2023 in Review: The 25 Sexiest Scenes
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Grab a cold glass of water and a paper fan, because TVLine’s list of the sexiest TV moments of 2023 is likely to raise your body temperature.
Naturally, there are plenty of kisses and love scenes in the below roundup, including passionate smooches from Abbott Elementary, The Summer I Turned Pretty and Station 19. And of course, the hot hookups on Outlander, Superman & Lois and The Morning Show also got our pulses racing.
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But sexy times in bed (or against a wall) are not required in order to fog up screens. Case in point: Magnum P.I.’s Baywatch-esque strut, Law & Order: Organized Crime’s oddly intimate shootout and a Daisy Jones & the Six serenade all turned up the heat without ever hitting the sheets. And more than one of our selections made the cut with simply a well-delivered sexy line of dialogue.
Fun fact: Making their second appearance in a row on this list are Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19, Nancy Drew, Power Book IV: Force and Jonathan Bailey (but with a different series this year!).
So turn up the air conditioning and review TVLine’s picks for 2023’s sexiest scenes (complete with Safe For Work screenshots), then hit the comments to share your additions!
1923
Alex and Spencer spent so much of the Paramount+ drama’s first season in extreme peril (the elephant, the capsized boat, etc.), we couldn’t blame them for wanting to take a pants-optional break by the seaside. And when we had a front-row seat to their, as she called it, “ravaging”? So much the better! (Season 1, Episode 4)
Abbott Elementary
Gregory and Janine’s long-awaited first kiss in a beautifully botanical living class room was worth the wait. And judging by the delicious way Janine tugged on Gregory’s neck badge, pulling him back in for another steamy lip-lock, we weren’t the only ones who didn’t want the moment to end. (Season 2, Episode 16)
All American
We already figured Spencer and Olivia would get back together by season’s end, but the white-hot chemistry on display during this fashion show dance routine mercifully accelerated their reconciliation. No kisses were shared during the performance, but the looks on Spencer and Olivia’s faces as they pressed their bodies together told us everything we needed to know about their lingering feelings — and Spencer’s poor girlfriend, Alicia, could see it from the audience, too. (Season 5, Episode 18)
Chicago Fire
It was a difficult season for Severide and Stella, what with him taking on an arson investigation training gig that took him away for months. And even before that, the couple experienced some tensions on the job that tested their marriage. Thankfully, they were able to work past their issues in sexy fashion, with Stella greeting her hubby dressed in the only thing she wants to bring home from work: his lucky coat. (Season 11, Episode 12)
The Company You Keep
We’re a sucker for an Out of Sight-esque sex scene/montage (see: our 2019 Sexiest Scenes pick Good Trouble), so the seductive slices of Charlie and Emma’s first night together — their passionate kiss, the casual conversation in the bath and in bed, the late-night pool swim — had us all riled up. It’s a shame that ABC snuffed the sexy chemistry between the con man and the CIA agent. (Season 1, Episode 1)
Daisy Jones & the Six
Sure, sparks flew between Billy and Daisy when they recorded their first duet, “Look at Us Now (Honeycomb).” But it was the silent glances (particularly Sam Claflin’s smoldering stare) and gentle knee touch as Daisy sang an acoustic version of “It Was Always You” to the man who was no doubt the inspiration behind the song that had us holding our breath with anticipation. (Season 1, Episode 9)
Fatal Attraction
We’re gonna sound like poor, unstable Alex here, but what made her first tryst with married man Dan so damn titillating wasn’t the sex itself but the strong sense that there was more going on than two bodies mashing together. The two of them had connected, really connected, and couldn’t resist the temptation to see if their newfound understanding of one another translated to the bedroom. Spoiler alert: It did. (Season 1, Episode 2)
Fellow Travelers
For a series with plenty of sex, the hottest moment in the Showtime drama wasn’t about action, but a line of dialogue, suggestively delivered by Jonathan Bailey’s Tim as he tried to convince his lover Hawk (Matt Bomer) to take him to a political soirée: “I’m your boy, right? And your boy wants to go to the party.” (Season 1, Episode 1)
Grey’s Anatomy
After a full season of Lucas pining for Simone, she finally ditched the fiancé who was more like an anchor around her neck than a stethoscope — and at the altar, no less — to use an on-call room for its intended purpose: tenderly surrendering to passion with the fellow resident who, unlike Trey, could say with all sincerity, “I see you, and I love every single thing I see.” (Season 19, Episode 19)
The Last of Us
“Go take a shower, Bill.” And with just five words — and one unexpectedly romantic first kiss — the sweet, sad, post-apocalyptic and deeply intimate ballad of Frank and Bill began. (Season 1, Episode 3)
Law & Order: Organized Crime
Should it have been sexy when Capt. Benson and her former partner, Det. Stabler, came under fire in a suburban diner and he was rendered blind by their assailant’s teargas? Absolutely not. But was it sexy when, in the heat of the moment, an injured Liv grabbed El’s hand and guided it so he could shoot the bad guy, even though he couldn’t see him? Yep. Yep, it was. (Season 3, Episode 22)
Magnum P.I.
