How did we get to 2009 as the year of threesomes? Well, '09 has been the year of a lot of things. It has most certainly been the year of the 'no good, very bad man' as sex scandals have raged over the illicit sex lives of South Carolina governor Mark Sanford, Late Night host David Letterman and, of course, Tiger Woods. It has been the year of Jon and Kate Gosselin. From separation to divorce, a day hasn't gone by without one of the two of them making headlines, and the other appearing on the 'Today Show' to talk all about it. It has been the year without Paris Hilton. Where did she go?
But at no other time in our collective consciousness has the threeway made such a foray into pop culture. In 2009, it was an omnipresent force.
· The Britney Spears single '3' is about the pleasures and pitfalls of polyamory and rocketed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in October. "Three is a charm, two is not the same," Spears coos seductively on the verse. "I don't see the harm, so are you game?"
"The only thing I didn't understand about Britney's threesome single was that she referred to Peter, Paul and Mary. Did she find that song in the trash ... in 1982?" asks PopWrap's musical guru Ryan Brockington.
· The CW teen drama 'Gossip Girl' raised the heckles of the Parent's Television Council when it aired a much-advertised threesome between Hillary Duff and two of the show's characters. The PTC didn't have much to worry about, the threeway ended up about as a sexy as a 'Golden Girls' reunion (whoops...too soon?).
"The threesome was well-timed given the other threesome scandals in the news, even if the actual threesome was less exciting than one could have hoped for," says New York Daily News writer Leah Chernikoff.
· What were those other threesome scandals in the news? In November, a former Miss Universe contestant -- Miss Trinidad and Tobago 2008, Anya Ayoung-Chee -- made headlines for a leaked sex tape of her and her former boyfriend enjoying the company of another lady. And over the summer another leaked film, this one of former Miss. Teen USA Kari Ann Peniche enjoying some time in a hot tub with 'Grey's Anatomy' star Eric Dane and his wife Rebecca Gayheart, hit the Internet.
· Because threesomes were already everywhere, fashion house Dolce & Gabbana filmed a commercial featuring a steamy ménage a trois in an effort to revitalize their brand and seem hip to the kiddies. The ad starts with a young couple getting passionate in a Parisian apartment. When a third man happens upon them, he joins in. As the girl's mother catches the menage in action she lets out a scream and covers her mouth with her hand, flashing the D&G watch on her wrist.
Three's a Crowd? Not To D&G: Watch It
"Sex sells," Brockington says. "Britney was still in prime comeback mode, 'Gossip Girl' viewers are dwindling and the last time I checked, not too many kids were rocking D&G. So what is better for getting buzz than rockin' a sandwich of sex! Hell, ask McSteamy, he even filmed it and then leaked it (allegedly). As for those awful D&G ads, what did they do let Dakota Fanning direct them or something? It is the most mediocre piece of cinematic trash since 'Bring It On 12.'"
