Flutterby™! : The art of Melrose Place

The Virus Inside Your TV — In the 1990s, a group of radical artists smuggled political messages into Melrose Place. Not everyone found it funny.

Two pieces from this period stand out, however. The first is called Safety Sheets, a set of linens for the bedroom of playboy doctor Peter Burns (Jack Wagner) made by students in the textiles department at the University of Georgia. The sheets can be seen in multiple episodes of the show, but they’re especially noticeable in an episode called “Run, Billy, Run.” During this episode, Burns and his current lover wake up one morning in his apartment. If you know what you’re looking for, you can identify the pattern on his bedsheets and pillowcases: unrolled condoms. At the time, the Federal Communications Commission wouldn’t allow unrolled condoms to be shown on TV. LaPointe still remembers how he felt when he saw the camera linger on the couple in bed, the sheets clearly visible. “That was the moon landing,” he said. “Oh my God, it’s actually happening.”