NBC's Playboy Club cancelled after three episodes

[Liberal_in_LA]

NBC's Playboy Club cancelled after three episodes



The network aired just three episodes of the show, which drew poor ratings. Its premiere was watched by five million viewers, but the second episode drew 3.8 million and the third was watched by 3.2 million people.

The show was met with controversy when its debut was announced, including petitions from anti-porn groups such as Pink Cross and Morality in Media asking NBC not to air the series.

Dawn Hawkins, executive director of Morality in Media, said pornography "leads to addiction in children and adults, increased sex trafficking violence against women - and Playboy is really the root of all of this."

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/nbcs-playboy-club-cancelled-after-three-episodes/story-e6frfku0-1226158780634

[Warren DeMontague]

1. Before the Parental Morality In Media Anti-Sex Zealot League gets too, ah, excited

I suspect the problem with the show wasn't the sex, but the crappy writing. It is NBC, after all.

[gratuitous]

2. The problem may have been the sex, too

Specifically, the lack thereof.

[banned from Kos]

15. Exactly - could have been a winner on HBO or Showtime

NBC can't get to first base.

[Scout]

76. could have been it's just a stupid fucking show that no one was interested in

nah, couldn't be that :eyes:

[gratuitous]

83. If you tuned in on the implied promise of sex

Then that missing element would make the stupidity doubly aggravating. That's all I'm saying.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

25. Plus "Castle" and "Hawaii 5-O" are two high rated shows for 10 o'clock

But, that won't stop Brent Bozell from playing with himself.

[TheWraith]

31. Honestly, that's what really bothers me about this story.

It's going to give the crazy, stupid puritan assholes a reason to jump for joy. That annoys the shit out of me even though I never watched the show--in fact, I never watch any network TV anymore, it mostly sucks.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

36. You have plenty of puritans doing it right here too

Even though the show had about as much sex as a show about a nunnery would.

[TheWraith]

39. Yep. One of the sad authoritarian impulses on the left. nt

[seabeyond]

40. a person is authoritarian cause they are glad a crappy sexist show is off air?

in order to not be a puritan or authoritarian a person is not allowed an opinion?

really? that seems awfully athoritarian and patriarchal, to me.

[TheWraith]

74. The attitude some people display that anything touching upon sex is sexist...

... is every bit as pretentiously moralizing and full of it as the right-wingers insisting that even breathing a word about sex will destroy children's minds and turn people into rapist perverts. Setting yourself up as the moral arbiter of what other people are or aren't allowed to watch, say, do, etcetera is not only shameful, it's about as ridiculous as saying that an adult isn't allowed to eat a steak because a baby can't chew it.

As far as stereotypes go, I don't see a lot of griping about dozens of sitcoms depicting men as clueless lazy dolts or sex-obsessed assholes, so my tolerance for people complaining about stereotypes in TV is limited to when it concerns bad writing.

[Scout]

75. so START A THREAD ABOUT IT

"I don't see a lot of griping about dozens of sitcoms depicting men as clueless lazy dolts or sex-obsessed assholes"

do something on your own, instead of just bitching about sexism against men in a thread about sexism against women.

i've said it before ... where is all this male outrage when there AREN'T any threads about women to come stamp your feet in???

i never see men start their own threads about sexism against them ... but i sure see them always jumping into threads about women and trying to hijack, get attention for themselves. "wah, wah, patriarchy hurts men too, talk about me, me, me!"

[seabeyond]

87. another post demanding the right to sexism with the demand that women SHUT THE FUCK UP

about calling it sexism.

such a hypocrite.

[hifiguy]

79. Whenever the authoritarian moralists of both left and right

make common cause, the country is headed for big trouble. Which is pretty much the moral of Ken Burns' "Prohibition" on PBS the last three nights.

I detest authoritarian moralists whether of the left or of the right. But then I am a libertarian on "civil liberties" issues and a democratic socialist on economic issues.

[seabeyond]

88. the show FAILED because people did not watch it. you are pissed because playboy had the right to

put it out there yet people didnt watch.

in order for us not to be "authoritarian moralists" must we watch a crappy sexist show to ensure its success? i have always been told, if i dont want to see the sexist crap, dont watch. i dont watch and being told i have done something wrong cause i didnt support the sexist crap. is that the next requirement that sexist now require to ensure the success of sexism?

[hifiguy]

90. I don't give a hoot in hell whether or why the show failed.

I saw a commercial or two and thought it looked silly, though it might have been worth a watch if it had been on cable with its greater freedom from "standards and practices" regulations. If the show stunk it stunk, regardless of the subject matter.

