The Playboy Club
Encyclopedia
The Playboy Club is an American television series that ran on NBC
from September 19, 2011 to October 3, 2011. Set in 1961, the series centers around the employees (known as Bunnies
) of the original Playboy Club
operating in Chicago
.
The Playboy Club was canceled on October 4, 2011, after three episodes aired. It was the first cancellation of the 2011–12 television season. NBC continued to film the series until October 10, 2011, hoping to sell the series to another network. Both Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner
and show creator Chad Hodge have expressed hope that the series will be picked up by Bravo.
When production wrapped on October 10, 2011, Hodge and Laura Benanti both confirmed that they had finished seven episodes, including the pilot. Benanti further stated that the seventh episode has two endings, one of which is more final to the series.
and Imagine TV were the production companies for the show that eventually became The Playboy Club. They had previously attempted to produce the concept during the 2010–11 television season but the project never came to fruition. After that initial attempt, the companies approached screenwriter Chad Hodge, who became the show's creator and an executive producer. Imagine co-founder Brian Grazer
and president Francie Calfo also served as executive producers, as did Richard Rosenzweig, a longtime executive and consultant with Playboy Enterprises
. Alta Loma Entertainment
, Playboy's entertainment production arm, received copies of all the story outlines and scripts for review but, according to Hodge, took a very hands-off approach and did not get heavily involved in the creative process. Likewise, Playboy Enterprises founder Hugh Hefner
reviewed each of the scripts personally, but did not provide much direct input or request major changes. The original title of the series was Bunny Tales, then Playboy, before the final title The Playboy Club was chosen. The show's pilot script was the first new drama series ordered by NBC
for the 2011–12 television season
.
Several actors who were not part of the original cast played recurring roles on The Playboy Club, including:
The contracts for Cibrian, Heard, Dewan and Renee all included clauses authorizing nudity, an unprecedented stipulation for a network series. Under the agreement, the actors could not be forced to perform nude scenes, but if nudity were required for a particular scene, they would have to review the script and then be given the opportunity to agree or decline. No nude scenes were written or planned for the film; the clauses were intended for possible R-rated versions of the show for the DVD release and for domestic and foreign cable syndication. The nudity clauses were not generated by producers or the network, but rather added by business executives to ensure maximize on possible financial opportunities.
(1979), Moulin Rouge!
(2001) and Chicago
(2002), and the comedy-drama
television series Desperate Housewives
. The characters and setting of The Playboy Club served as an exploration of the changing political and moral attitudes of the 1960s, particularly with the approach of the sexual revolution
that began in that decade.
Members of the Playboy Club cast and crew have stated they believe the series, and the concept of the Playboy Bunny in general, is empowering to women. One of the show's taglines spoke to this theme: "The men have the keys, but the women hold all of the power." During a Television Critics Association
press tour, Amber Heard discussed past Bunnies who had gone on to successful careers and did not regret their past experience working at Playboy clubs, including Lauren Hutton
, Debbie Harry
, Kimba Wood
and Polly Matzinger
. Heard said she believed the female characters in The Playboy Club were making free choices about their sexuality, and thus they were not being exploited, adding, "I think it's just as chauvinistic to deny a woman her sexuality." Naturi Naughton said she believed the women who worked as Playboy Bunnies were intelligent, self-reliant women who went to school, bought homes and accomplished things other women during their time could not. Likewise, Chad Hodge said he did not believe there was anything wrong with a woman using her sexuality to get what she wants if she so chooses, adding: "There are different brands of feminism and I don't think it should be boxed into any one version." Hodge later stressed, however, that despite his comments about the empowerment of women, he did not believe The Playboy Club conveyed any strong political convictions or intellectual ambitions, but rather was meant to be entertaining."
The subplot involving the Mattachine Society focuses specifically on the growing gay rights movement in the United States in the 1960s and what it was like to be gay or lesbian during a time period that was still repressive for that culture. The Playboy Club also touched upon changing thoughts with regard to racial diversity during the 1960s. One of the supporting characters, Brenda, seeks to become the first African American Playboy Bunny. Her role in the series illustrates Hugh Hefner's decision to integrate his clubs, both by hiring black women and allowing black key-holders and performers, which was considered unusual at the time. Brenda was loosely based on the model Jennifer Jackson
, the actual first Black
Playmate of the Month, although neither Naughton nor the Playboy Club producers contacted Jackson in preparing the role.
on Northerly Island
. The Chicago Film Office estimated the production would add jobs to the city and pump an estimated $2 million into the local economy per episode. Each episode was shot in about nine days, and filming lasted for 12 hours at a time on certain days. The first episode was directed by Alan Taylor
, who had also directed four episodes of Mad Men, including the pilot.
The costumes in The Playboy Club were designed by Isis Mussenden. She was not able to find any original Playboy Bunny uniforms, so she created her designs based on photos and consultations with Hugh Hefner. Each of the five female leads received two suits, each of which cost $3,000 and took about 10 hours to make. Each suit included a built-in bra, French cuff
s with Playboy cuff links, satin ears and 3-inch heels. After the costumes were designed, Hefner had claimed they were not cut high enough on the leg, but Mussenden assured him the height was correct based on photos of Hefner with real-life bunnies. Naturi Naughton said the costumes were very tight and difficult to wear for several hours at a time during shoots.
While on the Playboy Club set, Amber Heard's sister used her iPhone
to take a photo of Heard in her Playboy Bunny costume and Heard posted it on her Facebook
page. The image was widely disseminated on the Internet and featured in the magazine TV Guide
. 20th Century Fox Television banned any unauthorized photography on the set as a result of the incident.
Hugh Hefner performed a voice-over narration during the pilot episode, but no such narration was recorded for the other episodes. A young version of Hefner was featured as a character in the show, but was only ever seen from behind. Hodge said this was the result of a conscious decision to feature Hefner in the series but not give him a regular role, which the real-life Hefner approved of because, according to Hodge, "He didn't want to make it his story." On October 4, 2011, Eddie Cibrian injured himself after getting his right heel caught underneath a 200-pound steel door, resulting in a deep gash that required stitches.
, the record label owned by Universal Music Group
, formed a partnership with 20th Century Fox Television and the Apple Inc. company iTunes
to make those song versions available for download on the iTunes Store
. 20th Century Fox Television chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden cited the success of similar track sales on the Fox
musical series Glee
as a reason for the venture with The Playboy Club, as they felt it would expose the series to a wider audience. The individual tracks were being produced by The Transcenders
, a Los Angeles music production team that included the producers Mike Fratantuno, Terrance Graves and Brian Lapin. The cast vocals were recorded in Chicago by vocal producer Richard Marx
. Geoff Bywater, the vice president of music for 20th Century Fox Television, said a soundtrack album
for the series was also under consideration. The Playboy Club was to feature several guest performances by singers portraying real-life musicians from the 1960s period.
Cast member Laura Benanti performed a version of Fred Fisher
's "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)
" during a scene from the pilot. Also in that episode, actress Karen LeBlanc portrayed Tina Turner
, appearing with others portraying singer Ike Turner
and the backing vocalists The Ikettes
. She sang "Shake a Tail Feather
" and "Tina's Wish". Those songs were immediately made available on iTunes. Cast members Leah Renee and Naturi Naughton were also to sing in future episodes. Pop singer and songwriter Colbie Caillat
appeared in the third episode as Lesley Gore
and sang her hit song "It's My Party
". Javier Colon, the first season
winner of the NBC reality talent series The Voice
, was slated to portray soul musician Ray Charles
in The Playboy Club, singing the song "Let the Good Times Roll
". Singer and songwriter Raphael Saadiq
was booked to portray Sam Cooke
and sing "Having a Party" in the 4th episode. Other singers were planned to be featured in the series but never cast, including Frank Sinatra
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
, Dusty Springfield
, Roy Orbison
and James Brown
.
