It’s no secret that The Playboy Club was a gamble to begin with. Since it was announced that NBC would take on the gentlemen’s club story, the project was met with opposition. Was it too much of an undertaking for NBC to throw their hat not only into the “period drama” ring, but also the “adult content “ ring so to speak?
Now, there are a lot of cold hard facts about the failing of NBC’s most risky drama in decades. The ratings weren’t good. The storyline was clunky, and Eddie Cibrian was too much like a watered down version of Mad Men’s Don Draper. All of which had a hand in turning off viewers. That said, there was another element that was set to derail the show before these issues ever rose to the forefront.
According to the Christian Post, conservative groups like Morality in Media and the Parents Television Council worked aggressively to stop production of what they considered a demeaning and even pro-porno show. Morality in Media, based in New York, circulated online petitions urging NBC to cancel the show while also calling for a boycott by advertisers. For their part, the Parents Television Council also spoke out against the drama, and joined the call for a boycott. When it was learned that NBC had cancelled the show after three episodes, the council cheered the decision.
“We’re pleased that NBC will no longer be airing a program so inherently linked to a pornographic brand that denigrates and sexualizes women,” PTC President Tim Winter shared in a press release. “Bringing ‘The Playboy Club’ to broadcast television was a poor programming decision from the start.”
Is this true? Was The Playboy Club too risqué for broadcast television?
In actuality, what many found was that the show was rather tame with regard to the themes considered most troubling. To that end, it was possibly the brand itself that marked the show with a red “P” before it even aired. As Entertainment Weekly reports, the brand is undoubtedly synonymous with grown-up content. However, it’s interesting to note that along with the branding, the audience most able to remember and/or relate to a show about a gentlemen’s club, isn’t teens or young people as the PTC were so concerned, it was in fact most relatable to Baby Boomers. This is the group that would have gravitated to the nostalgic hook of when Playboy Bunnies were goddess and Hugh Hefner was a king among men, which was represented in the lackluster ratings. Television network shows are largely dependent on the 18-49 demographic. Period dramas alone tend to skew a bit older with regard to viewers, and it would appear The Playboy Club was no exception.
So it is possible that the show would have done better with a more niche cable audience, and Hugh Hefner seems to agree. He took to Twitter to render his opinion after news of the cancellation hit.
“I’m sorry NBC’s The Playboy Club didn’t find its audience,” he wrote, “It should have been on cable, aimed at a more adult audience.”
But that’s not to say that among viewers the element of sex was the major turn off, and that youth viewers were impacted in a unique way to what was shown on the screen during the 10 o’clock hour as opposed to what’s available at an earlier time. It’s interesting that Morality in Media or the PTC hasn’t at yet commented on new shows that actually show teens engaging in sex.
The Secret Circle, the CW’s new teen witch based drama in its three episodes has showcased scantily clad teens having sex, casually discussing sexual relationships while also illuminating a few demeaning themes with regard to women, with one character referring to herself as a slut, and even participating in drug use, however according to this nice colorful chart the Parents Television Council uses to gauge what’s inappropriate, The Secret Circle hasn’t made the cut.
It just seems a bit hypocritical to call out one show for its sexualized themes, and totally ignore another that speaks to the teen demographic, targets the audience in question, and basically puts the images in full view of teens watching at a time slot that is amenable to this group.
So, it begs the question, was some of the Playboy Club controversy misplaced? Should sex have been a real component to the complaints some lobbied against the show? Or was it all about stigma and image versus discussing some legitimate mediocre plot points that were overlooked? Did NBC succumb to the whims of manufactured controversy with regard to adult content as some would have you believe, or was it just a rotten show?
The Playboy Club made no bones about being a show that targeted adults, and it was an edgy move by NBC to attempt bridging the gap between satisfying broadcast content standards with the kind of meaty drama adults are leaving network television to find. It was certainly a flawed experiment, but it is interesting how those experiments are able to work on other, smaller, not readily noticed shows outside of the big three networks. The Secret Circle is a decent show for the targeted audience, but if someone were to protest some of the more adult themes, could the show face the same fate regardless of its story? That seems possible.
As more and more Emmy’s for drama series are handed out to cable network shows, walking the line between the traditional television standard and reality still proves to be a real issue for television networks.
As it stands, The Playboy Club would like to be picked up by a cable network, but the chances look slim. Not because of the sex factor, but because the show never quite proved itself in storytelling, and that’s what really matters when you look beyond the window dressing or in this case, the bunny’s tail.
