The Playboy Club [TV series]

rpr52121 · May 19, 2011

I figured there would be a thread for this show eventually anyways.

"NBC ordered a pilot called The Playboy Club starring Amber Heard, which much like Mad Men, is set in the 1960s. Instead of Madison Avenue, though, the show will be set at a Playboy Club in Chicago.

Playboy will be written by Chad Hodge and uses the legendary club as a way to explore blossoming sexuality in America during the Sixties.

This sounds like it could be a really interesting show, but not for network TV. You can’t have a show that explores blossoming sexuality on NBC. I always find period pieces to be fascinating, but a story like this will have to be heavily censored to get past the network censors and succeed on network TV. This show would be better off on cable, either basic or premium. It could actually be a great follow up to AMC’s Mad Men."

pNSFW

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http://www.redeyechicago.com/entertainment/tv/redeye-sneak-peek-nbcs-the-playboy-club-20110515 said:

NBC has picked up "The Playboy Club" for its fall 2011 schedule. The drama is set in 1960s Chicago at the first Playboy-themed club.

In NBC's answer to 1960s drama "Mad Men," Eddie Cibrian plays Nick Dalton, a well-connected attorney who has ties to the mob. He leverages those ties when Playboy bunny Maureen (Amber Heard) accidentally kills the leader of the Bianchi crime family.

The pilot for "The Playboy Club" was filmed in March at the old Meigs Terminal on Northerly Island. Although NBC has not confirmed that the series will shoot in the Windy City, the Betsy Steinberg, managing director of the Illinois Film Office, told the Tribune that it will be filming here: "I can tell you definitively that they told me they will be shooting in Chicago."

NBC supplied this clip from the pilot, and the full description of the show below.

THE PLAYBOY CLUB
From Academy Award-winning executive producer Brian Grazer, "The Playboy Club" is a provocative new drama about a time and place that challenged the social mores, where a visionary entrepreneur created an empire and an icon changed American culture. It's the early '60s, and the legendary Playboy Club in Chicago is the door to all of your fantasies—and the key is the most sought-after status symbol of its kind. Inside the seductive world of the bunny, the epitome of beauty and service, the clientele rubs shoulders with the decade's biggest mobsters, politicos and entertainers. Nick Dalton (Eddie Cibrian, "CSI: Miam") is one of the city's top attorneys and the ultimate playboy, rubbing elbows with everyone in the city's power structure. With mysterious ties to the mob, Nick comes to the aid of Maureen (Amber Heard, "Zombieland"), the stunning and innocent new bunny who accidentally kills the leader of the Bianchi crime family. Dating Nick is Carol-Lynne (Laura Benanti, "Take the Lead"), a bombshell and established star at the club who knows her days as a bunny are numbered and finds herself continually at odds with Billy (David Krumholtz, "Numb3rs"), the club's general manager. Adding to the charm of the Playboy club is Janie (Jenna Dewan Tatum, "American Virgin"), the carefree life of the party who is dating Max (Wes Ramsey, "CSI: Miami"), an overly protective bartender. Also starring are Naturi Naughton ("Fame") and Leah Renee ("True Confessions of a Hollywood Starlet"). In addition to Grazer ("A Beautiful Mind," "American Gangster"), the executive producers on "The Playboy Club" include Chad Hodge ("Tru Calling"), Francie Calfo ("Scoundrels"), Jason Burns ("The House Bunny") and Dick Rosenzweig ("Kendra"). Hodge also wrote the pilot, which was directed by Alan Taylor ("Mad Men," "The Sopranos"). The series is produced by 20th Century Fox Television and Imagine Television.
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GRENDEL · May 19, 2011

I'm curious about this show, seem like they took that one episode from the last season of Mad Men and just turned it into it's own show.

Was in Chicago when they were shooting exteriors for this....

Xerobull · May 19, 2011

I've been envisioning this for years in the shower. I demand royalties.

VanityHalfBlack · May 19, 2011

<iframe width="640" height="390" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GFtf6trYmYw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Oski2005 · May 19, 2011

I love me some Amber Heard, too bad this isn't an HBO show.