The CBS castoff’s first season on NBC was touted as “sexier,” and that became quite apparent in the second episode, when a slow-motion sequence languorously surveyed the tanned and toned physiques of “Jane” and “Robbie,” Juliet and Thomas’ undercover lifeguard personae. File this under: “bae-watch.” (Season 5, Episode 2)
The Morning Show
Alex’s flirty banter with her interview subject/future boss was so full of sparks, no one was shocked it turned into a beautifully shot, clothes-free party at his Hamptons estate. File this one under: So Wrong It’s… Still Pretty Horrible But Nonetheless Hot. (Season 3, Episode 6)
Nancy Drew
The sexual tension between Nancy Drew’s titular sleuth and the star-crossed love of her life has always been off the charts (literally barometer-breaking!), but it was never hotter than when she painted his body with the sigil they hoped would break the curse keeping them apart. From the moment Nancy looks Ace in the eyes and tells him to take off his shirt, the heat is on. She explores him with her eyes before exploring him with her brush, knowing that the pleasure of her touch is the only thing getting him through the pain. This moment isn’t just hot, it’s also a damn good argument to fund the arts. (Season 4, Episode 3)
Never Have I Ever
Most of these moments involve the removal of clothes (and we’re not complaining), but Devi and Ben’s sexiest moment — by far — took place the morning after they made love, when he eagerly pulled up a YouTube tutorial to help her figure out how to get back into her sari. (Season 4, Episode 10)
Outlander
Forget, for a moment, that the whole thrust (sorry) of this scene stems from Roger’s jealousy that Brianna is getting platonically friendly with a male co-worker. And pay no mind to the fact that Mr. and Mrs. MacKenzie go at it on an aggressively floral, focus-pulling upholstered fold-out couch. Despite both of those considerations, this interlude — set to Phil Collins’ “In the Air Tonight” — is still the most charged intimate moment in the Starz drama’s recent history. (Season 7, Episode 7)
Power Book IV: Force
Mireya invited Tommy to share a private dance with her with the sole intent of getting to their first kiss, a romantic moment that wound up getting interrupted when he was called away. But the way Tommy could barely peel himself away from her! That kiss after he grabbed his coat! Hot stuff, all of it. (Season 2, Episode 4)
Queen Charlotte
We’re surprised the room didn’t immediately engulf in flames given George and Charlotte’s heated gazes just before… you know. And as hot and heavy as their first official night together was, George’s guttural, “I’m very good with buttons,” already had our pulses racing. (Season 1, Episode 2)
Riverdale
Archie and Betty were stuck in the very chaste 1950s in the final season, but their teenage hormones were still raging, so the next-door neighbors decided to learn more about their bodies by taking off their clothes for each other in their bedroom windows. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife as Betty revealed a lacy black corset under her shirt and Archie eagerly stripped down to his underwear. They never even touched each other in the scene — and their parents rudely interrupted them just when it was getting good — but we could still feel the sizzling chemistry between them even seven decades later. (Season 7, Episode 6)
Special Ops: Lioness
A shopping spree ironically got besties Cruz and Aaliyah thinking about UNdressing one another, when, alone in a fitting room, Aaliyah told Cruz that the spontaneous kiss they’d shared the day before was “all I think about.” Then, with a shy, quiet, “Come here…,” Aaliyah invited Cruz over for a hint of what was to come, during their torrid first romp. (Season 1, Episode 7)
Station 19
We’d almost begun to think we’d been imagining the simmering attraction between would-be mayor Travis and campaign manager Eli when, finally, after a particularly rousing day on the trail, they hurled themselves at one another, tore off their clothes and, um, secured the swing vote. Better luck next time, Andy. (Season 6, Episode 14)
The Summer I Turned Pretty
Look away, Conrad/Belly ‘shippers! For our money, it was Belly and Jeremiah who brought the best heat in Season 2, by way of their carside makeout session after confirming they still had real feelings for each other. The kissing, of course, was intense, but it was the breathless way Jeremiah said, “Yes, I still…” that made this scene endlessly rewatchable. (Season 2, Episode 7)
Superman & Lois
John Henry and Lana’s heated, shirt-ripping romp definitely steamed up Smallville. Even better was the expert flirting that took place beforehand, especially Lana telling John Henry that she would just have to make him wish he wasn’t moving to Metropolis. After that, he’d have to be a fool to let her go! (Season 3, Episode 13)
Ted Lasso
It wasn’t just a canal into which Rebecca fell in the polarizing “Sunflower,” it was love. After some enchanted evening spent on a handsome Dutchman’s houseboat, she was assured by her rescuer that they hadn’t. The implication was that no, they hadn’t had sex. But had they done something far more magical? “Oh yes, we did,” he said to himself. In her heart of hearts, she knew it, too. (Season 3, Episode 6)
Wolf Pack
Imagine for a moment that an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue comes to life, and all of the models start asking knowing questions about about one another’s sexual preferences while exchanging heated, jealous glances. Now imagine that one of them might be a werewolf! Does the entire scene feel a bit like the lead-in to a cheap porno? Of course it does. But let’s not pretend like that’s a bad thing.
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