'Girls' graphic sex scenes were nixed by HBO, producer reveals

The cast and crew of "Girls," (From L:) producer Jennifer Konne, producer Judd Apatow, cast members Zosia Mamet. Lena Dunham, Allison Williams and Adam Driver and director Ilene S. Landress, pose backstage after they won for Best Televison Series, Comedy or Musical at the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, California, January 13, 2013. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENTERTAINMENT) (GOLDENGLOBES-BACKSTAGE) - RTR3CFCB

Judd Apatow has revealed that HBO refused to allow Lena Dunham to film controversial sex scenes for her hit show “Girls,” according to the New York Post.

Speaking to an audience of university students in Los Angeles, Apatow said, “There have been things on ‘Girls’ where HBO has said to us, ‘If we put this on TV, we literally could lose our licence to broadcast,’” he said.

Asked to elaborate further, Apatow said, “Let’s just say it’s something you see in adult film — elements of sexual intercourse. The high points of sexual intercourse.”

Of dealing with nudity in his past work, Apatow said, “We’ve experimented with the limits of what people can handle. We’ve had a male organ in movies. We found out that 20 seconds of someone naked is probably too much, and people will leave the theater if you have full frontal nudity for an extended period of time. But if you make it five seconds, they’ll laugh and say it was great.”

When asked how long fans could expect “Girls” to run for, Apatow said, “We expect it to run for six seasons.