GRENDEL · May 19, 2011

Oski2005 said: ↑

I love me some Amber Heard, too bad this isn't an HBO show.
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Now that would make for a really interesting show...:grin:

Dairy Ashford · May 19, 2011

They could have done this with Vegas. This is so stupid, tell me the guy's not doing a crappy Draper impersonation. So stupid. If they want to make a show about the sixties do it about the space program or something. Or about the actual Playboy magazine. Or the music industry. Or the AFL.

rhadamanthus · May 19, 2011

Yay more softcore p*rn pseudo-drama.

finalsbound · May 19, 2011

Love Amber Heard, but I wish it was on HBO or SHO...

rpr52121 · Jun 22, 2011

The Outcry against this show has begun somewhat. Not like it was not expected...

Utah NBC affiliate won’t air ‘The Playboy Club’

http://dailycaller.com/2011/06/13/utah-nbc-affiliate-wont-air-the-playboy-club/ said:

Not everyone wants to be a part of “The Playboy Club.”

NBC’s Salt Lake City affiliate KSL-TV has chosen not to broadcast the network’s upcoming fall drama, “The Playboy Club,” which follows the Bunnies, political figures, and mob bosses of the first Playboy Club in 1960’s Chicago.

“The Playboy brand is known internationally,” KSL president and CEO Mark Willes said in a statement. “Everyone is clear what it stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for, which is completely inconsistent with the Playboy brand.”

KSL is owned by Deseret Media Companies, which is managed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a common religion for the city residents.

In an interview with the Deseret News, Willes explained that KSL intends to maintain a clean brand.

“We would be helping to build a brand that stands for p*rnography. For us, that’s just untenable,” Willes said. “We would never accept an ad from The Playboy Club, just as we don’t accept ads for alcohol or gambling.”

The new show is slated to air Mondays at 10 p.m. in September.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, NBC entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt has come to the series’ defense, saying it’s “tame compared to what you’d see on Jersey Shore.”
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Women's Groups Appeal to NBC's Legal and Corporate Responsibility Asking for a Halt to 'The Playboy Club'

New series seen as sexually exploitative to women

http://www.christiannewswire.com/news/5610217228.html said:

NASHVILLE, June 22, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- "The Playboy Club," described as a "provocative new series" about a "visionary who created an empire and an icon who changed American culture," glorifies the objectification of women and violates the spirit of FCC licensing laws according to several women's groups.

FCC licensing laws require broadcasters to serve "public interest, convenience and necessity," to protect people from exploitation of their valuable public utility.

NBC is appearing to defy FCC laws, while contributing to sexualization/victimization of women, which results in trafficking, rape and prostitution. "NBC has stockholder responsibility to produce enriching programming," stated Tiffany Leeper, President of Girls Against p*rn & Human Trafficking.

The show portrays Hugh Hefner who has objectified women and girls, normalized p*rn addictions, destroyed families and distributed hardcore p*rnography, which should be prosecuted under U.S. Federal (18 U.S.C. § 1460) and state obscenity laws.

"It's disturbing a public company is producing a series portraying a pornographer -- which children will see. NBC's stockholders should reconsider their investments," stated Leeper.

"With 27 million slaves trafficked globally, NBC is marketing women and girls as sexual objects, further promoting sex trafficking," said Leeper.

"p*rn is sex trafficking. I know because I was enslaved," said Shelley Lubben, former p*rn actress and Pink Cross Foundation President.

NBC's action is a violation of Comcast's "Ethical Standards" of "integrity.”

Dr. Judith Reisman, principal investigator of Images of Children, Crime & Violence in Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler stated, "In 1994 Playboy lost its Netherlands libel lawsuit after we proved Playboy promoted sex trafficking, kidnapping, prostitution, incest, rape of women/children and sexual harassment."
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Morality in Media Calls on NBC to Halt TV Series 'The Playboy Club' Promoting Sexual Exploitation of Women and Acceptance of p*rnography

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/morality-in-media-calls-on-nbc-to-halt-tv-series-the-playboy-club-promoting-sexual-exploitation-of-women-and-acceptance-of-p*rnography-123558909.html said:

WASHINGTON, June 9, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NBC is contributing to the sexual objectification and exploitation of women and encouraging greater acceptance of p*rnography with its soon-to-be-aired series, "The Playboy Club," according to The Coalition for the War on Illegal p*rnography, which is launching a full-scale effort to stop the show from being profitable.

