n the mid-2000s, there was an ABC show that followed an adolescent boy who wakes up, naked and afraid. Other than apparent amnesia, Kyle XY is a classically handsome and apparently normal teenager, except for one small detail: he’s missing his belly button. As it turned out, Kyle XY’s un-pitted stomach became the central conundrum of the series, and essential to the promotion of the show.

Kyle XY debuted at a time when, coincidentally, the...