The Playboy Club - season 1 thread (1 Viewer)

"The Playboy Club" starts its run on NBC tonight in the 10 p.m. EDT timeslot. Not a fan or Eddie Cibrian, but they had me at "Amber Heard".

*Sigh* this show has some lovely eye candy, but I can't take either the male lead, Nick, or the female lead, Maureen, all that seriously in terms of how they reacted to the killing (in self-defense) of the mob boss in the Playboy Club. Bunny Mommy is quite yummy, though. Oh, the ratings last night (1.6 in the 18-49 age group, and 5 million viewers) make this show an early cancellation candidate.

Yep, this one shouldn't be around too long. I can't figure out why the network thought this show was a good idea. Though I guess they're all trying to find shows to capture/emulate that "Mad Men"-era feel.

Seems like a lousy time slot. I totally missed it.

Might give this one more episode, but the pilot doesn't give me any reason to think that there's an entertaining season of TV with this premise. Maybe if it was on cable and there was some real TnA it would be mildly interesting, but really it's just jumping on the Madmen bandwagon, the lead male even sounds like Jon Hamm.

Agree the main guy sounds like he is impersonating Hamm. I thought the show was a snoozer.

20 minutes in I bailed on this show. Amber Heard is one of the hottest chicks in Hollywood right now, but even she couldn't keep me watching. Also, glad to know I'm not the only one that thought the male lead was doing a Hamm impersonation.

My god this is terrible. Just watched it off the DVR and I'm out. This is B-List cable soap opera. It made me think of quite a few failed attempts on the CW at this kind of thing; if it's an attempt to replicate "Mad Men" it failed on almost every level.

Definitely a Hamm imitation. I was rolling on the floor when I first heard the "Hamm growl." I agree this was bad, but I'll give it another episode or two (if the network will), just to see if it actually turns into something. Those first episodes often have to do so much explaining that there's no room for anything interesting. I'm willing to wait for anything that's not another CSI/NCIS/Mentalist clone.

The Hamm imitation is hard to ignore and actually pretty irritating. Can't say I'm particularly interested in any of the characters at this point. The mafia subplot is a little too familiar.


I've read the Hefner narration will not continue in the remaining episodes.

mattCR said:

My god this is terrible. Just watched it off the DVR and I'm out. This is B-List cable soap opera. It made me think of quite a few failed attempts on the CW at this kind of thing; if it's an attempt to replicate "Mad Men" it failed on almost every level.

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I agree it is bad, but the main failure I think is not doing a show like this on cable. It would sure open the show up a lot more to make it more real or exciting. A show like this on Showtime, HBO, Starz or even FX would have more potential. As it is, it is dreadful all around. The acting is no where near as bad as Charlie's Angles remake, but still very poor indeed. None of the new NBC shows have me watching.

I find this series to be mildly entertaining so far. The second episode was better and while I know some people find the singing productions distracting I must say they can have Laura Benanti do a production number every episode if they want. The one she did in the second epsiode was very entertaining.

So Maureen alternates from being pretty sly (getting the key from the two club crashers) to being pretty dumb (leaving the key and the blood stained costume in full view). Even putting the key in the "vanishing cream" means it's just going to be found later, being that a bevy of Bunnies share the living quarters (in bunk beds no less!).


The cattiness of Carol-Lynne towards Maureen over Nick is also getting old, but I doubt it's going to let up.


Was it an attempt at irony that in one scene Carol-Lynne is explaining how a Playboy Bunny gets to make her own choices, then in the next we see the Bunnies being subjected to an interview with Hef?


Despite all that I found the episode entertaining, if mostly a guilty pleasure.


Also, nice little Ferris Bueller shout-out with the name dropping of Abe Froman. Had he earned the title of Sausage King at that point in time?

The show feels more like Boardwalk Empire than Mad Men, though it does seem like as if the those 2 shows were put in a blender!


So far, I think this show is not too bad, and one of those shows that I would watch if nothing else is on, or as background noise. The only reason to really watch is to see those Bunnies in their costumes, especially Maureen!


Sometimes, I wonder how all these retro 60's shows, compare with shows that actually came from the 60's, when it comes to giving the overall feel of that period.

I've watched the first 2 episodes on the iPad. I agree, it's on the whole entertaining fluff. Nothing more or less. And I've seen Mad Men and I'm a fan of that show. Adding the Pan Am pilot to the mix, I thought Pan Am had a great light breezy feel, very much like romantic films of that era. It's very glossy and enjoyable. The Playboy Club is darker and a different tone. Which seems to be working for it. Does Nick seem like Jon Hamm? I'm not so sure I think he's channeling Hamm. Real bunnies of the clubs are commenting that real bunnies never did the things seen in the pilot, like go home with guests or the other things behind doors. While the real Pan Am stewardess felt they were portrayed more accurately. That said, as a piece of entertainment fiction, the Playboy Club has been okay. I don't think it would benefit at all, story wise, if it was able to be more explicit. I think the club is mainly the setting for the drama. Of course the Playboy aspects come into play, it is about those clubs. I find it cool these shows are trying to recreate the 1960's and that's a part of the interest for me!

I shouldn't comment, since I only watched the pilot, but comparisons to Boardwalk Empire seem mindboggling. This show was causing programming conflicts, so I deleted it after the first. No sense in getting too invested, because ratings indicate this one will be gone very, very soon. Nelson, I was kind of excited about the '60s setting, but it didn't feel very '60s to me. I mean, didn't one of the characters say, "I don't mean to get up in your business"? What's next? Somebody's "baby mama?" Also, I'm sure bunnies could be course in their language, but the "I meant penis" joke sounded hopelessly modern to me. In Cibrian's defense, his mannerisms and voice didn't seem different from what I remember from Invasion. It doesn't seem like he's trying to Hamm it up to me. I would have bet money that the beard bunny was the cheerleader from Teen Wolf, but I was wrong.

I am shocked, SHOCKED that no one made this joke sooner!

It doesn't seem like he's trying to Hamm it up to me.

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LOL, I don't even think it was an intentional joke. It just came out when I was typing.

Yes Greg, it's pretty tough to fully recreate the 60's. They can easily get old cars and period correct clothing. Furniture is harder, I wasn't sure some of the pieces in Nick's apartment were authentic. The actresses are probably leaner and toned compared to most of the era. The make-up and hair styles are close, but they do seem very modern. The thing about Mad Men is that the actresses look right. They are not all perfectly slim. January Jones channels Grace Kelly very nicely!

Cancelled. NBC cancels 'Playboy,' picks up comedies