Other songs featured on The Playboy Club, and later featured on iTunes, included "Walk Like a Man" by Terry Dexter, and "In the Mood
" by Laura Benanti. Even though the series was set in 1961, a number of songs performed on the show were not released until several years after that.
magazine released on September 16, 2011.The magazine had a 1961 theme, which included an old-fashioned visual style, photos of 1960s Playboy bunnies and clubs, and the same 60 cent price as that time period. Benanti wore a black bunny costume and held a tray with drinks on the cover photo. NBC also entered into a cross-promotional deal with the Bloomingdale's
department store. The Walton Street store in Chicago included display windows inspired by the series, which were unveiled in September 2011 by The Playboy Club stars Benanti, Naturi Naughton and Wes Ramsey. Chosen for the storefronts due to its close proximity to the original Playboy Club, the Walton Street store allowed visitors to take virtual photos with the show's stars, view photos of the real-life clubs and the show's set, and enter into a contest to win such prizes as a walk-on role on the show and a $5,000 Bloomingdale's shopping spree.
(PTC) began protesting The Playboy Club and calling for boycotts against it immediately after NBC picked it up, long before the series first debuted. They called it a "blatant attempt to obliterate any remaining standards of broadcast decency", and criticized the idea of a series with Playboy in the title at all. The group claimed the show was objectified and degraded women, advanced an anti-family agenda and helped mainstream the pornography industry through its support of the Playboy brand. They criticized Comcast
, owner of NBCUniversal, claiming their decision to carry The Playboy Club violated an agreement it made with Federal Communications Commission
regulators during the purchase of NBCUniversal not to broadcast pornographic material over public airwaves. The PTC expressed particular concern about the nudity clauses included in some cast members' contracts, which led PTC President Tim Winter to accuse the series of distributing pornography. The group claimed The Playboy Club underscored the need for President
Barack Obama
and the United States Department of Justice
to fight for the reinstitution of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005
. The PTC sent letters to every NBC affiliate asking them not to air The Playboy Club, warning that if they did, the group would urge members to file complaints with the FCC if any inappropriate material were broadcast.
Several other groups and individuals spoke out against The Playboy Club. Gloria Steinem
, a feminist
activist who once disguised herself as a Playboy Bunny to write an article about the conditions inside the Playboy Clubs, also encouraged a boycott of the series. She claimed the concept normalized the concepts of male dominance and prostitution, and said, "Clearly The Playboy Club is not going to be accurate. It was the tackiest place on earth. It was not glamorous at all." The anti-pornography organization Morality in Media
established an online petition urging NBC to end the show, calling for advertisers to boycott it and asking supporters to promise not to watch the series. The group's president, Patrick Trueman, said the show would encourage the acceptance of pornography and contribute to exploitation of women. Morality in Media started a website called CloseTheClubOnNBC.com, where visitors could click a link to sent a protest e-mail message to NBC affiliates. The Pink Cross Foundation, an anti-pornography organization started by former adult actress Shelley Lubben
, also started an online petition calling for The Playboy Club' s cancellation. Lubben said of the series, "NBC is breaking the law with this show. They’re not meeting FCC standards." The conservative Florida Family Association announced it would document all companies that advertise with The Playboy Club and publicize their names online and in e-mail messages to supporters.
Chad Hodge said most of the protests and calls for boycotts were coming from people and organizations who admitted they had not watched the show itself. Hodge claimed they were drawing false conclusions based on their perceptions of Playboy magazine. Stars Amber Heard and Leah Renee defended the series at a 2011 Television Critics Association
panel. Heard said, "This is about choice. Ultimately it's a different generation with different opportunities and different expectations for women." "The way we look at things, if it involves sexuality, somehow a woman must be compromised," Renee said. "And I think it's just as chauvinistic to deny a woman her sexuality," Heard said. "It's about the time. It comes down to choices. If they are making the choice, they are not being exploited."
In mid-June 2011, representatives from KSL-TV
, the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah
, announced they would not broadcast The Playboy Club due to concerns about objectionable content and its association with the Playboy name. Station President Mark Willes said of this: "The Playboy brand is known internationally. Everyone is clear what it stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for, which is completely inconsistent with the Playboy brand." The station refused to air the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live
for similar reasons, and felt screening The Playboy Club, would conflict with their participation in the "Out in the Light" public affairs campaign, which educates people on the social effects of pornography. Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt rebuffed Willes' claims, stating he would not broadcast the show if he believed it was inappropriate. and Hodge said, "I'm sure they're going to beg to air it soon. I think once they see the show and where future episodes can go, there's really nothing to be concerned about." NBC announced KMYU, the Salt Lake City's MyNetworkTV
affiliate, would serve as an alternative television platform and broadcast the show in in its original timeslot. The Utah Coalition Against Pornography, an "Out in the Light" partner with KSL, supported the network's decision not to carry the series.
In August 2011, The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women issued a non-binding resolution stating The Playboy Club represented "a major step backward for women who have struggled to earn an equal place in the workplace, in the community and at home," and urged NBC to replace it with a show that "depicts women's substantive achievements". They unsuccessfully petitioned the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
to release a similar resolution. Once episodes of The Playboy Club began to broadcast, the PTC asked its members to contact the show's advertisers and encourage them to end their sponsorships with the series. By the end of the first episode, several advertisers indeed did end their working relationship with the series, including the Campbell Soup Company
, Lenovo, Kraft Foods
, P. F. Chang's China Bistro
, Spring
, Subway
, The UPS Store
. Citing the show's low ratings as evidence that television viewers agreed with the PTC's concerns, the group encouraged other advertisers to withdraw as well, including Capital One
, Chrysler
and Samsung
. Those groups ultimately kept their sponsorships with the series intact, a move Chrysler defended by announcing they were seeking to deliver information about their products to as broad and diverse an audience as possible.
called The Playboy Club one of the 12 most anticipated television shows of the season.
In a review of the pilot episode, NPR
writer Linda Holmes challenged the show's assertions of female empowerment. Finding the episode itself "silly and full of bad dialogue ... cheesy more than offensive", Holmes questioned how a series about women whose conduct and appearance were micromanaged could simultaneously claim that those regimented women were uniformly empowered by the experience. "You can shake a Bunny tail and be empowered, no argument. It depends on what's going on in the rest of your life. But shaking a Bunny tail isn't enough to demonstrate empowerment if you have to go to Eddie Cibrian or Hugh Hefner for help every time you have a problem, and having the right not to be slapped on the behind when you deliver a cocktail isn't exactly a societal advance on the order of universal suffrage." The series, she concluded, might have been better served had those involved positioned it as a camp soap opera
and not tried to make a feminist statement.
In contrast to those upset with the show's association with the Playboy brand, some television critics were disappointed in the lack of sexual content. Alan Pergament, former critic for The Buffalo News
, said of the show: "The truth is Playboy should have been a pay-cable series because without the sex it is pretty boring and tame." Entertainment Weekly
writer Margaret Lyons accused the show of "shamelessly cribbing Mad Men' s style", calling Eddie Cibrian's performance an imitation of Jon Hamm's Don Draper
and even citing specific shots and camera angles similar to those in Mad Men. Lyons wrote, "Playboy can't copy the lyricism or narrative potency that make Mad Men what it is, which is more than a collection of artfully arranged period hairdos and moody pairs of people in front of rectangle-patterned backgrounds. [But] it's sure trying!"
