# NBC cancels Playboy Club after three episodes. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626 "2011-10-04T22:38:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/21 "2011-10-05T00:53:58Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > “Ladies and gentlemen, we are approaching Dallas. Those of you on the right side of the plane can see _OH MY GOD!!_” That would send me off on a whole different rant. Pan Am didn’t fly to Dallas in the 1960s. Can’t get simple facts right _grumble grumble_. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/22 "2011-10-05T01:52:01Z")
I notice all these new '60s drama are about the **early**'60s, when men wore coats and ties in public and Vietnam had hardly been heard of and the scariest music on the scene was urban folk. IOW, the last years of what uberboomer Stephen King called “Atlantis” in _Hearts in Atlantis._ I wonder when these dramas will start focusing on the later '60s? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/23 "2011-10-05T02:05:03Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > What amazes me is the apparent belief that what is compelling and brilliant about Mad Men is the era. Certainly that adds a lot to the overall deliciousness of it, but it’s hardly the reason it’s so wonderful. How ridiculously simple-minded of the nets. Honestly, the main thing I find compelling about Mad Men is the era, or at least, seeing the era recreated. But its the kinda thing you can only do once, seeing how early 60’s culture was different then todays is interesting enough to support one show, but I don’t really need to see slight variations of the same show. Which kinda raises the question why they didn’t do Mad Men type shows in different eras, or in different countries, or with different socio-economic groups. The Playboy Club, Pan Am and Mad Men not only focus on the early 60’s, they focus on the interactions between the genders in middle class professions in the 60’s. I don’t mind other networks trying to cash in on the concept, but I think they’d do better if they stretched a _little_ further from the source. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/24 "2011-10-05T02:20:00Z")
You have to wonder who the programming executive was who thought it would be a good idea to run their new show about Playboy bunnies against Monday Night Football. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/25 "2011-10-05T02:45:59Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Which kinda raises the question why they didn’t do Mad Men type shows in different eras, or in different countries, or with different socio-economic groups. At least [one](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/the-hour-is-not-the-british-mad-men-its-better/243741/) has been done in a different country. Looks interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/26 "2011-10-05T03:15:00Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I notice all these new '60s drama are about the **early**'60s, when men wore coats and ties in public and Vietnam had hardly been heard of and the scariest music on the scene was urban folk. IOW, the last years of what uberboomer Stephen King called “Atlantis” in _Hearts in Atlantis._ I wonder when these dramas will start focusing on the later '60s? Never. The problem with the late 60s for television is that for adults the reality was that they looked exactly like the early 60s. The stuff that everybody talks about as “the sixties” happened to a tiny fraction of people in a few places. The world went from adult culture to youth culture, but the change really took place in the 1970s - and everything from the 1970s looks silly today, as if everyone were dressing up in bad costumes except Nixon. It never feels right when they try to go back and half the people are still dressing exactly like 1963 and the other half has bad hair and worse shirts. That 70s Show meets Leave It to Beaver. For all the drama that could be extracted, it all plays as comedy. I hope somebody figures it out some day, but I have my doubts. ---
**Author:** ![joebuck20](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/74df32/32.png) [@joebuck20](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joebuck20)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/27 "2011-10-05T03:40:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Never. The problem with the late 60s for television is that for adults the reality was that they looked exactly like the early 60s. The stuff that everybody talks about as “the sixties” happened to a tiny fraction of people in a few places. The world went from adult culture to youth culture, but the change really took place in the 1970s - and everything from the 1970s looks silly today, as if everyone were dressing up in bad costumes except Nixon. It never feels right when they try to go back and half the people are still dressing exactly like 1963 and the other half has bad hair and worse shirts. That 70s Show meets Leave It to Beaver. For all the drama that could be extracted, it all plays as comedy. > > I hope somebody figures it out some day, but I have my doubts. I don’t know that sounds a lot like what “The Wonder Years” was like. And it played as both a comedy and a drama. ---
**Author:** ![Rachael\_Rage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71c47a/32.png) [@Rachael\_Rage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachael_Rage)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/28 "2011-10-05T03:45:13Z")
We watched the first episode of Pan Am and the third (I think?) episode of The Playboy Club back-to-back. I liked Pan Am, mainly because it centers around a group of women with distinct personalities whose lives don’t revolve around men. Men are part of it, but aren’t the focus of all the attention and drama. The Playboy Club is a show is ostensibly about a group of women who work together, but it seemed like every scene had that guy in it - a lawyer or something? Neither the guy nor the bunnies were the least bit interesting, and the Club itself seemed to have no real relevance to the show. Cancellation was a good call, but I hope Pan Am sticks around. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/29 "2011-10-05T04:20:24Z")