"Since the 50s, sleazy Hugh Hefner and his Playboy Magazine has pushed a philosophy which dictated that, to the 'sophisticated man,' the female is a mere toy to be used, abused and discarded. That philosophy has inflicted unimaginable harm to our society, now documented by years of research. The harms of p*rnography include addiction of children and adults, violence against women, sexual trafficking, increased child p*rnography, destruction of marriages, and so much more," said Patrick A. Trueman, President of Morality in Media, the lead organization in the War on Illegal p*rnography Coalition.

"Today – with the cooperation of NBC and the network's use of the public airwaves – Playboy is poised to cause even more harm, this time bringing its sleaze directly into America's living rooms. We don't need NBC to pour more fuel to that fire," he added.

Playboy, once equated with 'soft-core' p*rnography, distributes hardcore p*rnography on pay TV channels and the Internet. Distribution of hardcore p*rnography can be prosecuted under federal and state obscenity laws, warned Trueman, a former chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, U.S. Department of Justice.

"NBC may have a license to use the public airwaves, but it abuses its privilege when it collaborates with hardcore pornographer Playboy and promotes the exploitation of women," he added. "The Playboy Club and the Playboy philosophy must be stopped," said Trueman.

He is encouraging citizens to sign the pledge at http://www.CloseTheClubOnNBC.com to make it unprofitable for NBC to exploit women.
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moestavern19 · Jun 22, 2011

The View is far more exploitative to women than Playboy ever was.

rpr52121 · Jun 22, 2011

Amber Heard interview about show and her move The Ward...

http://collider.com/amber-heard-interview-the-ward-playboy-club/95068/ said:

Actress Amber Heard wanted to be a part of The Ward because she loves the genre, loves the director (John Carpenter) and loved the script, making it the perfect combination. And, the added attention it gets for being Carpenter’s first feature film in about 10 years doesn’t hurt either. In the horror thriller, Heard plays a disturbed young woman named Kristen, who has no memory of her life before being admitted to a mysterious mental ward. Stuck with four other equally disturbed patients, Kristen begins to see strange things and hear frightening sounds, and quickly realizes that things are not as they seem. As she struggles to regain her freedom, she uncovers a truth more horrifying than she ever could have imagined.

At the film’s press day, Amber Heard talked about what makes John Carpenter the best at what he does, how she tries to make a character as real as possible, and the challenge of being a part of a story with a twist ending. She also talked about her upcoming NBC drama series The Playboy Club, about an innocent young Bunny named Maureen (Heard) who wants to take the world by storm, but accidentally kills one of the Windy City’s most powerful mafia bosses. Check out what she had to say after the jump.

the_ward_movie_image_amber_heard_01From your vantage point, what makes John Carpenter the best at what he does?

AMBER HEARD: He’s a living legend. He wasn’t working for a while, so there was a gap in his projects. And, when I heard that he was interested in making this one, I sat down with him and couldn’t believe that I was going to work with him. I’m a big horror fan. I’m a genre fan. I like to make these movies. They’re my favorite kinds of movies to make. I actually was thinking about taking a break from making genre films, until I sat down with John Carpenter, and there was the end of that break. I was honored.

Did you notice a difference in working with someone like John, and guys like Patrick Lussier and others that you’ve worked with?