The fluttery moral indignation of the vapours-getting, pearl-clutching crowd just makes me want to upchuck whether the issue is this, Anthony Weiner or anything similar.

And that is my final word on the subject and in this thread.

[seabeyond]

93. so once again... you dont agree then shut the fuck up.

put people into a nice convenient little box of "fluttery moral indignation of the vapours-getting, pearl-clutching crowd" reminds me of the repug woman that puts her finger in her ears and la la la la la to ensure she hears nothing

brilliant

[Scout]

94. you know what makes me want to upchuck? the ignorant, sexist assholes

who try to shout down, shut up, get rid of any complaint from a woman about sexism by saying:

"fluttery moral indignation of the vapours-getting, pearl-clutching crowd"

it's fucking bullshit is what it is, and transparent as all get-out what is being attempted.

good thing you've already posted your final word on the subject, so i won't have to read any more of your crap! :hi:

[itsallhappening]

52. Yep. Playboy.com is still where to go to see the hot bunnies.

Actually, they're free all over the Internet.

Who needs a network TV show for that?

[vi5]

3. God, NBC is just absolutely horrible.....

Other than their Thursday night comedy's, I rarely ever watch that network any more. And even those shows I watch (30 Rock, The Office, Parks and Rec) are just barely hanging on in terms of quality.

They've just made one shitty decision after another over the past 5 or 6 years. They deserve every bit of bad news they get.

[EOTE]

85. Do you ever watch Community?

It's the lead in to those shows and I find it the funniest of them all. The show continues to defy my expectation. I usually loathe theme episodes like Halloween or Valentine's Day episodes of shows, but Community's themed episodes always have me in stitches. It's also a perfect venue for Chevy Chase to be so unfunny he's actually funny. It's probably my favorite comedy on TV now.

[vi5]

95. I do watch it.....

I'm not as in love with it as a lot of people seem to be. It has had some great, great episodes no doubt about it. And it's definitely my sense of humor and I get all the references. I couldn't put my finger on why it just doesn't do it for me as much as the other shows that night on NBC do, and someone on another board summed it up in a way that completely explained it for me: "That show is just too far up it's own ass any more for me to not get annoyed by it more than I'm amused by it."

That about sums it up. It's just become too enamored of it's own cleverness and everything is meta at the expense of the quality of the show or any kind of narrative.

[Kievan Rus]

97. Only time I watch NBC is for Sunday Night Football and hockey games...

and even still, their NFL coverage is inferior to what is on CBS and NBC, and their hockey coverage is nowhere near as good as the local Root Sports station when it broadcasts Pens games.

[thelordofhell]

4. NBC would be better off putting their USA lineup on the channel

Burn Notice, Psych, Royal Pains, White Collar, Covert Affairs........all of these hour longs are better than the shit programming on NBC right now.

[sarcasmo]

10. I agree, and have thought for quite some time they pay cable TV writers more $$$.

[TheWraith]

32. They would probably start to suck in short order on broadcast networks.

My strong hunch is that the shows on the networks are so pressured to dumb things down, because the networks think that's what the basic network audience wants, that that's the main reason for why so many of their shows are horrible.

[JI7]

5. never heard of it

[Dawson Leery]

6. ABC and CBS are beating NBC 3:1 a piece in the raw number of viewers.

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/09/20/tv-ratings-opening-monday-two-and-a-half-men-soars-cbs-wins-playboy-club-gloomy-castle-hawaii-five-0-and-more/104221/

[mainer]

7. Wow. They sank loads of money into advertising

Network TV's really getting hammered. The best shows these days seem to be on cable, where you'll often find comparable ratings.

[Major Hogwash]

8. Damn, I missed it!

It's hell these days when you blink and an entire program gets yanked off the air.

:rofl:

[sarcasmo]

9. Is being canceled after 3 episodes a record?

[bigwillq]

11. Don't think so.

I think some were done after only 1 or 2.

[underpants]

14. Heather Graham had a show a few years ago that was on once

young hip type show. Apparently someone TV execs wife was so appalled by it she badgered him to cancel it.
I was really disappointed - not that it was that great of a show but I was really looking forward to staring at Heather Graham every week. :wow:

[OriginalGeek]

16. How long did Chevy Chase's talk show last?

that was purty bad.

But how could they not expect people to be uninterested in a show about sex that couldn't show sex?

I like sexy stuff as much as the next guy and I had no desire whatsoever to watch that.


I guess the point is moot but I would have been seriously pissed if it had been a great show and I lived in Salt Lake City and they decided to censor it.

