It's not porn. It's HBO.

This morning's column goes a little more in depth in looking at the fun, sexy time (or not) that is HBO's upcoming "Tell Me You Love Me":

"For the actors, did anybody actually, uh, do it?"

The question hangs in the air of the ballroom -- site of a July press conference to discuss HBO's "Tell Me You Love Me," easily the most sexually explicit drama in American TV history -- like a clumsy pick-up line. Yet contained within its Beavis & Butt-head phrasing are many of the emotions associated with sex: anticipation, discomfort, anger, relief, even disappointment.

The reporters cringe at the wording, but they've all been buzzing for weeks about the show's sex scenes -- many of them shot in a way that makes it hard to imagine how the actors didn't, uh, do it -- and they crane their necks forward for an answer. The "Tell Me" producers and actors shift uncomfortably in their seats, irritated and eager to deny the crowd the satisfaction it seeks.

"Next question," snaps creator Cynthia Mort.

"I know I didn't," quips actress Ally Walker.

The reporter presses on, "I'm assuming it was fake, but how did you go about making it look so authentic, and why did you have to do that?"

Finally, "Tell Me" co-star Michelle Borth -- participant in a number of the series' rawest moments -- loses her patience.

"We are not porn stars," she says, testy. "We're actors. And I think part of our job in any scene, whether it's a sex scene or, you know, a fight scene or, you know, an emotional scene, you do the best that you can to do it authentically and honest. So, you know, we were doing the sex scenes. We were doing them to make you ask that question, basically."

That question has enveloped discussion of "Tell Me You Love Me" (which debuts Sept. 9 at 9 p.m.) to the point where it's hard to consider the non-sexual aspects. Even when the characters are fully clothed and not touching, this is a painfully intimate look at the problems that can plague a relationship, but the word "intimate" connotes sex. It may not even matter that most of the sex scenes, usually born less of lust than desperation and fear, almost work as an advertisement for celibacy.

To read the full thing, click here. (Or here for the printer-friendly version. It's longer than usual, so you may be better off going straight to the latter version.)