5 of TV's sexiest shows

IN SEARCH of a warm-up binge-watch for Valentine's Day? Here are five of TV's sexiest shows to get you started:

* ABC's "Scandal" (of course), because what's sexier than being Olivia Pope (Kerry Washington)? When she's not getting busy in the Oval Office with POTUS (Tony Goldwyn), she can fall back on the cute guy from "Felicity" (Scott Foley), who seems really, really nice when he's not killing people.

"Scandal" - and ABC's entire Shonda Rhimes-produced schedule - is also equal-opportunity sexy: Gay and lesbian couples see more action Thursday nights on ABC than they do the rest of the week on most networks.

* Starz's "Outlander." Sex with time travel means Claire (Caitriona Balfe) can be married to hot men Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Frank (Tobias Menzies) in two different centuries - and that she can teach one what she learned from the other. This thinking-woman's approach to romance has a lot to offer men, too, beyond the occasional swordfight.

* Showtime's "Masters of Sex" is concerned with the clinical - and knowledge is power. Yet the show's at its most adult when researchers William Masters (Michael Sheen) and Virginia Johnson (Lizzy Caplan) and their subjects are forced to confront the emotions that can't always be divorced from the act.

* FX's "The Americans." Is marriage hotter, or harder, when a couple's jobs involve sleeping with other people, and an endless round of high-stakes, wig-enhanced make-believe? Russian spies Philip and Elizabeth Jennings (Matthew Rhys and Keri Russell) bring role-playing in the bedroom to a high art.

* BET's "Being Mary Jane." Her personal life's an ongoing mess, but cable news personality Mary Jane Paul (Gabrielle Union) still manages to have fun in the bedroom, if not so much out of it. The fun should continue, as the show's just been renewed for a third season.

- Ellen Gray