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter said the Playboy brand and the lifestyle portrayed in the series was dated and uninteresting: "It was [a] bad show, period. The writing was weak, the acting spotty and the sexism too ridiculous and obvious to comment on more than once." TVLine
writer Matt Webb Mitovich praised Benanti's performance and said the series evoked the 1960s ear well, but not as well as Pan Am and Mad Men. He felt the Playboy Club setting itself was too claustrophobic and that Cibrian was not strong enough for his part.
In an article for the LGBT website AfterElton.com, writer Lesley Goldberg said the Mattachine Society subplot was a "surprising and welcome twist, and indicates Playboy has more on its mind than just women in skimpy outfits".
Marilyn Miller, who spent six years working in as a Playboy Bunny in real-life clubs, told Vanity Fair
that the series was unrealistic, particularly in its portrayal of the bunnies dancing with and dating the customers. Miller said, "I thought it was cheap, it was degrading, it was demoralizing.... Not one Bunny I know liked the show. Everyone is hoping it gets canceled." In contrast, former Playboy Bunny Jennifer Jackson said she enjoyed the show, particularly the storyline, the casting and the set design.
. That was the lowest viewership among the major networks in its 10 p.m. timeslot, with the ABC
police comedy-drama Castle
drawing 13.28 million households and the CBS
police drama Hawaii Five-0 drawing 12.19 million households. The episode gradually shed viewers from the first half to the next, with an average of 5.36 million households tuning in for half hour and an average of 4.69 million households for the second. The debut earned a 1.6 rating/4 share among viewers between ages 18 and 48, which was considered a disappointing result for a coveted demographic. Speculation began immediately that the series could be canceled, but NBC officials told Deadline.com
that such a decision would not be rushed because NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt wanted to send a message that NBC was willing to give all their new shows the necessary time to find an audience and succeed.
The ratings dropped about 19 percent for the September 26 broadcast of the second episode, which drew an estimated 3.97 million households and a 1.3 rating/3 share among ages 18 to 49. The Playboy Club was once again defeated in its timeslot by Castle and Hawaii Five-0, which had viewership numbers of 11.67 million and 11.26 million, respectively. In writing about these ratings, Bill Gorman of the website TV by the Numbers
wrote, "The Playboy Club [is] making a move to be the first show canceled of the new season." The third episode, broadcast on October 3, dropped another eight percent in the Nielsen ratings, drawing 3.47 million household viewers and a 1.2 rating/3 share. Unlike the first two episodes, the third did not include a commercial previewing the next episode, which some viewers interpreted as a sign that the show's cancellation might be imminent.
by Citytv
, airing on the same night as the NBC telecast, but the scheduling varied as the Citytv outlets in Calgary and Edmonton aired it at 8 pm, while Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg followed NBC's 10 pm pattern, simsubbing
with NBC in many areas. The season premiere broadcast on Citytv was seen by only 485,000 viewers.
writer James Hibberd said the cancellation came as no surprise not only due to low ratings, but also because, "the industry had low expectations for the 1960s set drama, which attempted to replicate a retro Mad Men vibe but for a wide audience and on a network with plenty of content restrictions." NBC did not plan to broadcast the remaining episodes that were already filmed. The Playboy Club' s NBC timeslot was briefly replaced by repeat episodes of the new police drama series Prime Suspect
, until October 31, when the new Brian Williams
news program Rock Center with Brian Williams
will take its place. Filming for additional episodes of The Playboy Club continued until October 10, as the show's production company hoped to eventually sell the series to another network.
Hugh Hefner expressed disappointment that the series did not find an audience and, via his Twitter
account, said he believed the show should have appeared on cable and targeted a more "adult audience". Actress Laura Benanti said via Twitter shortly after the cancellation, "Wow. Tough day. Best cast, best crew, we deserved more." Likewise, David Krumholz wrote via Twitter, "Insulated minds make bad decisions," and Naturi Naughton released a Twitter message that read simply, "RIDICULOUS". In response to the cancellation, the PTC released a statement: "We're pleased that NBC will no longer be airing a program so inherently linked to a pornographic brand that denigrates and sexualizes women...we hope other broadcasters heed the important lessons of this programming debacle." James Hibberd wrote that the show's chance of survival "wasn't helped" by the PTC protests, but that it was ultimately the ratings that led to its cancellation. Likewise, Robert Seidman of TV by the Numbers said it was ratings rather than the PTC's efforts had anything to do with the network's decision, and Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter blamed the bad quality of the show itself: "This cancellation wasn't about boycotts. It was about owning up to the obvious."
The Chicago Film Office estimated another $16 million would have gone toward Chicago if The Playboy Club had not been canceled and production continued until the end of the year.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
from September 19, 2011 to October 3, 2011. Set in 1961, the series centers around the employees (known as Bunnies
Playboy Bunny
A Playboy Bunny is a waitress at the Playboy Club. The Playboy Clubs were originally open from 1960 to 1988. The Club re-opened in one location in The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas in 2006...
) of the original Playboy Club
Playboy Club
The Playboy Club initially was a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room...
operating in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
.
The Playboy Club was canceled on October 4, 2011, after three episodes aired. It was the first cancellation of the 2011–12 television season. NBC continued to film the series until October 10, 2011, hoping to sell the series to another network. Both Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
and show creator Chad Hodge have expressed hope that the series will be picked up by Bravo.
When production wrapped on October 10, 2011, Hodge and Laura Benanti both confirmed that they had finished seven episodes, including the pilot. Benanti further stated that the seventh episode has two endings, one of which is more final to the series.
Crew
20th Century Fox Television20th Century Fox Television
20th Century Fox Television is the television production division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and a production arm of the Fox Broadcasting Company...
and Imagine TV were the production companies for the show that eventually became The Playboy Club. They had previously attempted to produce the concept during the 2010–11 television season but the project never came to fruition. After that initial attempt, the companies approached screenwriter Chad Hodge, who became the show's creator and an executive producer. Imagine co-founder Brian Grazer
Brian Grazer
Brian Thomas Grazer is an Academy Award-winning American film and television producer who co-founded Imagine Entertainment in 1986 with Ron Howard. Together they have produced many acclaimed films, including Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind .- Career :Brian Grazer began his career as a producer...
and president Francie Calfo also served as executive producers, as did Richard Rosenzweig, a longtime executive and consultant with Playboy Enterprises
Playboy Enterprises
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. is a privately held global media and lifestyle company founded by Hugh Marston Hefner to manage the Playboy magazine empire. Its programming and content are available worldwide on television networks, Websites, mobile platforms and radio...
. Alta Loma Entertainment
Playboy Entertainment
The Playboy Entertainment Group is a division of Playboy Enterprises that includes Playboy TV and Playboy Online, which is the fastest growing revenue source for the company...
, Playboy's entertainment production arm, received copies of all the story outlines and scripts for review but, according to Hodge, took a very hands-off approach and did not get heavily involved in the creative process. Likewise, Playboy Enterprises founder Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
reviewed each of the scripts personally, but did not provide much direct input or request major changes. The original title of the series was Bunny Tales, then Playboy, before the final title The Playboy Club was chosen. The show's pilot script was the first new drama series ordered by NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
for the 2011–12 television season
2011–12 United States network television schedule
The 2011–2012 network television schedule for the five major English commercial broadcast networks in the United States covers primetime hours from September 2011 through May 2012...
.
