The Playboy Club

(3 episodes, 2011)
Its hard to believe a show this relatively tame attracted so much protest attention, when so much of the stuff on cable is (not so) thinly disguised soft core porn; maybe we have different standards for shows that are on network, an increasingly meaningless term in an age of video on demand. Anyway, I couldnt see why youd want to protest this show, unless you worked on Mad Men, and then only for a cut of the royalties (might as well go after Pan Am too, as without MM neither show would exist); frankly, The Playboy Club wasnt spectacular enough to get your knickers in a twist about. Channeling the early Sixties mojo that seems popular these days, the show was little more than a soapy look at some of the women who worked at the club, with enough cleavage and fishnets to make up for the fact that there wasnt a lot of character depth. There were certainly enough subplots Bunny Maureen (Amber Heard) kills a mobster in the first episode, and male lead Nick Dalton (Eddie Cibrian) must come to her rescue but hes running for States Attorney and used to be in with the mob, and since thats not enough, hes also dating the queen bitch/head bunny of the club, Carol-Lynne (Laura Benanti), and theres a whole nother subplot about an underground gay-lesbian alliance thats insinuating itself into Chicago. Another girl is running away from her husband, whos a career killer, and yeah, I know, thats a lotta crap to pay attention to for only three episodes, not to mention the big musical number that has to be featured in every episode (sometimes Carol-Lynne, sometimes a celebrity impersonator like Tina Turner or Leslie Gore) and at least a half dozen scenes of women parading around at the mansion in their underwear because parading around half the show in bunny outfits isnt eye-grabbing enough. The Playboy Club wasnt awful TV, but there was a little bit too much going on, and while you had three major leads Maureen, Nick, and Carol-Lynne you also had about a dozen supporting characters, all wit their own baggage. It just felt like a case of too much too soon, as if the writers had cooked up a whole season of plotlines, and fearful (turns out rightfully) of early cancellation, tried to shoehorn twenty-two hours of plotting into about five episodes (well never know how many, as the show was cut after only three airings). The attention to period detail was pretty good no obviously modern haircuts; Heards do isnt exactly period, but it could pass and the music was pretty good too (I enjoyed the lone Sinatra song they employed, pleased that it was really St. Francis and not an impersonator). But the characters felt under-developed, and everything seemed to be in a rush, with plots and subplots being tossed at the viewer very quickly. The essence of successful episodic television is character; we have to like these people and want to spend time with them, and that truism seemed not to be understood by the writers. Yes, Cibrians Dalton has charisma, but instead of coming off as a leading man, he seems merely an opportunist taking advantage of his good looks. Benantis CarolLynne has too many tone changes she protects the bunnies, but then harasses them in the next breath and Heards Maureen really has nothing going for her but

her admittedly stunning good looks. As eye candy goes, the show excelled, but like a large shallow bowl of sweets, it didnt take long to realize that there was nothing much under the surface. I didnt think it was an awful show, but Im not exactly disappointed they cancelled it. Id prefer to see Heard in something good, although, sadly, given her track record, thats apparently asking a lot. October 5, 2011