Did anyone watch The Playboy Club?

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/19/11 at 11:08pm

The good news: Laura Benanti will be free to return to Broadway soon, because they could have resurrected Judy Garland and it wouldn't have been enough to save this mess.

The bad: Everything else. I mean, yikes. The plot is already hoakey, and that writing. My god, that writing. A sample:

"Are you ok? I have a tampax if you want one!"

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 9/19/11 at 11:12pm

Darn I missed it.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/19/11 at 11:21pm

Horrible. Horrible. I was excited to Troy Garity as the gruff visiting mobster, though. And then they had the lady playing Angela Bassett playing Tina Turner.

[GlindatheGood22]

Posted: 9/19/11 at 11:28pm

Confession: I want it to fail so we don't lose Laura.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/19/11 at 11:55pm

And of course, they ripped off Mad Men repeatedly, right down to the gay subplot.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 1:05am

Another amazing line:

"You can't discriminate against these babies!" **touches breast in front of mirror**

Did Joe Eszterhas have a writing credit to this pilot?

The dialogue and writing, awful and way too reliant on exposition. The characters, either unmemorable or stereotype cardboard cutouts with zero subtlety or nuance. The sub-plots tried to be way too all-encompassing of 1960s Chicago (mobsters, corrupt politicians, the Playboy club) without any real insight or attention to details. The mobster death (is that death by high heel to neck a TV first?) and cover-up is just really too much to put in your first episode let alone the first 10 minutes.

I will try to watch the second episode but they really need to slow down and find a focus. Especially in the case of the side characters. So the bartender has a Bunny wife and has to watch her degraded on an everyday basis? Why not an episode on that? There just seemed to be too much stuffed in to really care about everyone.

The Hefner narration and 'cameo' put the bow on this one.

Laura did her best, the only one who had any presence in my opinion. Amber Heard really had nothing to do beyond the high heel scene. Eddie Cibrian is just meh.
Updated On: 9/20/11 at 01:05 AM

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 1:06am

Guess was the only person that liked it then... Laura Benanti was incredible.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 1:07am

"And of course, they ripped off Mad Men repeatedly, right down to the gay subplot."

The 'chocolate' bunny was played by the same actress who played the bunny at the NY Playboy Club who was in love with Lane Pryce on Mad Men.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 3:29am

I fell asleep right after he hid the bunny in his own home to hide her from Laura. I don't feel like I missed anything.

[singtopher]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 6:50am

I was wondering, strummergirl. She looked so much like her.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 8:25am

Sounds like I should be glad I forgot it was on.

[Broadwayboobs]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 8:31am

I happen to like it, but I don't watch Mad Men. Laura Benanti drew me in and got me hooked.

[Jon]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 10:20am

Are the writers of thsi show kids in their 20's? Someone needs to tell them that the expression "Hitting on" as in "Guys have been hitting on her all night" did nox exist in the 1960's. It should have been "guys have been trying to pick her up" or "makng passes at her".

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 10:29am

It was astoundingly anachronistic- as well as so crammed with action the whole show was pretty much a blur.

I gave up before it was over- I do hope we aren't supposed to accept that the two main characters get away with murder-

[Mildred Plotka]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 11:10am

I thought it was light fluffy fun. I don't think it was trying to rip-off Mad Men. I'll keep up with it. Though I agree, it'll probably be gone quickly.

[pli1018]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 11:43am

Laura Benanti was legitimately the best thing about the clunky pilot. I'll give it a few more episodes, hopefully it improves.

The ratings are also in, and it bombed with a poor 5 million viewers.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 11:56am

Laura was captivating and intriguing. I loved her character and all the wonderful things she was given to work with. Laura popped out in three dimensions from the lackluster show. Her final scene with Amber Heard was really nuanced and great. She's way better than the writing. Eddie Cibrian is dead wood.

As for the show-completely lacking identity. Very convoluted and confusing. Too many themes, characters and plots. I thought the show would be more fun and it was bleak, maudlin, and bloated.

I didn't like the music breaks and I didn't care for whatever effect they were using on Laura's singing. It didn't really sound like her.

I'll give it another week or two.

[Tom1071]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 12:08pm

Would there have even been an African American Bunny is the 60's working at The Playboy Club? I have wondered that everytime I see an ad for the show.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 1:20pm

Hefner has always made it a point he was a civil rights activist for employing women of color as Bunnies and having bands of all races play at the Playboy Club.

Hefner was pretty supportive of the show, so I am sure he welcomed a Tina Turner look-a-like and a black character playing a bunny to show his club was 'open to all'.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 1:21pm

Benanti did a fine and funny guest spot on the increasingly more ridiculous "The Big C" a few weeks ago. I didn't think she was very good in this, but knowing that she's very talented, I chalk it up to the clunky, humorless writing and underdeveloped characters. I think if this fails, she'd probably find another tv gig pretty quickly, if that's what she wants.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 9/20/11 at 2:08pm

Laura really is a star. I mean she just stands out among the throngs of actors on this show. She has an "it" factor. She really is a gifted comedian and character actress even though she looks like a model.

Personally, I think if you centered a sit-com around her, America would fall in love with her instantly.

Her looks are probably going to get her more dramatic roles though.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 7:52am

I have to say i really enjoyed it, yes it was very soapy but thats what i liked about it, a bit trashy and campy. The cast did a great job with Laura stealing the first episode.

Besides the gay sub plot (which i thought showed promise at the end) the only connection i saw with Mad Men was the decade. I think the comparisons are silly and i fell sorry for Pan Am that's probably get the same thing as well.

It's such a shame that this was not given more of a chance by the American public, sadly i think the silly right wing slamming the show before thay had even seen it didnt help (the reasons they slammed it turned out to be completley unjustified). I hope it can see some kind of increse in the ratings and people will give it a shot.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 1:02pm

I didn't really hear the right wing slamming it for its content. I didn't even really hear much left-wing slamming, although I think I remember Gloria Steinem just saying it wasn't like that at all.

I have no problem at all with trash that's entertaining. "Ringer" seems to be filling that role quite nicely. It's a terrible show, but lots of fun to watch. There's no joy or fun at all in "The Playboy Club." It takes itself way too seriously. It's dour, humorless and way too self-important.

[twinbelters]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 1:20pm

It's definitely not a good show as it stands right now, but I was entertained. Benanti is very good, but everyone else was underdeveloped. I hate that the show kicked off with a center story focusing I'm on some stupid murder. How about focusing on character development first?

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 9/21/11 at 1:24pm

Well, to be fair, how much character development can you have in a pilot, which is mainly about as much exposition as possible? And I think the murder thing is supposed to be one of the overarching plots of the show.

But it still sucked royally.