To me, censorship is a far greater evil than boobies.

[HughBeaumont]

12. I think there was a show in 1969 or 1970 that got taken off the air midway through its only episode.

Had something to do with Laugh-in, not sure. I remember seeing something about this on Yahoo 2 weeks ago . . .

[Tom Ripley]

22. Turn On (ABC)

[TheWraith]

35. There was a show a dozen years ago that was canceled before it premiered.

"Crusade" on TNT. The network canceled it before showing even one episode, mostly because the series creator was resisting their request to add more fistfights, sex, rewrite the entire plot, and generally be stupid.

[Tom Ripley]

19. I think "The Tammy Grimes Show" was canceled after one episode

[no_hypocrisy]

45. I think "The Pruits of Southampton" was also canceled after one show.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

49. No, it last most of a season but it changed its name early on.

[no_hypocrisy]

57. OK, thanks.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

27. Nope.....there have been a number of shows canned after one or two episodes

[A HERETIC I AM]

59. For years, Tim Conway had the California license plate "13 WEEKS"....

in reference to his history of shows that never made it past the (supposed) minimum run of 3 months.

I remember him talking about this fact on TV...probably the "Tonight Show" back when Carson was still hosting.

[NoGOPZone]

84. No, but how much this show sucked may be nt.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. I look at shows like "Breaking Bad" & I wonder why the hell anyone watches the big networks anymore

They were clearly trying to go after a "Mad Men" thing, but with, I suspect, only the faintest superficial glimmer of an idea of what "Mad Men" is actually ABOUT.

[fishwax]

42. indeed

"They were clearly trying to go after a "Mad Men" thing, but with, I suspect, only the faintest superficial glimmer of an idea of what "Mad Men" is actually ABOUT."

I didn't see any of the episodes that aired--didn't seem particularly interesting to me--but I'm guessing you're right in this assessment. There are so many great shows on cable (both free and premium cable) and the networks just haven't caught up. (At least with respect to the one-hour drama; there're still some good comedies on network TV.)

[AngkorWot]

17. "inherently linked to a pornographic brand"

d'ohohoho

[Nailzberg]

18. It wasn't sexist or pornographic or any of the things folks got all upset about it over.

It was, however, bad. Really bad. I couldn't be bothered to finish the premiere.

[Blue_In_AK]

80. Yes, it was.

I totally agree.

[truebrit71]

92. Playboy wasn't/isn't pornographic..it wasn't until I discovered Penthouse that I knew that women...

..had more than one pair of lips....:evilgrin:

Playboy models always looked surreal and fake somehow...

[seabeyond]

20. yea... good to hear. i could not figure out why the hell they would put it up against

a football game unless they really thought it was a "womans" show.

works for me, though.

outta there

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

21. Looks like the only people watching were conservative media watch groups.

[Bloke 32]

23. Hats off!

The Hefner Psychopathy holds too much sway already.

[Exilednight]

24. This show was bad. It could have been good if it were on a cable network where they

allow nudity and foul language. They had one good story line, but ruined it tying the same character into a love triangle with two bunnies.

[SoCalDem]

28. Pan Am is next.

[seabeyond]

29. one can hope. nt

[SoCalDem]

30. I actually watched the premiere..

for about 20 minutes:rofl:

It reminded me why most of the stuff I like is not on "the big 3" :)

[REP]

34. You're braver than I am - can't make it through the promos!

[whistler162]

43. Yeah who wants a program about young independent woman

pf the 1960's and what they went through and the pressures they where under!

It is disjointed and suffers from the usual, of late, make it big and sinister.

[SoCalDem]

44. As soon as I saw the spying thing, I knew it was doomed...But

it did make me interested in finding my old pan am light bag:)

[Owl]

26. When will "the complete series" DVD be available?

[Kurovski]

60. if it's not on your DVR now, yer shit outta luck.

You goofy poodle.

[katty]

33. well, it wasn't mad men

[name not needed]

37. So how long until the other "Mad Men for Morons" gets the axe?

[SoCalDem]

38. 5 more on "death-watch"

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11267775/1/5-tv-shows-on-death-watch.html?cm_ven=GOOGLEN

[thelordofhell]

47. "Whitney" is on their death-watch list

It just got a full season order.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

54. I stumbled upon that show....

....it's far more insulting to women than anything "The Playboy Club" could come up with.