Cast
The cast includes:- Eddie CibrianEddie CibrianEdward Carl "Eddie" Cibrian is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as Cole Deschanel on Sunset Beach, Jesse Cardoza in CSI: Miami, Jimmy Doherty on Third Watch and Russell Varon in Invasion.-Early life and career:...
as Nick Dalton, a smooth high-powered attorney and Playboy Club key-holder who plans to run for state's attorney, but also harbors secret connections to organized crime. Jeff HephnerJeff HephnerJeff Hephner is an American actor, known for his recurring role as Matt Ramsey during the third season of The O.C., and as the lead Morgan Stanley Buffkin in the 2008 television series Easy Money...
was originally cast in the role after performing well in test auditions, but the actor had no experience playing a television lead before, and the producers decided to let him go after the full cast table. Cibrian, who was cast just a few days before filming began, commuted from his Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
home to the set in Chicago for filming. - Laura BenantiLaura BenantiLaura Benanti is an American actress of television, film and Broadway theatre noted for her award winning performance as Louise in the 2008 production of Gypsy.-Early years:...
as Bunny Mother Carol-Lynne. The original Playboy Bunny, Carol-Lynne is romantically involved with Nick.
- Amber HeardAmber HeardAmber Laura Heard is an American actress and model. She played the lead and title character in All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, which debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2006. Heard's first starring role came in 2007 on the CW television show Hidden Palms...
as Bunny Maureen, a recently-hired Playboy Bunny who is innocent and naive to the ways of the city, yet is running from mysterious and unexplained things in her dark past. Although the series premiere started with Nick helping Maureen out of a difficult situation, Heard said of the character, "Don't underestimate that character and her intelligence, and the journey that she's going to take to really rise above that. ... I think Maureen allows herself to be helped when she needs it, and by no means relies on any character, male or female, in this story, and never has." - Jenna DewanJenna DewanJenna Lee Dewan-Tatum , better known by her birth name Jenna Dewan, is an American actress, dancer, and former model.-Early life:...
as Bunny Janie, a very provocative Bunny who is dating Max the bartender. Although she loves Max, she cannot marry his because she is already married, however, separated from her husband. - Naturi NaughtonNaturi NaughtonNaturi Cora Maria Naughton is an American singer, rapper and actress best known for formerly being one-third of the R&B trio 3LW, and the starring role of Denise in the remake of Fame.- Early life :...
as Bunny Brenda, who is seeking to be the first African American Playboy Playmate. Naughton auditioned four times for the role before getting cast, singing the Nat King ColeNat King ColeNathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz genres...
song "When I Fall in LoveWhen I Fall in Love"When I Fall in Love" is a 1952 popular song recorded by many artists.When I Fall in Love may also refer to:* When I Fall in Love , an album by Chris Botti, with a version of the 1952 song...
" during one of the auditions. In researching the role, Naughton consulted the black former Playboy Bunny Pat Lacey, watched the documentary film The Bunny Years (1999) and read the book 50 Years of the Playboy Bunny. Naughton had previously played a Playboy Bunny in "Hands and KneesHands and Knees"Hands and Knees" is the tenth episode of the fourth season of the American television drama series Mad Men, and the 49th overall episode of the series...
", a fourth season episode of Mad MenMad MenMad Men is an American dramatic television series created and produced by Matthew Weiner. The series premiered on Sunday evenings on the American cable network AMC and are produced by Lionsgate Television. It premiered on July 19, 2007, and completed its fourth season on October 17, 2010. Each...
, an AMC period drama also set in the 1960s. - David KrumholtzDavid KrumholtzDavid Krumholtz is an American actor best known for playing Professor Charlie Eppes in the television series Numb3rs. He appeared as Seth Goldstein in Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle and its two sequels, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay and A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas...
as Billy Rosen, manager of the Playboy Club. Krumholtz said he was drawn to the character and wished to play a role different from Charlie EppesCharlie EppesCharles Edward "Charlie" Eppes, PhD is a fictional character and protagonist in the CBS crime drama Numb3rs.Dr...
, the character he played for six seasons on the crime drama Numb3rsNUMB3RSNumb3rs is an American television drama which premiered on CBS on January 23, 2005, and concluded on March 12, 2010. The series was created by Nicolas Falacci and Cheryl Heuton, and follows FBI Special Agent Don Eppes and his mathematical genius brother, Charlie Eppes , who helps Don solve crimes...
. - Leah ReneeLeah Renee CudmoreLeah Renee Cudmore , often credited as Leah Cudmore or Leah Renee, is a Canadian actress and singer.She has had recurring roles in television series including MVP, Runaway and Blue Mountain State. As a voice actor she has performed in series including Franklin and Growing Up Creepie...
as Bunny Alice, a Bunny who is secretly lesbianLesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
and in a marriage of convenienceSham marriageA sham marriage or fake marriage is a marriage of convenience entered into with the intent of deceiving public officials or society about its purpose. Arranging or entering into such a marriage to deceive public officials is itself a separate violation of the law of some countries...
with a gay man. Both are members of the homophileHomophileThe word homophile is an alternative to the word for homosexual or gay. The homophile movement also refers to the gay rights movement of the 1950s and '60s....
group the Mattachine SocietyMattachine SocietyThe Mattachine Society, founded in 1950, was one of the earliest homophile organizations in the United States, probably second only to Chicago’s Society for Human Rights . Harry Hay and a group of Los Angeles male friends formed the group to protect and improve the rights of homosexuals...
. - Sean MaherSean MaherSean Maher is an American actor, best known for his role as Simon Tam in the science fiction television series Firefly and followup movie Serenity.-Early life:...
as Sean Beasley, a closeted gay man in a sham marriage with Alice. A secret member of the Mattachine Society, Sean is also a political campaigner who was to serve as Nick's campaign manager during a state's attorney run in later episodes. Maher was publicly closetedClosetedCloseted and in the closet are metaphors used to describe lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning and intersex people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior.-Background:In late 20th...
before taking the role and he publicly came out as the show aired because he felt the series was a good platform to openly discuss his sexuality and encourage public discourse about the issue. - Wes RamseyWes RamseyWesley A. Ramsey is an American actor.He is perhaps best known for his performance in the romantic drama Latter Days and for his multiple appearances in Charmed as Wyatt Halliwell.- Film credits :*Way Off Broadway...
as Max, a bartender at The Playboy Club.
Several actors who were not part of the original cast played recurring roles on The Playboy Club, including:
- Jenifer LewisJenifer LewisJenifer Jeanette Lewis is an American film and television actress and singer.-Early life:Lewis was born in Kinloch, Missouri, to a nurse's aid mother and a factory worker father. She attended college at Webster University in Webster Groves, Missouri...
as Pearl, the warm and well-loved Playboy Club seamstress who sews the outfits for the Playboy Bunnies, many of whom confide their secrets to her. Lewis, who described her character as the mother hen of the club, did not have to audition for the role, which is unusual in a dramatic television series. Lewis was a Broadway singer who performed with co-star Naturi Naughton on the musical HairsprayHairspray (musical)Hairspray is a musical with music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Shaiman and a book by Mark O'Donnell and Thomas Meehan, based on the 1988 John Waters film Hairspray. The songs include 1960s-style dance music and "downtown" rhythm and blues...
