There’s something major David Duchovny’s character in Californication doesn’t know about his young lover, played by Madeline Zima.

David Duchovny may be the first male lead in TV history to have on-screen sex with a minor. And a topless minor at that.

Okay, don’t freak out.

Duchovny’s character in the new series Californication does not know that the girl he is having sex with is only 16. And the girl herself, actress Madeline Zima (formerly one of the kiddies on The Nanny), is 21 in real life.

Still, it’s tough to make history after 60 years of boob-tubery, and Duchovny was willing to go with it.

“There are two things I have to do,” Duchovny said.

“One is update my resume.

“And then I have to call my mother.”

Indeed, Zima’s frontal nudity has been one of the most talked-about aspects in the first episode of Californication, which debuts Monday across Canada on The Movie Network and Movie Central (it currently is available through the on-demand services of both those networks as a special preview). But primarily, Californication is a comedy, with the 47-year-old Duchovny playing a talented writer whose personal life has fallen apart.

Series creator Tom Kapinos said mutating the term California into various other forms dates back several decades.

“It was in Oregon, actually,” Kapinos said. “Apparently in the 1970s there were bumper stickers that said ‘Don’t Californicate Oregon,’ because Californians were coming up there. I just thought it was a great, great title for this show.”

In fact, California — or what the outside world perceives as the stereotypical California lifestyle — virtually is a character of its own in Californication.

“From the beginning, it’s always about a guy who came out to L.A., almost as a sense of fulfilling some kind of manifest destiny,” Kapinos said. “He wanted to seek his fortune. It could not be set in another state at all.”

Zima, meanwhile, is not the only Madeline in Californication, if you don’t mind adding an extra ‘e’. Duchovny’s character has a young daughter who is played by child actress Madeleine Martin, and that can lead to some confusion on the set.

“Yeah, (Martin) is little Maddy and I’m big Maddy,” said Zima, exhibiting a lukewarm attitude toward her nickname. “I’ll take one for the team. But whenever we hear Madeline, we both look up.”

Martin was asked if it’s tough being a kid on such a non-kid-oriented series.

“I listen to my iPod during table reads and my parents fast-forward the show,” Martin said. “So the clip (with Duchovny and Zima having sex) was actually the first nudity I’d seen.”

“True,” Zima quickly agreed.

Be that as it may, as you watch Zima fornicating with David Duchovny in Californication, there will be little doubt in your mind that Zima is far removed from her childhood portrayal of Grace Sheffield on The Nanny.

Forget about Duchovny’s mom; what will Fran Drescher say?