''Lady Chatterley's Stories'' is an

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

softcore Soft core or Softcore may refer to: * Softcore microprocessor, microprocessor implemented using logic synthesis and perhaps other circuits * Soft core (synthesis), a digital circuit that can be wholly implemented using logic synthesis * Soft roc ...

TV show that aired on

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

which ran for two seasons.

Premise

The show featured Shauna O'Brien as Lady Constance Chatterley, a land

broker A broker is a person or entity that arranges transactions between a buyer and a seller. This may be done for a commission when the deal is executed. A broker who also acts as a seller or as a buyer becomes a principal party to the deal. Neither ...

by day and at night a sexual

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry. Psychiatrists are physicians who evaluate patients to determine whether their symptoms are the result of a physical illness, a combination of physical and mental ailments or strictly ...

to her friends and exclusive clients inside her secluded mansion. Constance is known for her taste for the sexually exotic and the ability to take an unflinching look into the sex lives of her and her clients and friends. Each episode treats the viewer to a provocative and arousing story punctuated by highly charged erotic sequences. The series featured other notable softcore stars, including Kim Dawson,

Holly Sampson Holly Joy Sampson (born September 4, 1973), is an American actress and model who has appeared in both mainstream and pornographic films over the course of her career. She is noted for her appearances on several television shows and her appearance ...

Veronica Hart Jane Hamilton (born 1956 or 1957) is an American film director and former pornographic film actress who performed under the stage name Veronica Hart. Described by columnist Frank Rich as "a leading porn star of the late '70s and early '80s", Ha ...

, Susan Featherly, Tess Broussard, Shannan Leigh and

Gabriella Hall Gabriella Hall (born Laura Rosa Saldivar November 11, 1966) is a model and former softcore pornography actress from Los Angeles best known for her appearances in Cinemax TV shows and movies such as ''Erotic Confessions'' and ''Beverly Hills Bor ...

. The show's title is derived from ''

Lady Chatterley's Lover ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' is the final novel by English author D. H. Lawrence, which was first published privately in 1928, in Florence, Italy, and in 1929, in Paris, France. An unexpurgated edition was not published openly in the United Ki ...

'', a classic and controversial

romance Romance may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings ** Romantic orientation, the classification of the sex or gender with which a pers ...

erotic novel Erotic literature comprises fictional and factual stories and accounts of eros (passionate, romantic or sexual relationships) intended to arouse similar feelings in readers. This contrasts erotica, which focuses more specifically on sexual feeli ...

D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, playwright, literary critic, travel writer, essayist, and painter. His modernist works reflect on modernity, social alienation ...

, first published in 1928.

Production

The show was the result of a long line of late-night cable TV erotic series such as ''Erotic Confessions'', '' Women: Stories of Passion'', and ''

Beverly Hills Bordello ''Beverly Hills Bordello'' is a softcore series aired on the Showtime premium cable channel. It was an anthology series that centered on the fictional Winston Spa located in Beverly Hills. The spa was a bordello run by Madam Veronica Winston. ...

'' that emerged in the middle-to-late 1990s which placed an emphasis on women-centered stories where the women were in control and could be sexually independent and become actual experts in the art and science of romance and seduction. These series also served as a virtual training ground and stable, continuous employment for many a B-actress in between their movie roles. In early 2000, Showtime joined forces with Mainline Releasing Group (more popularly known as MRG Entertainment) to create a 15-episode erotic series to run on late-night weekends.(MRG had produced a similar series, ''Bedtime Stories'', for rival cable channel

Cinemax Cinemax is an American pay television network owned by Home Box Office, Inc., a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched on August 1, 1980, as a "maxi-pay" service to complement the offerings of its sister premium network, HBO (Home Box ...

.) Polly Quennel was brought in as executive producer and

Rebecca Lord Rebecca Lord (born in 1973) is a French pornographic actress, director, and producer who has been active since 1993. Soon after her first experience in the porn industry, she moved U.S., where she achieved popularity, appearing in over 200 porn m ...

was brought in as director. In an effort to create a totally different lead character than the usual professional sex expert in other series, they decided to utilize the famous lead character from

's classic novel, ''Lady Chatterley's Lover'' but with a more modern 21st Century, independent, sexually liberated woman. For this series, however, Lady Chatterley would become a successful

real estate broker Real estate agents and real estate brokers are people who represent sellers or buyers of real estate or real property. While a broker may work independently, an agent usually works under a licensed broker to represent clients. Brokers and age ...

by day, and a party girl/sex expert/faux counselor by night who would create innovative ways and means to solve her friends' sexual relationship problems....all while getting her field-playing time on her own. When it came time to cast the pivotal role of Lady Chatterley, a conflict arose between the President of Showtime Networks and the series creators who were supported by some of the lower-level executives at Showtime. Many actresses tried out for the lead role with it coming down to two: Chloe Nicholle, a middle-level

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

adult actress better known as Chloe with limited experience and even less name recognition in the B-movie/cable TV market; and Shauna O'Brien, January 1992 Penthouse Pet and a 10-year veteran of B-movies. The Showtime president favored O'Brien because of her impressive qualifications and experience. She also fit into his philosophy of the erotic cable series. The series brass and lower execs favored Nicholle because they thought that she would be more suitable for the pushing of erotic boundaries that they wanted to accomplish. The second group — in direct violation of the president's orders, and while he was away on company business — pulled off a coup-d'état by giving Nicholle the lead role and began filming, production, and promotion of the series. They were able to complete production of the first two episodes; however, this ended when the Showtime president returned from his trip and found out about their actions. Production stopped, Nicholle was fired and O'Brien hired to take over the lead role, taking over the role beginning with the third episode.

Episode list

# "A Real Man" # "Does He Have a Brother?" # "Secrets" # "Substance of Desire" # "Fantasy" # "Satisfaction" # "The Manuscript" # "The Wager" # "One Night Stand" # "Passion" # "Switch" # "The Husband" # "A Few Moments in Time" # "Before and After" # "Mystery Lover"

References

External links

* {{Lady Chatterley's Lover Showtime (TV network) original programming 2000 American television series debuts 2001 American television series endings 2000s American anthology television series Erotic television series American English-language television shows Television series by CBS Studios Adaptations of works by D. H. Lawrence