Nudity can be quite funny under the right circumstances -- shades of the common dream in which one is suddenly naked in public. Many TV shows, including those aimed at teen or child audiences, use (implied) nudity as a script device. Far from being child pornography (as some crusaders with their heads up their orifices would claim), it is a time-honoured and often very effective device to get laughs, or at least portray the tension of the character being temporarily uncomfortable or embarrassed.
A perfect example, perhaps, is the ad campaign for Coppertone Sun Tan Lotion. The now-iconic and world-famous image was first published in 1953, with at least one variation in 1955. The culture changed since then (to say the least), so the image was "dated up" (read: "covered up") when the company decided to re-do the campaign with a live model (inclusion of the dog is unclear).
Needless to say (but I will anyway), the proliferation of parodies and jokes with respect to the Coppertone image is endless, involving adult women, even men -- but, interestingly enough, no boys that could be found. For your own amusement, you can see many hundreds of such images by searching "coppertone ad" in any Web browser.
Was the image prurient? The company, of course, says no.
At least one image found on the Web begs to differ, perhaps,
with a little boy (fully clothed, of course) showing his appreciation for the
original ad. This is most likely an
amateur joke photograph,
but, as they say, many a truth is photographed in jest!
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Eerie, Indiana (NBC, 1991-1992)
"Who's Who", 11 November 1991
Sara Bob (Shanelle Workman) is an artist in a family of hellion brothers and a
lazy father, all of whom expect her to do everything for them. With the help of
an Eerie No.2 pencil, she discovers that when she signs her sketches, they become
reality. At one unbearably frustrating juncture, she sketches her brother, Bob Bob
(Dannel Evans, about 10 years old) naked in a full rear view, then signs the
sketch, and suddenly he's running around the back yard, covering his delicate
parts (front and back) with pillows, yelling for help. We see him from the side,
as his father, Bob (Richard Grove) is heard yelling, "Bob Bob, what do you
think you're doing? You can't run around outside like that."
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Freaks and Geeks (NBC, 1999-2000)
"I'm With the Band", 13 November 1999
Sam Weir (John Francis Daley) has his clothes stolen at school, and has to "streak"
through the halls behind a now-famous "blue modesty dot" (without
which the scene couldn't be broadcast on American television). See for yourself
in the YouTube posting, and see if it isn't hilarious.
(Sorry if there's a commercial before the clip -- not my fault.)
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Lucas (film, 1986)
In a scene that might have been the model for the Freaks and Geeks episode
noted above, Lucas (14)(Corey Haim) is pantsed (in some regions, they would say de-pantsed)
down to his underwear, and locked outside of the school doors, to fend for himself.
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Round the Twist (Australian Children's Television Foundation, 1989-2001)
"WunderPants", 23 May 1989
Pete Twist (Sam Vandenberg) has washed his underpants, but the family is ready
to leave, so he dries them quickly in the microwave. For some reason, they
take on magical qualities (and sparkles!), giving him extraordinary strength.
While family and friends are on the beach, he goes swimming where, unfortunately,
the "WunderPants" begin to shrink, and he has to take them off,
leaving him, in his words, "in the nude". Gribble Jr (Lachlan Jeffrey)
and his mates steal Pete's clothes, in part so that Pete won't be able to bring
his frog, Loopy Leaper, to the race that afternoon. After everyone leaves for
the frog race, Pete hides in some seaside tall grass until he can find a hubcap
to cover himself (front only!) as he tries to find his clothes. (A frame-by-frame
analysis reveals he is wearing a flesh-coloured speedo behind the hubcap, a
common filming device for pseudo-nude scenes; the speedo, not the hubcap!)
(The underpants, by the way, conveniently have now shrunk down far enough that
they fit Loopy Leaper, and the previously average frog [quite literally] smashes the competition.)
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Soup and Me (TV short, 1977)
Janice (Mary Margaret Patts) is the conniving (not to mention homely) nemesis of
Soup/Luther (Christian Berrigan) and Rob (Shane Sinutko), buddies of about
12 years old, about the same age as Janice. When they go skinny-dipping in a
local pond, she takes the opportunity to steal their clothes, leading to their
embarrassing run to a local second-hand sale, where they can only find women's
clothes for their trip back into town.
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That '70s Show (FOX, 1998-2006)
"Streaking", 6 September 1998
President Ford is coming to town, so the group (men only) decide the best way to show
their opposition to his visit is streaking. Inevitably - and of course - the other guys
chicken out, leaving Eric alone - and, well, exposed. (A yellow 'bubble' follows his midsection
around the room, to keep the censors, well, happy.)