, and the Pearl character was expected to sing in an upcoming episodes when a scheduled entertainer fell through. Pearl was based on a real-life Playboy Club seamstress named Betty. - Cassidy FreemanCassidy FreemanCassidy Freeman is an American actress and musician. She is known for her role as Tess Mercer in The CW's Superman-inspired action drama Smallville, which she starred for three years.-Early life and education:...
as Frances Dunhill, a Chicago socialite who stands in as Nick Dalton's date as he makes a run for public office. The relationship with Nick is only for show, to please her father while concealing her lesbianism. - Troy GarityTroy GarityTroy Garity is an American film actor. He was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Miniseries or Television Film for his role as Barry Winchell in the 2003 television movie Soldier's Girl, but may be best known for his role as Isaac Rosenberg in the Barbershop films.-Early life and...
was cast in the recurring role of John Bianchi, the son of Bruno Bianchi, a mob figure who is killed by Maureen in self-defense during the pilot episode.
The contracts for Cibrian, Heard, Dewan and Renee all included clauses authorizing nudity, an unprecedented stipulation for a network series. Under the agreement, the actors could not be forced to perform nude scenes, but if nudity were required for a particular scene, they would have to review the script and then be given the opportunity to agree or decline. No nude scenes were written or planned for the film; the clauses were intended for possible R-rated versions of the show for the DVD release and for domestic and foreign cable syndication. The nudity clauses were not generated by producers or the network, but rather added by business executives to ensure maximize on possible financial opportunities.
Writing
Chad Hodge said of writing the series, "When I set out to create this show, the first word out of my mouth was 'entertaining, and cited as influences such films as All That JazzAll That Jazz
All That Jazz is a 1979 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse. The screenplay by Robert Alan Aurthur and Fosse is a semi-autobiographical fantasy based on aspects of Fosse's life and career as dancer, choreographer and director. The film was inspired by Bob Fosse's manic effort to edit his...
(1979), Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! is a 2001 romantic jukebox musical film directed, produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. Following the Red Curtain Cinema principles, the film is based on the Orphean myth, La Traviata, and La Bohème...
(2001) and Chicago
Chicago (2002 film)
Chicago is a 2002 musical film adapted from the satirical stage musical of the same name, exploring the themes of celebrity, scandal, and corruption in Jazz-age Chicago....
(2002), and the comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
television series Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
. The characters and setting of The Playboy Club served as an exploration of the changing political and moral attitudes of the 1960s, particularly with the approach of the sexual revolution
Sexual revolution
The sexual revolution was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western world from the 1960s into the 1980s...
that began in that decade.
Members of the Playboy Club cast and crew have stated they believe the series, and the concept of the Playboy Bunny in general, is empowering to women. One of the show's taglines spoke to this theme: "The men have the keys, but the women hold all of the power." During a Television Critics Association
Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming...
press tour, Amber Heard discussed past Bunnies who had gone on to successful careers and did not regret their past experience working at Playboy clubs, including Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton
Lauren Hutton is an American model and actress. She is best-known for her starring roles in the movies American Gigolo and Lassiter, and also for her fashion modeling career.-Personal life:...
, Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
, Kimba Wood
Kimba Wood
Kimba Maureen Wood is a United States federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.-Early life and education:...
and Polly Matzinger
Polly Matzinger
Polly Celine Eveline Matzinger is an iconoclastic scientist who proposed a novel explanation of how the immune system works, called the danger model.-Early years:...
. Heard said she believed the female characters in The Playboy Club were making free choices about their sexuality, and thus they were not being exploited, adding, "I think it's just as chauvinistic to deny a woman her sexuality." Naturi Naughton said she believed the women who worked as Playboy Bunnies were intelligent, self-reliant women who went to school, bought homes and accomplished things other women during their time could not. Likewise, Chad Hodge said he did not believe there was anything wrong with a woman using her sexuality to get what she wants if she so chooses, adding: "There are different brands of feminism and I don't think it should be boxed into any one version." Hodge later stressed, however, that despite his comments about the empowerment of women, he did not believe The Playboy Club conveyed any strong political convictions or intellectual ambitions, but rather was meant to be entertaining."
The subplot involving the Mattachine Society focuses specifically on the growing gay rights movement in the United States in the 1960s and what it was like to be gay or lesbian during a time period that was still repressive for that culture. The Playboy Club also touched upon changing thoughts with regard to racial diversity during the 1960s. One of the supporting characters, Brenda, seeks to become the first African American Playboy Bunny. Her role in the series illustrates Hugh Hefner's decision to integrate his clubs, both by hiring black women and allowing black key-holders and performers, which was considered unusual at the time. Brenda was loosely based on the model Jennifer Jackson
Jennifer Jackson (model)
Jennifer Jackson is an American model who was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the month for the March 1965 issue. She was the first Black Playmate of the Month and was photographed by Pompeo Posar....
, the actual first Black
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
Playmate of the Month, although neither Naughton nor the Playboy Club producers contacted Jackson in preparing the role.
Filming
The Playboy Club was shot in Chicago, the same city where the story was set. Filming on the pilot episode began on March 15, 2011, with most scenes filmed on a set at Cinespace Studios on West 16th Street. Some scenes were also shot at the former Meigs FieldMeigs Field
Merrill C. Meigs Field Airport , was a single strip airport that operated from December 1948 until March 2003. It was built on Northerly Island, the man-made peninsula that was also the site of the 1933–1934 Century of Progress in Chicago....
on Northerly Island
Northerly Island
Northerly Island is a man-made peninsula along Chicago's lakefront. The site of the Adler Planetarium, Northerly Island connects to the mainland through a narrow isthmus along Solidarity Drive dominated by Neoclassical sculptures of Kościuszko, Havliček and Copernicus...
. The Chicago Film Office estimated the production would add jobs to the city and pump an estimated $2 million into the local economy per episode. Each episode was shot in about nine days, and filming lasted for 12 hours at a time on certain days. The first episode was directed by Alan Taylor
Alan Taylor (director)
Alan Taylor is an American television and film director, television producer, and screenwriter. Taylor has directed for numerous programs on both network television and premium cable, most notably on HBO...
, who had also directed four episodes of Mad Men, including the pilot.
The costumes in The Playboy Club were designed by Isis Mussenden. She was not able to find any original Playboy Bunny uniforms, so she created her designs based on photos and consultations with Hugh Hefner. Each of the five female leads received two suits, each of which cost $3,000 and took about 10 hours to make. Each suit included a built-in bra, French cuff
Cuff
A cuff is an extra layer of fabric at the lower edge of the sleeve of a garment covering the arms. In US usage the word may also refer to the end of the leg of a pair of trousers...
s with Playboy cuff links, satin ears and 3-inch heels. After the costumes were designed, Hefner had claimed they were not cut high enough on the leg, but Mussenden assured him the height was correct based on photos of Hefner with real-life bunnies. Naturi Naughton said the costumes were very tight and difficult to wear for several hours at a time during shoots.
While on the Playboy Club set, Amber Heard's sister used her iPhone
IPhone
The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
to take a photo of Heard in her Playboy Bunny costume and Heard posted it on her Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
page. The image was widely disseminated on the Internet and featured in the magazine TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
. 20th Century Fox Television banned any unauthorized photography on the set as a result of the incident.
Hugh Hefner performed a voice-over narration during the pilot episode, but no such narration was recorded for the other episodes. A young version of Hefner was featured as a character in the show, but was only ever seen from behind. Hodge said this was the result of a conscious decision to feature Hefner in the series but not give him a regular role, which the real-life Hefner approved of because, according to Hodge, "He didn't want to make it his story." On October 4, 2011, Eddie Cibrian injured himself after getting his right heel caught underneath a 200-pound steel door, resulting in a deep gash that required stitches.
