So did anyone watch it?
Playboy Club series (over)reaction
- Thread starter 23skidoo
- Start date
I recorded it but only watched a few minutes so far. Didn't look great but obviously I'll have to watch the first episode and probably give it a few eps before I make up my mind.
Edit: Okay, I watched the rest of it and it wasn't interesting. None of the main characters have any spark of life and I don't find them likable. I will give it a few more eps but so far I don't see any appeal.
Edit: Okay, I watched the rest of it and it wasn't interesting. None of the main characters have any spark of life and I don't find them likable. I will give it a few more eps but so far I don't see any appeal.
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It didn't grab me, but at least I checked it out.
The Playboy Club is on a fast-track to cancellation. It premiered to just 5 million viewers and a 1.6 in the demo.
They were right. The pilot was bad. 
Everything about it was CHEESY! Cheesy gangsters. Cheesy attempts to be "topical" (civil rights, gay rights, at least they had the sense not to anachronistically use the word "gay" to mean homosexual in dialogue), mega-cheesy Eddie Cibrian. The cheesiest part of all was Hef's opening and closing monologues - ugh!
I hope the Mad Men producers saw the show and got a good laugh out of it. Maybe networks can manage to mimic cable, but this show isn't proof of it.
Good riddance.
There's nothing wrong with the topic, but wow, did they fail in the execution. And assuming they nailed the execution, they still would have faced the problem of, "who is this show FOR?"
Is it for men? Not sexy enough. Is it for women? To really make the conflict gripping, there would have had to be more conflict in the workplace, so we root for the Bunnies, but would that work? Nobody forced them to work there at gunpoint. So they get groped, jeezus, you're not working in a church. Not sure there's any way to make that angle work w/this premise.
New fall season: 1 for 4.
Next up: Revenge.
Everything about it was CHEESY! Cheesy gangsters. Cheesy attempts to be "topical" (civil rights, gay rights, at least they had the sense not to anachronistically use the word "gay" to mean homosexual in dialogue), mega-cheesy Eddie Cibrian. The cheesiest part of all was Hef's opening and closing monologues - ugh!
I hope the Mad Men producers saw the show and got a good laugh out of it. Maybe networks can manage to mimic cable, but this show isn't proof of it.
Good riddance.
There's nothing wrong with the topic, but wow, did they fail in the execution. And assuming they nailed the execution, they still would have faced the problem of, "who is this show FOR?"
Is it for men? Not sexy enough. Is it for women? To really make the conflict gripping, there would have had to be more conflict in the workplace, so we root for the Bunnies, but would that work? Nobody forced them to work there at gunpoint. So they get groped, jeezus, you're not working in a church. Not sure there's any way to make that angle work w/this premise.
New fall season: 1 for 4.
Next up: Revenge.
I tried watching it but it was boring and couldn't keep my attention and gave up on it about half way through. I don't see it lasting very long.
I actually liked the pilot except for the cheesy voiceovers.
Was the voiceover provided by Hugh Hefner? If so, they should have hired an actor to impersonate him because when non-actors try to do that sort of thing, the result can be bad.
I suspect the need to get Playboy Inc.'s approval of the show content is why the results are so bland. They can't really go for the jugular and show what a shitty place the Playboy Club was to work, basically a glorified waitress gig where the patrons treat you worse than usual.
In this angry economic climate, I think the audience would go for a meaner and more vengeful show, one that showed the employees being kicked around and plotting their revenge, whereupon it all spirals fantastically out of control. Missed opportunity.
I suspect the need to get Playboy Inc.'s approval of the show content is why the results are so bland. They can't really go for the jugular and show what a shitty place the Playboy Club was to work, basically a glorified waitress gig where the patrons treat you worse than usual.
In this angry economic climate, I think the audience would go for a meaner and more vengeful show, one that showed the employees being kicked around and plotting their revenge, whereupon it all spirals fantastically out of control. Missed opportunity.
The one piece of good news re: the voiceovers is that I read a while back that they get dropped pretty quickly.
I had intended to give at least the pilot a chance, but after seeing the posts here I think I'll not bother.
I had intended to give at least the pilot a chance, but after seeing the posts here I think I'll not bother.
If only it were for a mature audience... I absolutely HATE the murder premise!!!! And the cookie-cutter Don Draper is laughable. What a waste.
