Family Business (referred to as Porn: A Family Business in the UK) was an American reality TV series produced for the cable network Showtime. Based in Los Angeles, the series focused on the pornography industry and the life of Adam Glasser, a 40-something reality porn star and video director who uses the stage name "Seymore Butts". Also featured on the series were his son, Brady along with his mother, Lila Glasser, and his 60-something cousin, Stevie Glasser, both of whom help Adam run the eponymous "family business" of the series, which in this case is a successful porn video production and distribution house in the San Fernando Valley, known for the "Seymore Butts" line of videos.

The series first aired in 2003. In Canada it is broadcast on The Movie Network, Movie Central, and Showcase Television, in the UK on Channel 4, and in Latin America on FX. The first two seasons are currently available on DVD in North America. The series ran for four seasons, but Glasser announced on his MySpace blog that the show had not been renewed for a fifth season.

Overview

Episodes usually follow a day or two in the life of the Glassers: Many episodes focus on Adam, a single father, raising his young son, Brady; as well as keeping his professional life separate from his private life. Other episodes focus on his difficulties in establishing relationships (finding Miss Right) outside the porn industry. Adam's mother, Lila, adds to the mix by setting her son up on blind dates or with a speed dating service.

Much of the show's comedy relief is provided by Stevie, a cantankerous character who often gets into mischief and, as the series progresses, becomes a video director in his own right, as does Bishop, Glasser's camera operator and video editor.

The series is sexually explicit as it also goes behind the scenes of Adam's video shoots, and it also looks at the life of other porn stars away from the camera. For example, in one episode the series follows Herschel Savage, a performer whose career dates back 33 years, as he tries to establish a second career as a stand-up comedian. Another episode sees Adam and Stevie going to great lengths in order to convince a young woman (a relative of Glasser's) not to enter the porn industry. During the first season, the show follows one of Glasser's employees as she decides to go in front of the camera and creates the porn actress persona, Mari Possa; in the second season, an episode features Stevie and Adam trying to convince Mari not to get breast implants. Another episode follows Stevie as he experiences a cancer scare, spending several days on tenterhooks waiting for test results from his doctor.

The second season also includes an episode that follows Glasser's efforts to mount an Internet-based telethon to raise money for freedom of speech causes; this event was in response to his nearly being jailed on obscenity charges several years ago and, according to the episode, was sparked when Glasser discovered a shipment of Seymour Butts tapes that was about to be inadvertently mailed to an American state where importation of pornography is illegal.

Criticism

The show has attracted some criticism for avoiding some of the more unsavory elements of the porn industry; the series avoids the issue of drug use, for example, even though numerous "Seymore Butts" videos feature the activity. Others have applauded the series for casting a positive light upon members of what the series refers to as "LA's other film industry."

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