I hated the promotion NBC had for ‘Playboy Club’. Tried to convince use that being a bunny was empowering for women. Empowering??? I would not have watched that show with a gun to my head. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/30 "2011-10-05T04:22:58Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > At least [one](http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/08/the-hour-is-not-the-british-mad-men-its-better/243741/) has been done in a different country. Looks interesting. **The Hour** is really good. It’s set in London in 1956, at a weekly TV news show. I don’t know much about London in the '50s, so I can’t say how accurate it is, but it was fairly well written and well acted, and kept me engrossed for the 6 episode season. And it had the fun vintage clothes. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/31 "2011-10-05T04:41:58Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I wonder when these dramas will start focusing on the later '60s? The last episode of Mad Men was set in October 1965. With its extended hiatus, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it well into 1966 when the new season starts and go into 1967 before the season ends. I believe they’re signed on for at least one more season after that. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/32 "2011-10-05T04:52:14Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It never feels right when they try to go back and half the people are still dressing exactly like 1963 and the other half has bad hair and worse shirts. Even though that’s how it was in real life? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/33 "2011-10-05T05:14:54Z")
I didn’t watch the show, but I remember thinking the blonde in the commercials was smokin’ hot. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/34 "2011-10-05T05:38:09Z")
I really enjoy The Playboy Club’s subway ads. Other than that I’ve nothing to say about it. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/35 "2011-10-05T05:55:28Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > It never feels right when they try to go back and half the people are still dressing exactly like 1963 and the other half has bad hair and worse shirts. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Even though that’s how it was in real life? Generally no, at least not to me; even actual 1970s movies filled with actual 1970s people have an “off” feeling to me. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/36 "2011-10-05T06:08:41Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > … > A show about bunnies couldn’t deliver this. I’d bet a show about Playmates could. Put it on one of the pay cable channels and set it a decade later not at the Club but at the Mansion. Everybody came there for sex. Nakedness was everywhere. Celebrities were everywhere. Drugs were everywhere. It was true decadence and decadence always sells… You’re basically describing _Entourage_, which lasted 8 years on HBO. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/37 "2011-10-05T06:11:26Z")
> [@well\_he\_s\_back](#): > > I hated the promotion NBC had for ‘Playboy Club’. Tried to convince use that being a bunny was empowering for women. Empowering??? > I would not have watched that show with a gun to my head. Well if having a gun to your head makes bad TV shows more palatable to you, perhaps you are not a typical television viewer, a group which generally eschews having guns put to their heads! ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/38 "2011-10-05T06:22:14Z")
I could have made “The Playboy Club” interesting and successful. The technique: hire Gloria Steinem and John Norman to be co-chief writers for the series. Film the inevitable fights between them. Then air those fights and ignore the ostensible series. Voila! ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/39 "2011-10-05T10:24:36Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Sean Maher, who played a closeted gay man on the show, gave an interview in which he came out while discussing his character; wonder if he’s regretting that now. Was that really a big surprise? As a _Firefly_ fan, one problem I had with that show was that I could never understand why Kaylee was fawning over such an obviously gay man. He doesn’t play “straight” very well. (Funny, I started to bring this up in a Firefly thread long ago, but I didn’t because I wasn’t sure he was out and I didn’t want to engage in message-board speculation.) ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626/40 "2011-10-05T11:19:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Even though that’s how it was in real life? If I wanted to watch real life I would stay awake at work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nbc-cancels-playboy-club-after-three-episodes/598626.md?page=3)