Great points. I'm sure the MM people were roaring. Production wise, it was great, but when the magic of television can take us back to the 1960s nothing can help the weak writing and limp characters.
Also, I agree that they've pandered to both men and women in the wrong ways.
And it makes me feel about as sexy as a trip to my grandmother's grave. How can they have a show about sexy playboy bunnies and have it not feel sexy at all? It's actually incredible.
Maybe they can re-tool it, but the major problem I think is that it's on a old-boys (sex is evil) network and I can't believe it made it this far to begin with.
Shit... now I'm over-reacting.
Great points. I'm sure the MM people were roaring. Production wise, it was great, but when the magic of television can take us back to the 1960s nothing can help the weak writing and limp characters.
Also, I agree that they've pandered to both men and women in the wrong ways.
And it makes me feel about as sexy as a trip to my grandmother's grave. How can they have a show about sexy playboy bunnies and have it not feel sexy at all? It's actually incredible.
Maybe they can re-tool it, but the major problem I think is that it's on a old-boys (sex is evil) network and I can't believe it made it this far to begin with.
Shit... now I'm over-reacting.
Yeah, does anyone expect a Hugh Hefner licensed show to show his empire in anything but flattering terms?
I've heard a few of the ex Playmates interviewed on Howard Stern, including the "fiance" he just broke up with, and they describe living at the mansion in terms that make it sound less like a bacchanalian idyl and more like Jonestown without the kool aid. They can't leave without Hef's permission and when they do go out it involves chaperones and curfews.
Of course, if they did make it sexy you'd be just as likely to have feminists (and not necessarily without reason given the actual history of the place) up in arms that it romanticized institutionalized sexism.
If NBC had been smart, they would have either arranged with Hef to take something other than an ass-kissing approach or just not do the show at all. Ass-kissing is a guarantee that the product will be boring. I was hoping perhaps that Hef was sophisticated enough to know that and would agree to, or even recommend, a warts-and-all approach.
It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened. One example is All That Jazz, which fictionalized the life of Bob Fosse, without sugar-coating how he was depicted, and it was directed and written by Fosse himself. Is it so terrible for Hef to admit that the Playboy empire is sexist and exploitative, especially since the setting is fifty years ago? He's made his fortune, what the fuck does he care?
But there's no guarantee that warts-and-all would have worked any better on a network. Maybe it was just a DOA idea to begin with.
NBC would never have had the guts to do that show, even if they'd changed the brand name to mollify the lawyers.That sounds like AMC/HBO/FX material.
It wouldn't be the first time such a thing has happened. One example is All That Jazz, which fictionalized the life of Bob Fosse, without sugar-coating how he was depicted, and it was directed and written by Fosse himself. Is it so terrible for Hef to admit that the Playboy empire is sexist and exploitative, especially since the setting is fifty years ago? He's made his fortune, what the fuck does he care?
But there's no guarantee that warts-and-all would have worked any better on a network. Maybe it was just a DOA idea to begin with.
NBC would never have had the guts to do that show, even if they'd changed the brand name to mollify the lawyers.That sounds like AMC/HBO/FX material.
After missing the premiere episode last week this evening I got a look at the second episode of The Playboy Club. Not as horrible as I had thought it would be (based on the reviews and comments I'd read), but not as good as Pan Am.
And neither are in Mad Men's league, but in fairness they are going for a different type of show. I hated the Nick Dalton character in TPC who was so obviously channeling Don Draper. It impressed me as cheap and unimaginative.
And neither are in Mad Men's league, but in fairness they are going for a different type of show. I hated the Nick Dalton character in TPC who was so obviously channeling Don Draper. It impressed me as cheap and unimaginative.
The fast nationals for the second episode of The Playboy Club are in: it dropped to under 4 million viewers and a 1.3 in the demo. It's a strong contender for first cancellation of the season.
Well, you know a show's in bad shape when the nicest thing anyone can say about it is, "It wasn't as horrible as I expected." 
Subscribe to Showtime, because you'll never see sex on broadcast while the FCC has any life in it left.
...which reminds me, since everything is digital now, why does the FCC even exist? Why not just throw it all open to chaos and hellfire and cats and dogs living together, and let the PTC decide which shows should not be seen by god-fearing eyes?