HEARD: Yes, I did. Patrick Lussier (Drive Angry) is a technical director. It was about the process, the machines and the technology. It was about the 3D element, the explosions and special FX. With Mandy Lane, I felt like I was working in a different world with the director (Jonathan Levine). We weren’t working on the same project, and it worked for that movie. I mean that with respect because he did a beautiful job on that film. I just think we worked in parallel lines. I worked on making the character that I envisioned, and he didn’t give me any direction or idea, as to what he envisioned my character to be. He just let me do what I was doing and I, similarly, didn’t try to cross lines with him. We almost had no real communication during that process, which I think definitely worked for that setting. It was also his first feature. But, none of them are like working with John Carpenter. You’re really in it with John. You can’t help, but be sucked into his madness, at times, and yet, you still feel like you’re making the character that you believe in and that you want to live as. So, I felt equally protected and free.

Do you feel like The Ward hearkens back to old genre films?

HEARD: When I go into making a movie, personally, I don’t try to bring other pieces of movies with me. I think that finding a character, relating to her and making her as real as possible means forgetting all of that stuff and just trying to find the truth, in that particular character’s words. So, for me, I went to set and just tried to tell our story and tried to have fun while doing it. Luckily, I got to work with John Carpenter, who’s quite possibly the best at what he does, and I jumped into it head first.

the-ward-movie-poster-01Did you like that this film replaces some of the more grizzly scenes that have come to be expected from horror films with scares?

HEARD: There’s something nice and valuable and wonderful about the suspense and the classic horror that doesn’t just crutch on blood and the almost pornographic view of fear.

In doing something like this, with a big twist ending, did you have to be conscious of everything coming together while you were creating the performance?

HEARD: Absolutely! I’ve done movies like this before, where we have a twist ending, and you have to think about what it’s going to be like when you not only see the movie in its entirety and think back on it, but also the second time around. That’s something that’s important because I want to play this as truthfully as possible and I want it to be valid when you already know the ending and you’re watching it a second time. It’s a struggle in these types of films, but with help from John, I hope that I was able to constantly skate that line between being true to the ending, as well as being true to the mystery we were about to discover. It’s a challenge, but with a good director, you can do it.

There’s a lot of excitement for your new NBC Fall series, The Playboy Club. What did you like about the show and that era, and the whole Playboy culture?

HEARD: I love so much about the series. There’s so much texture in it. I feel like it’s a very rich platform. It’s full of all these different elements, from music and dance and performance, in a classical sense, to the crime and sex and love and social revolutions – everything that was going on, at the time. Just the music alone, in that era, is exciting and fun and different than we have today. So, I’m excited, on so many different levels, about the project. I have very high expectations of it and I hope that it’s as wonderful as I think it can be.

How is the bunny suit to wear?

HEARD: Very uncomfortable. I do not recommend it.

The Playboy Club is a reminder that, not that long ago, women were relegated to specific roles in our society. What does it take to get into that mind-set

HEARD: Well, I think this is on the eve of women’s lib, and that’s important to remember. It’s a different time now. The Playboy symbol and the name was a different thing then, than it is now. The women of Playboy were very different than the women that make up that brand now. I think there were different opportunities for women. They were relegated to entirely different positions in life. So, for me, it is very interesting to live in a world where women had this very unique, little opportunity where they actually were able to earn the kind of money that their fathers were, for a very short amount of time, in a moment in time where they actually could use that money to get an education or invest in businesses, and many of them did just that. I think it’s very interesting to think that there was this little, tiny window of opportunity where they could live on their own, spread their wings, dance, earn money and be as wild or as studious as they wanted to be. I’m having a lot of fun with that because it happens alongside some wonderful and very interesting moments in history, with the civil rights movement and women’s lib, and things that were happening congruently. I couldn’t ask for a better setting.

Have you had any conversations with women that worked in those clubs, or with Hugh Hefner?

HEARD: I haven’t spoken to Mr. Hefner about it, but I hear that he’s enthusiastic and participating, on some level. But, I did meet with Playboy Bunnies from this particular era, and many of them are still working alongside Playboy, in more of the business part of things. It’s fascinating. When I hear the women talk about it, there’s just a lot of warmth and a lot of appreciation. I have yet to meet a woman who’s bitter about the experience. I’m sure there are some, but I have yet to meet them. I’m learning all these interesting and wonderful things about Hugh Hefner and the revolutionary spirit that he was. He was a progressive, forward-thinking envelope-pusher. I really like what he did, from integrating his workplace when he didn’t need to, to giving small loans to women, and helping them contact modeling agents, and giving them places to sleep for a discounted rate, so that they could move out of their parents’ home and support themselves. He did wonderful, very progressive, very interesting things.