Music
Several songs popular during the 1960s were featured in The Playboy Club. Verve RecordsVerve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
, the record label owned by Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
, formed a partnership with 20th Century Fox Television and the Apple Inc. company iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
to make those song versions available for download on the iTunes Store
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
. 20th Century Fox Television chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden cited the success of similar track sales on the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
musical series Glee
Glee (TV series)
Glee is an American musical comedy-drama television series that airs on Fox in the United States, and on GlobalTV in Canada. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing on the show choir competition circuit, while its members deal with relationships, sexuality and social issues...
as a reason for the venture with The Playboy Club, as they felt it would expose the series to a wider audience. The individual tracks were being produced by The Transcenders
The Transcenders
Transcenders are a LA Based music production team. They are the episodic and main title composers for the CW's show Gossip Girl. In addition to their list of credits, Transcenders songwriting collaborations can be heard on both the A&M Records release from Fergie, The Dutchess, and the Warner Bros....
, a Los Angeles music production team that included the producers Mike Fratantuno, Terrance Graves and Brian Lapin. The cast vocals were recorded in Chicago by vocal producer Richard Marx
Richard Marx
Richard Noel Marx is an American adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He had a string of hit singles in the late 1980s and 1990s, including "Endless Summer Nights", "Right Here Waiting", "Now and Forever", and "Hazard"...
. Geoff Bywater, the vice president of music for 20th Century Fox Television, said a soundtrack album
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album is any album that incorporates music directly recorded from the soundtrack of a particular feature film or television program. In some cases, not all the tracks from the movie are included in the album; however there are rare cases of songs in the trailers that do not appear in...
for the series was also under consideration. The Playboy Club was to feature several guest performances by singers portraying real-life musicians from the 1960s period.
Cast member Laura Benanti performed a version of Fred Fisher
Fred Fisher
Fred Fisher was a German-born American songwriter and Tin Pan Alley music publisher. Fisher founded Fred Fisher Music Publishing Company in 1907. He was born as Albert von Breitenbach in Cologne...
's "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)
Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)
"Chicago" is a popular song. It was written by Fred Fisher and was published in 1922. The song has been recorded by many artists, but the best-known version is by Frank Sinatra....
" during a scene from the pilot. Also in that episode, actress Karen LeBlanc portrayed Tina Turner
Tina Turner
Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...
, appearing with others portraying singer Ike Turner
Ike Turner
Isaac Wister Turner was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, arranger, talent scout, and record producer. In a career that lasted more than half a century, his repertoire included blues, soul, rock, and funk...
and the backing vocalists The Ikettes
The Ikettes
The Ikettes were a trio of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, a prominent American rhythm and blues group from the 1960s.-Career:...
. She sang "Shake a Tail Feather
Shake a Tail Feather
"Shake a Tail Feather" is a song originally recorded in 1963 by the Chicago-based group The Five Du-Tones...
" and "Tina's Wish". Those songs were immediately made available on iTunes. Cast members Leah Renee and Naturi Naughton were also to sing in future episodes. Pop singer and songwriter Colbie Caillat
Colbie Caillat
Colbie Marie Caillat is an American pop singer-songwriter and guitarist from Malibu, California. She debuted in 2007 with Coco, which included hit singles "Bubbly", "Realize", and "The Little Things". In 2008, she recorded a duet with Jason Mraz, "Lucky", which won a Grammy. Caillat released her...
appeared in the third episode as Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore
Lesley Gore is an American singer. She is perhaps best known for her 1963 pop hit "It's My Party", which she recorded at the age of 16. Following the hit, she became one of the most recognized teen pop singers of the 1960s.- Biography :Gore was born in New York City, New York. She was raised in...
and sang her hit song "It's My Party
It's My Party (song)
"It's My Party" is a song most famously sung by American singer Lesley Gore in 1963. This song hit #1 on the pop and rhythm and blues charts in the United States. "It's My Party", peaked at #9 in the United Kingdom, becoming Gore's only major hit there...
". Javier Colon, the first season
The Voice (U.S. season 1)
The Voice is an American reality talent show. The American series premiered on April 26, 2011 on the NBC television network. The winner of the first series was Javier Colon, mentored by coach Adam Levine, the finale airing on June 29, 2011...
winner of the NBC reality talent series The Voice
The Voice (U.S. TV series)
The Voice is an American reality talent show that premiered on April 26, 2011 on the NBC television network. Based on the reality singing competition The Voice of Holland, the series was created by Dutch television producer John de Mol. It is part of an international series...
, was slated to portray soul musician Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
in The Playboy Club, singing the song "Let the Good Times Roll
Let the Good Times Roll (Louis Jordan song)
"Let the Good Times Roll" is a song was recorded in 1946 by Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five, and became a # 2 hit on the R&B chart in the United States....
". Singer and songwriter Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq
Raphael Saadiq is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. Saadiq has been a standard bearer for "old school" R&B since his early days as a member of the multiplatinum group Tony! Toni! Toné! He also produced songs of such artists as TLC, Joss Stone, D'Angelo, Mary J...
was booked to portray Sam Cooke
Sam Cooke
Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...
and sing "Having a Party" in the 4th episode. Other singers were planned to be featured in the series but never cast, including Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Sammy Davis, Jr.
Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George "Sammy" Davis Jr. was an American entertainer and was also known for his impersonations of actors and other celebrities....
, Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
, Roy Orbison
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...
and James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...
.
Other songs featured on The Playboy Club, and later featured on iTunes, included "Walk Like a Man" by Terry Dexter, and "In the Mood
In the Mood
"In the Mood" is a big band era #1 hit recorded by American bandleader Glenn Miller. Joe Garland and Andy Razaf arranged "In the Mood" in 1937-1939 using a previously existing main theme composed by Glenn Miller before the start of the 1930s...
" by Laura Benanti. Even though the series was set in 1961, a number of songs performed on the show were not released until several years after that.
Episodes
| No. | Title | Directed by | Written by | 18–49 rating | U.S. viewers (million) |
Original air date |
|---|
Advertising
The Playboy Club was heavily advertised on NBC and elsewhere in the weeks leading up to the series premiere. Laura Benanti appeared on a retro style cover of PlayboyPlayboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
magazine released on September 16, 2011.The magazine had a 1961 theme, which included an old-fashioned visual style, photos of 1960s Playboy bunnies and clubs, and the same 60 cent price as that time period. Benanti wore a black bunny costume and held a tray with drinks on the cover photo. NBC also entered into a cross-promotional deal with the Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's is an American department store owned by Macy's, Inc. .Bloomingdale's started in 1861 when brothers Joseph and Lyman G. Bloomingdale started selling hoop-skirts in their Ladies Notions' Shop on Manhattan's Lower East Side...
department store. The Walton Street store in Chicago included display windows inspired by the series, which were unveiled in September 2011 by The Playboy Club stars Benanti, Naturi Naughton and Wes Ramsey. Chosen for the storefronts due to its close proximity to the original Playboy Club, the Walton Street store allowed visitors to take virtual photos with the show's stars, view photos of the real-life clubs and the show's set, and enter into a contest to win such prizes as a walk-on role on the show and a $5,000 Bloomingdale's shopping spree.
Protests
The conservative advocacy group Parents Television CouncilParents Television Council
The Parents Television Council is a U.S. based advocacy group founded by conservative activist L. Brent Bozell III in 1995 using the National Legion of Decency as a model...
