Another show raising eyebrows is "Spuiten en Slikken" (Shooting and Swallowing), on which every sexual persuasion can be found. It broadcasts on the youth-oriented public broadcater BNN, currently the most risque station in Holland.
The program, which claims to have an educational purpose, caused a scandal even before its first episode. One of the presenters experiments onscreen with all kinds of soft and hard drugs. The program also features the exploration of sexual activities, including S&M, swingers clubs, squirting female orgasms and prostate milking (shown in full detail), leading to a flurry of political disapproval.
The Dutch have had their fair share of tasteless television in recent years. Considered by some as the nadir of gutter TV, "Patty's Fort," which aired in 2004 on RTL, saw minor Dutch celebs led by former pop singer Patty Brard gather for a colonic irrigation session in a health spa, with the scatological results shown to the audience.
The country has a long history of pushing the televisual envelope. In 1967, broadcaster VPRO caused a worldwide sensation by showing a nude model for the first time on national TV, shown reading a Christian newspaper. The resulting furor led to the cancellation of the avant-garde program, called "Hoepla," after only three episodes.
Death would be thought by some to be the ultimate taboo, but the Dutch were among the first to screen it. Twelve years ago, the religious broadcaster Ikon presented a documentary called "Death by Request," in which a euthanasia case was shown until the very end, making worldwide headlines.
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