Sex show host ending program

NEW YORK (AP) -- Sunday night is getting less steamy.

Oxygen's "Talk Sex" call-in show with colorful septugenarian educator Sue Johanson is ending its run after six seasons, the network announced Tuesday.

The final show airs at midnight Sunday.

"I'm going to miss it terribly," Johanson told The Associated Press. "It's been part of my life and I just love it. I'm going to miss writing scripts. I'm going to miss having to read books. I'm going to miss playing with sex toys."

Her final show will count down the year's top 10 sex toys.

Her show, derived from a Canadian radio program that began in 1984, offered practical advice and the latest information on sexually transmitted diseases. It was all the more colorful hearing it from a Toronto-based nurse who looked and sounded like your grandmother.

Now 77, Johanson said she had to recognize that 1 a.m. (when her shows ended) was not her finest hour. Since it's a call-in show, taping the show earlier didn't make sense.

"I have been on television for 32 years," she said. "I think it's time. I figured if we haven't got it by now, we're not going to get it. We've got to make room for somebody else."

She said she enjoyed working with Oxygen and wasn't pushed out. The only editing Oxygen ever did was to urge her not to use a particular slang for penis.

"Talk Sex" is Oxygen's most-popular late-night show, and its ratings among young viewers this season were the best ever, the network said.

Material from the show will continue to be available on Oxygen's Web site and on demand.

Johanson said she isn't retiring and will continue to give lectures. "I'm a ham," she said. "I love a large audience."

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