Are you doing The Playboy Club to take a break from horror?

HEARD: No. I love my horror films and they will always be very close to me. I’m doing The Playboy Club because I love it. I love the pain of the corsets. No, I’m kidding. I’m just having a good time, and it’s the right project for me. It’s a very interesting character. That’s why I work on any project.

How does the sexy side of Playboy work into the show, with it being on network television?

HEARD: I don’t know. I guess that’s up to the network to decide. I’m sure that they can’t push it too far, but having filmed the pilot, I can say that it’s not very racy. I don’t know if they want me to say that, but I don’t feel like it’s that racy. Because they are a network, I’m sure that they’ll go as far as possible.
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Link has a few pictures.

rpr52121 · Sep 19, 2011

Premiere airs tonight on NBC at 10:00 pm. Can already see all the ads online everywhere. Seems that a good deal of the backlash has faded.

Deckard · Sep 19, 2011

pouhe said: ↑

They could have done this with Vegas. This is so stupid, tell me the guy's not doing a crappy Draper impersonation. So stupid. If they want to make a show about the sixties do it about the space program or something. Or about the actual Playboy magazine. Or the music industry. Or the AFL.
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I'm curious... were you around in the '60's? I was, and Hefner's Playboy Magazine had a real impact on the era, exploitive nudity aside. The clubs were an adjunct to that, with more notoriety than influence on popular culture, unlike the magazine. I knew a couple of guys who traveled a lot on business that were club members, and really enjoyed it. Never got to go, myself.

NewRoxFan · Sep 19, 2011

Deckard said: ↑

I'm curious... were you around in the '60's? I was, and Hefner's Playboy Magazine had a real impact on the era, exploitive nudity aside. The clubs were an adjunct to that, with more notoriety than influence on popular culture, unlike the magazine. I knew a couple of guys who traveled a lot on business that were club members, and really enjoyed it. Never got to go, myself.
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Heck, there was even a TV show called Playboy After Dark...

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063940/

REEKO_HTOWN · Sep 19, 2011

A show about The Playboy club and no nudity?

I am Disappoint.

Could have been better on HBO or Showtime.

pradaxpimp · Sep 19, 2011

I love Amber Heard.

Dairy Ashford · Sep 19, 2011

Deckard said: ↑

I'm curious... were you around in the '60's? I was, and Hefner's Playboy Magazine had a real impact on the era, exploitive nudity aside. The clubs were an adjunct to that, with more notoriety than influence on popular culture, unlike the magazine. I knew a couple of guys who traveled a lot on business that were club members, and really enjoyed it. Never got to go, myself.
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I wasn't but I think things like this, that Catch Me If You Can knockoff on ABC and Forrest Gump are meant to create revisionist, suburbanized versions of one of the most socially and culturally significant decades in history. Suits, oldies music, predominantly white casts and patriarchy disguised as "budding sexuality" isn't it. Why can't the networks (and viewers) just try a little harder?

TheRealist137 · Sep 19, 2011

Agreed on the fact that this show would be good on hbo, as it stands though, it will probably get cancelled after 1 or 2 seasons.

Seeing Amber Heard naked = win

Deckard · Sep 19, 2011

pouhe said: ↑

I wasn't but I think things like this, that Catch Me If You Can knockoff on ABC and Forrest Gump are meant to create revisionist, suburbanized versions of one of the most socially and culturally significant decades in history. Suits, oldies music, predominantly white casts and patriarchy disguised as "budding sexuality" isn't it. Why can't the networks (and viewers) just try a little harder?
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It's from a lack of imagination, laziness, and watching the budget (good writers, directors, and the like usually cost more). Mad Men does an excellent job of showing what a slice of life back then was like, however. The "White World" they portray is pretty much how it was in the advertising industry of Madison Avenue. Sexism and discrimination were rampant.

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