(PTC) began protesting The Playboy Club and calling for boycotts against it immediately after NBC picked it up, long before the series first debuted. They called it a "blatant attempt to obliterate any remaining standards of broadcast decency", and criticized the idea of a series with Playboy in the title at all. The group claimed the show was objectified and degraded women, advanced an anti-family agenda and helped mainstream the pornography industry through its support of the Playboy brand. They criticized Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
, owner of NBCUniversal, claiming their decision to carry The Playboy Club violated an agreement it made with Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
regulators during the purchase of NBCUniversal not to broadcast pornographic material over public airwaves. The PTC expressed particular concern about the nudity clauses included in some cast members' contracts, which led PTC President Tim Winter to accuse the series of distributing pornography. The group claimed The Playboy Club underscored the need for President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
and the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
to fight for the reinstitution of the Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005
Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005
The Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 is an enrolled bill, passed by both Houses of the 109th United States Congress, to increase the fines and penalties for violating the prohibitions against the broadcast of obscene, indecent, or profane language. It was originally proposed in 2004 as...
. The PTC sent letters to every NBC affiliate asking them not to air The Playboy Club, warning that if they did, the group would urge members to file complaints with the FCC if any inappropriate material were broadcast.
Several other groups and individuals spoke out against The Playboy Club. Gloria Steinem
Gloria Steinem
Gloria Marie Steinem is an American feminist, journalist, and social and political activist who became nationally recognized as a leader of, and media spokeswoman for, the women's liberation movement in the late 1960s and 1970s...
, a feminist
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...
activist who once disguised herself as a Playboy Bunny to write an article about the conditions inside the Playboy Clubs, also encouraged a boycott of the series. She claimed the concept normalized the concepts of male dominance and prostitution, and said, "Clearly The Playboy Club is not going to be accurate. It was the tackiest place on earth. It was not glamorous at all." The anti-pornography organization Morality in Media
Morality in Media
Morality in Media, Inc. is an American non-profit organization that was established in New York in 1962. MIM seeks to raise awareness about the harms of pornography and other forms of obscenity on individuals, families and society. MIM also works through constitutional means to curb traffic in...
established an online petition urging NBC to end the show, calling for advertisers to boycott it and asking supporters to promise not to watch the series. The group's president, Patrick Trueman, said the show would encourage the acceptance of pornography and contribute to exploitation of women. Morality in Media started a website called CloseTheClubOnNBC.com, where visitors could click a link to sent a protest e-mail message to NBC affiliates. The Pink Cross Foundation, an anti-pornography organization started by former adult actress Shelley Lubben
Shelley Lubben
Shelley Lubben is an American former pornographic actress who performed under the stage name of Roxy. After she left the sex industry, Lubben became a born-again Christian and anti-pornography activist...
, also started an online petition calling for The Playboy Club
Chad Hodge said most of the protests and calls for boycotts were coming from people and organizations who admitted they had not watched the show itself. Hodge claimed they were drawing false conclusions based on their perceptions of Playboy magazine. Stars Amber Heard and Leah Renee defended the series at a 2011 Television Critics Association
Television Critics Association
The Television Critics Association is a group of approximately 200 United States and Canadian journalists and columnists who cover television programming...
panel. Heard said, "This is about choice. Ultimately it's a different generation with different opportunities and different expectations for women." "The way we look at things, if it involves sexuality, somehow a woman must be compromised," Renee said. "And I think it's just as chauvinistic to deny a woman her sexuality," Heard said. "It's about the time. It comes down to choices. If they are making the choice, they are not being exploited."
In mid-June 2011, representatives from KSL-TV
KSL-TV
KSL-TV, virtual channel 5, is an NBC-affiliated television station located in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. KSL-TV is owned by Bonneville International Corporation, which is in turn owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints...
, the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
, announced they would not broadcast The Playboy Club due to concerns about objectionable content and its association with the Playboy name. Station President Mark Willes said of this: "The Playboy brand is known internationally. Everyone is clear what it stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for, which is completely inconsistent with the Playboy brand." The station refused to air the sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
for similar reasons, and felt screening The Playboy Club, would conflict with their participation in the "Out in the Light" public affairs campaign, which educates people on the social effects of pornography. Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt rebuffed Willes' claims, stating he would not broadcast the show if he believed it was inappropriate. and Hodge said, "I'm sure they're going to beg to air it soon. I think once they see the show and where future episodes can go, there's really nothing to be concerned about." NBC announced KMYU, the Salt Lake City's MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
affiliate, would serve as an alternative television platform and broadcast the show in in its original timeslot. The Utah Coalition Against Pornography, an "Out in the Light" partner with KSL, supported the network's decision not to carry the series.
In August 2011, The San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women issued a non-binding resolution stating The Playboy Club represented "a major step backward for women who have struggled to earn an equal place in the workplace, in the community and at home," and urged NBC to replace it with a show that "depicts women's substantive achievements". They unsuccessfully petitioned the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
to release a similar resolution. Once episodes of The Playboy Club began to broadcast, the PTC asked its members to contact the show's advertisers and encourage them to end their sponsorships with the series. By the end of the first episode, several advertisers indeed did end their working relationship with the series, including the Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company
Campbell Soup Company , also known as Campbell's, is an American producer of canned soups and related products. Campbell's products are sold in 120 countries around the world. It is headquartered in Camden, New Jersey...
, Lenovo, Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
, P. F. Chang's China Bistro
P. F. Chang's China Bistro
'P. F. Chang's China Bistro, Inc. is an American restaurant chain with headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona.The chain was founded in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1993 by Paul Fleming and Philip Chiang. The restaurants serve American Chinese cuisine from a menu originally conceived and planned by chef...
, Spring
Spring (store)
Spring is a retailer of men’s and women’s shoes, with locations primarily found in shopping malls.-History:Aldo Bensadoun, founder of Aldo Groupe, founded Spring in 1991 under the name Transit, with locations primarily in Canada. With the expansion of the chain across the United States, the name of...
, Subway
Subway (restaurant)
Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...
, The UPS Store
The UPS Store
The UPS Store is a subsidiary of UPS, with locations in the United States and Canada. Each store offers shipping, postal, online printing, and other business services. In the United States, each store is independently owned and operated by a licensed franchisee of Mail Boxes Etc., Inc...
. Citing the show's low ratings as evidence that television viewers agreed with the PTC's concerns, the group encouraged other advertisers to withdraw as well, including Capital One
Capital One
Capital One Financial Corp. is a U.S.-based bank holding company specializing in credit cards, home loans, auto loans, banking and savings products...
, Chrysler
Chrysler
Chrysler Group LLC is a multinational automaker headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan, USA. Chrysler was first organized as the Chrysler Corporation in 1925....
and Samsung
Samsung
The Samsung Group is a South Korean multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea...
. Those groups ultimately kept their sponsorships with the series intact, a move Chrysler defended by announcing they were seeking to deliver information about their products to as broad and diverse an audience as possible.
Reviews
The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
called The Playboy Club one of the 12 most anticipated television shows of the season.
In a review of the pilot episode, NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
writer Linda Holmes challenged the show's assertions of female empowerment. Finding the episode itself "silly and full of bad dialogue ... cheesy more than offensive", Holmes questioned how a series about women whose conduct and appearance were micromanaged could simultaneously claim that those regimented women were uniformly empowered by the experience. "You can shake a Bunny tail and be empowered, no argument. It depends on what's going on in the rest of your life. But shaking a Bunny tail isn't enough to demonstrate empowerment if you have to go to Eddie Cibrian or Hugh Hefner for help every time you have a problem, and having the right not to be slapped on the behind when you deliver a cocktail isn't exactly a societal advance on the order of universal suffrage." The series, she concluded, might have been better served had those involved positioned it as a camp soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
and not tried to make a feminist statement.
In contrast to those upset with the show's association with the Playboy brand, some television critics were disappointed in the lack of sexual content. Alan Pergament, former critic for The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News is the primary newspaper of the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area, and the area's only daily newspaper. It is the only newspaper owned by Berkshire Hathaway.-History:...
