Everything you need to know about HBO's 'Real Sex'

How real is HBO's Real Sex? Really real. Like, astonishingly real. Think calling-cut-to-line-up-for-the-lunch-buffet-during-an-intimate-shoot real. Think ask-your-grandparents-about-their-sex-life real. New York magazine has published an oral history of the culturally stimulating program that includes musings from producers, directors, and street interviewers.

The parties involve dish on the dirt from behind the scenes of the progressive HBO show and pontificate about the cultural significance of such an edgy, innovative idea. Also, they talk about what prompted one PA to quit and walk off a set in protest and some of the more salacious moments in the show's history.

We ended up shooting this orgy, which was basically a costume party, or a masquerade, like in Eyes Wide Shut. There was even a woman who looked like Marie Antoinette with one of those skirts with the structure underneath. And they were good-looking people. By the end of the night, everyone had their clothes off and were f***ing. At a certain point when you're shooting vérité, there's nothing for the producer to do. You just have to let the cameraman shoot. Patti and I ended up hiding behind this bookcase looking at each other, like, "What life are we living that we're in the middle of someone else's sex party?" People were getting f***ed by other people's husbands. A woman was in a dentist's chair with three guys. And it wasn't horrible, either. There was something sexy about this. [NYMag]