Take off your clothes to make it in TV

Rita Ora runs around naked

Kate Upton threatens to sue website for fake naked pictures

"The idea of using nudity as a metaphor for allowing yourself to be truly exposed and truly yourself in the search for love felt really fresh and exciting," Levison says.

While the nudity arguably serves a thematic purpose on Dating Naked and Naked and Afraid, it's hard to see Buying Naked as anything other than a typical real estate show on which prospective owners leave their clothes at home. TLC says the Florida-based show exposes the habits of a nearby nudist colony.

The Dating Naked debut earlier this month featured a woman in her 30s stung when her chosen man was distracted by a younger, gorgeous temptress, an intriguing story for VH1's female-dominated audience. The older woman's name, Wee Wee, trended on Twitter, and the episode's audience of 826,000 easily beat the network's average of 335,000 viewers in the time slot. With more than 4 million viewers, Naked and Afraid was Discovery's most-watched series premiere ever.

That explains why plenty of other "naked" pitches are being heard in network boardrooms.

"You'll probably see four or five work and a dozen that don't work," Montgomery says.

The Parents Television Council is dismayed that each of the "naked" shows is judged by its network as being suitable for children. But Tim Winter, president of the lobbying group, which backs family-friendly programming, predicted the trend will be short-lived. Despite the ratings, the shows likely make many advertisers squeamish.

"It's just so lazy," he says. "This is how you have to resort to making a buck? Is this really what your entertainment brand stands for?"