, said of the show: "The truth is Playboy should have been a pay-cable series because without the sex it is pretty boring and tame." Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer Margaret Lyons accused the show of "shamelessly cribbing Mad Men
Don Draper
Donald "Don" Draper is a fictional character and the protagonist of AMC's television series Mad Men. He is portrayed by 2008 Golden Globe winner Jon Hamm. Until the third season finale, Draper was Creative Director of Manhattan advertising firm Sterling Cooper...
and even citing specific shots and camera angles similar to those in Mad Men. Lyons wrote, "Playboy can't copy the lyricism or narrative potency that make Mad Men what it is, which is more than a collection of artfully arranged period hairdos and moody pairs of people in front of rectangle-patterned backgrounds. [But] it's sure trying!"
Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter said the Playboy brand and the lifestyle portrayed in the series was dated and uninteresting: "It was [a] bad show, period. The writing was weak, the acting spotty and the sexism too ridiculous and obvious to comment on more than once." TVLine
TVLine
TVLine is a website devoted to information, news and spoilers of television programs.-History:In late 2010, Entertainment Weekly's Michael Ausiello announced that he would be leaving EW after nearly two years in their employ to establish a TV-centered website with MMC, the media company founded by...
writer Matt Webb Mitovich praised Benanti's performance and said the series evoked the 1960s ear well, but not as well as Pan Am and Mad Men. He felt the Playboy Club setting itself was too claustrophobic and that Cibrian was not strong enough for his part.
In an article for the LGBT website AfterElton.com, writer Lesley Goldberg said the Mattachine Society subplot was a "surprising and welcome twist, and indicates Playboy has more on its mind than just women in skimpy outfits".
Marilyn Miller, who spent six years working in as a Playboy Bunny in real-life clubs, told Vanity Fair
Vanity Fair (magazine)
Vanity Fair is a magazine of pop culture, fashion, and current affairs published by Condé Nast. The present Vanity Fair has been published since 1983 and there have been editions for four European countries as well as the U.S. edition. This revived the title which had ceased publication in 1935...
that the series was unrealistic, particularly in its portrayal of the bunnies dancing with and dating the customers. Miller said, "I thought it was cheap, it was degrading, it was demoralizing.... Not one Bunny I know liked the show. Everyone is hoping it gets canceled." In contrast, former Playboy Bunny Jennifer Jackson said she enjoyed the show, particularly the storyline, the casting and the set design.
Ratings
The series premiere of The Playboy Club drew an estimated 5.02 million household viewers in its original American broadcast on September 19, 2011, according to Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. That was the lowest viewership among the major networks in its 10 p.m. timeslot, with the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
police comedy-drama Castle
Castle (TV series)
Castle is an American comedy-drama television series, which premiered on ABC on March 9, 2009. The series is produced by Beacon Pictures and ABC Studios. On January 10, 2011, Castle was renewed for a fourth season...
drawing 13.28 million households and the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
police drama Hawaii Five-0 drawing 12.19 million households. The episode gradually shed viewers from the first half to the next, with an average of 5.36 million households tuning in for half hour and an average of 4.69 million households for the second. The debut earned a 1.6 rating/4 share among viewers between ages 18 and 48, which was considered a disappointing result for a coveted demographic. Speculation began immediately that the series could be canceled, but NBC officials told Deadline.com
Deadline.com
Deadline.com, part of Jay Penske's PMC, is an online magazine, founded and edited by Nikki Finke.-Publication:The site is updated several times a day, with the infotainment industry as its focus.-History:...
that such a decision would not be rushed because NBC Chairman Bob Greenblatt wanted to send a message that NBC was willing to give all their new shows the necessary time to find an audience and succeed.
The ratings dropped about 19 percent for the September 26 broadcast of the second episode, which drew an estimated 3.97 million households and a 1.3 rating/3 share among ages 18 to 49. The Playboy Club was once again defeated in its timeslot by Castle and Hawaii Five-0, which had viewership numbers of 11.67 million and 11.26 million, respectively. In writing about these ratings, Bill Gorman of the website TV by the Numbers
TV by the Numbers
TV by the Numbers is a website devoted to collecting and analyzing television ratings data in the United States. It is run by Bill Gorman and Robert Seidman, both of whom founded the website in 2007.-History:...
wrote, "The Playboy Club [is] making a move to be the first show canceled of the new season." The third episode, broadcast on October 3, dropped another eight percent in the Nielsen ratings, drawing 3.47 million household viewers and a 1.2 rating/3 share. Unlike the first two episodes, the third did not include a commercial previewing the next episode, which some viewers interpreted as a sign that the show's cancellation might be imminent.
International broadcasts
The series also aired in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
by Citytv
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...
, airing on the same night as the NBC telecast, but the scheduling varied as the Citytv outlets in Calgary and Edmonton aired it at 8 pm, while Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg followed NBC's 10 pm pattern, simsubbing
Simultaneous substitution
Simultaneous substitution is a practice mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission requiring Canadian cable, direct broadcast satellite and multichannel multipoint distribution service television distribution companies to substitute the signal of a foreign or...
with NBC in many areas. The season premiere broadcast on Citytv was seen by only 485,000 viewers.
Cancellation
NBC canceled the show on October 4, 2011, after just three episodes, making it the first network television series of the 2011–12 United States network television season to be canceled. Entertainment WeeklyEntertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
writer James Hibberd said the cancellation came as no surprise not only due to low ratings, but also because, "the industry had low expectations for the 1960s set drama, which attempted to replicate a retro Mad Men vibe but for a wide audience and on a network with plenty of content restrictions." NBC did not plan to broadcast the remaining episodes that were already filmed. The Playboy Club
Prime Suspect (U.S. TV series)
Prime Suspect is an American police procedural television drama series that premiered on NBC on September 22, 2011. It stars Maria Bello as Detective Jane Timoney. The series is a "re-imagining" of the British series by the same name. The series was created by Lynda La Plante and was redeveloped by...
, until October 31, when the new Brian Williams
Brian Williams
Brian Douglas Williams is the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News, the evening news program of the NBC television network, a position he assumed in 2004...
news program Rock Center with Brian Williams
Rock Center with Brian Williams
Rock Center with Brian Williams is an American weekly television newsmagazine broadcast by NBC, and hosted by NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams...
will take its place. Filming for additional episodes of The Playboy Club continued until October 10, as the show's production company hoped to eventually sell the series to another network.
Hugh Hefner expressed disappointment that the series did not find an audience and, via his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
account, said he believed the show should have appeared on cable and targeted a more "adult audience". Actress Laura Benanti said via Twitter shortly after the cancellation, "Wow. Tough day. Best cast, best crew, we deserved more." Likewise, David Krumholz wrote via Twitter, "Insulated minds make bad decisions," and Naturi Naughton released a Twitter message that read simply, "RIDICULOUS". In response to the cancellation, the PTC released a statement: "We're pleased that NBC will no longer be airing a program so inherently linked to a pornographic brand that denigrates and sexualizes women...we hope other broadcasters heed the important lessons of this programming debacle." James Hibberd wrote that the show's chance of survival "wasn't helped" by the PTC protests, but that it was ultimately the ratings that led to its cancellation. Likewise, Robert Seidman of TV by the Numbers said it was ratings rather than the PTC's efforts had anything to do with the network's decision, and Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter blamed the bad quality of the show itself: "This cancellation wasn't about boycotts. It was about owning up to the obvious."
The Chicago Film Office estimated another $16 million would have gone toward Chicago if The Playboy Club had not been canceled and production continued until the end of the year.