the 19th century starring Bruce Campbell. In the episode "X Marquis the Spot" (2000), Jack visits the island resort of the Marquis de Sade and competes in an S&M-themed obstacle course race that parodies Survivor.
- Doc Martin, British television comedy-drama series starring Martin Clunes. In the episode "Old Dogs" (2005), the title character is consulted by a man who seems to have a habit of inexplicably injuring himself; it is later revealed that the man and his wife engage in BDSM, with the husband as the submissive.
- Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2007); in the fourth episode, "Belle" (Billie Piper) takes BDSM lessons from a professional dominatrix as a favor for her accountant who is a closet submissive.
- Dollhouse (2009); the beginning of the 9th episode shows Echo (Eliza Dushku), returning from an assignment as a leather-clad whip-wielding dominatrix.
- On the Alias (2003) 2nd season episode "Second Double", Agent Bristow (Jennifer Garner) goes undercover as a German dominatrix in a Berlin leather bar.
- The FOX series The Inside episode "Old Wounds" dealt exclusively with S&M, and was criticized by the Parents Television Council as a result.
- The television series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has featured Melinda Clarke as professional dominatrix Lady Heather in six episodes, most notably in the 90-minute special episode "Lady Heather's Box".
- Season 4 of HBO series Six Feet Under features a character (Joe) who wants to adopt a submissive sexual role in his relationship with Brenda.
- A Family Guy gag (from the episode "Let's Go to the Hop") depicts main characters Lois and Peter suiting up for a sadomasochistic session while having a mundane conversation about how wholesome their children are, and why they can be trusted. Toys have been made of this scene. In the audio commentary for that episode it is noted that such a practice seemed normal to them.
- Season 1 of the FOX medical drama House, episode "Love Hurts" a patient is deeply involved in a BDSM relationship.
- Rex Van de Kamp of Desperate Housewives was unveiled as a lover of S&M, much to the disgust of his wife, Bree. In Come Back to Me, Sharon Lawrence plays Maisy Gibbons, a dominatrix who walks across Rex's back in stiletto heels.
- Season 2 of NBC's Friday night drama Homicide: Life on the Street, in the episode "A Many Splendored Thing". Detectives Bayliss and Pembleton investigate a murder in the S&M club scene. Bayliss expresses his disgust at the 'perversion', but the episode ends with his return to a leather shop, where he purchases a studded and belted leather jacket. This episode is the beginning of the character's sexual awakening, as he becomes comfortable with his bisexual feelings.
- ER – a professional dominatrix with broken fingers and her male slave, who was injured in a fall during a bondage/suspension session, are admitted to the emergency room.
- Private Practice – in the 2nd season, cast member KaDee Strickland is seen roleplaying as a German dominatrix with a latex outfit, studded collar, and a whip.
- Season 5 of FX's Nip/Tuck has Sean crossing paths with a Hollywood agent (Craig Bierko) with horrific wounds on his chest and the dominatrix (Tia Carrere) who inflicted them on him in the episode "Carly Summers".
- Rescue Me (2009) – In "Initiation" (Season 5, episode 15), Callie Thorne's character seduces Tommy (Denis Leary) dressed as a cheerleader, Playboy bunny and latex-clad dominatrix. They are briefly seen paddling each other in a fast-motion sequence.
- HBO's series, The Sopranos, features multiple characters who engage in sadomasochism.
- In The Sopranos episode, "Mergers and Acqusitions", Valentina La Paz reports, in disgust, to Tony Soprano that in lieu of having conventional sexual relations, Soprano family mob captain, Ralph Cifaretto, asks her to scrape a cheese grater across his back and pour hot candle wax on his testicles.
- In The Sopranos episode "The Knight in White Satin Armor", Janice Soprano tells her sister-in-law, Carmela, that Janice allows Richie Aprile to hold a gun to Janice's head when they have sex.
Carmela: In a year, tops, you're gonna have to accept a comare.
- CSY (NY) Season 1/ep 16
- Allo Allo Season 1/ep 2;Season 3/ep 5
- In the anime and manga Gin Tama, characters Sogo Okita and Sarutobi Ayame often practice sadism and masochism respectively.
Read more about this topic: Sadism And Masochism In Fiction
Famous quotes containing the word television:
“Television is an excellent system when one has nothing to lose, as is the case with a nomadic and rootless country like the United States, but in Europe the affect of television is that of a bulldozer which reduces culture to the lowest possible denominator.”
—Marc Fumaroli (b. 1932)
“Photographs may be more memorable than moving images because they are a neat slice of time, not a flow. Television is a stream of underselected images, each of which cancels its predecessor. Each still photograph is a privileged moment, turned into a slim object that one can keep and look at again.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Laughter on American television has taken the place of the chorus in Greek tragedy.... In other countries, the business of laughing is left to the viewers. Here, their laughter is put on the screen, integrated into the show. It is the screen that is laughing and having a good time. You are simply left alone with your consternation.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)