[thelordofhell]

65. 100% in agreement

even the commercials for "Whitney" have more sex in them than "The Playboy Club"

[Xithras]

41. Part of the problem was also the series title.

While I didn't watch any of the episodes, I've heard this problem mentioned twice by people who did:

Wife, walking into the living room: "Honey, what are you watching?"
Husband, sitting in the chair: "The Playboy Club. It's a new show."
Wife: "You're watching PORN?"
Husband: "No, it's about Playboy, but isn't porn."
Wife: "Sure, and you look at the magazine for the articles. Change the channel."

They'd have done better if they'd simply titled it "The Club". I have a feeling that a lot of men and women steered clear of it because the title immediately associated it with porn. "The Playboy Club" sounds like a reality show about a weekend at Hef's house.

[PassingFair]

46. I hope this means that we have moved past such blatant exploitation of womens bodies....

And now demand character driven television and movies.


I see the crowds at Hooters and I wonder though....

[Gidney N Cloyd]

50. Not as long as we have Telemundo

[Kurovski]

62. Sabado GIGANTE!!!

[itsallhappening]

53. I don't see any reason to deny attractive women the right to make money

showing off their bodies.

They're smart enough to know what's going on, right?

[PassingFair]

58. No one is "denying" them anything.

Hopefully, the market is shrinking faster
than patriarchal expressions of dominance
and the buying and selling of women.

[itsallhappening]

61. I trust them to make decisions about their own bodies.

Don't you?

[PassingFair]

63. It would seem that viewers have decided it was trash. Thankfully. nt

[itsallhappening]

67. I thought we were talking about women having the right

to use their bodies to make a living.

I trust them to make decisions regarding their own bodies. Don't you?

[PassingFair]

68. Where did you even GET that idea. I never said I was for censoring anything.

I said I was glad that people seemed to
be moving BEYOND that.

Aren't you?

[itsallhappening]

69. In post #46.

"blatant exploitation of womens bodies" and you wonder about Hooters.

It sounds as thought you think women are being exploited. No, actually it doesn't sound like that. You said it.

I trust women to use their bodies as they see fit.

Am I glad people are moving beyond...what? Looking at hot females? People aren't moving beyond it. And why should they? If a woman is attractive enough to earn money using her body, and she chooses to do it, what's the problem with that? It's a free exchange -- attractive woman chooses, paying individual chooses.

[PassingFair]

70. "paying individual" = man

woman = commodity to be bought.

Never went in for that particular type of business myself.
Wouldn't want it for my daughters.

So, personally, I don't condone it.

But feel free to go your own way.

You have the right.

I don't care what you do.

But I wouldn't want you around.

I have that right.

[itsallhappening]

71. I guess we agree.

Women can be trusted to make their own decisions about showing their bodies, as long as they freely choose it and as long as they have the ability to attract a market. There's no exploitation in free choice.

I think you and I would agree also that if anyone, regardless of gender, were forced to do anything, that would be wrong. Actually, it's a crime already.

[snooper2]

78. "paying individual" = woman as well...

I had a boss a couple jobs back who liked men and women, at the same time if possible---

Hot women of course :)

Usually it was her idea whenever we went to hooters LOL...

[PassingFair]

96. Not normally.

Woman as "paying individual" is an anomaly.

[snooper2]

99. I know, PlayGirl sales are way down as well

:P

[PassingFair]

100. Ha.

"In a February 2010 interview with the Associated Press, Playgirl spokesman Daniel Nardico stated that he considers the magazine appealing to both men and women, although the audience is predominantly male."

All my girlfriends display "PlayGirl" proudly
on their coffee tables!

:P

[madinmaryland]

48. Maybe it just SUCKED. nt

[backscatter712]

101. That's what I'm thinking. n/t

[BiggJawn]

51. I didn't even like the ads for it.

"Playboy" is such an out-moded concept. Hell, I think the last issue I bought was the Jessica Hahn number.

[FrenchieCat]

55. Didn't know about the show.....

So I will be ok. :)

[mucifer]

56. wow this thread hasn't been moved to the lounge yet. nt

[Kurovski]

64. Still time to put in one dozen requests.

:)

[Ikonoklast]

72. Going to the lounge will cost you ffity bucks, up front.

But for that fifty, anything goes!

[Kurovski]

73. LOL!

You need that membership key, too.

[RB TexLa]

66. Free market at work. Had the show been good and attracted viewers Universal wouldn't have cared

about the morality people opposing it.

[NeedleCast]

77. I'm Sure The Pearl Clutchers Will Claim Victory

Its a shame the show pretty much sucked.

[slackmaster]

81. I heard that the problem was it had nothing to do with porn or sex in the content

It was the lack of porn and sex.

[Raine]

98. Yeah I heard they didn't delivered what they had promised

which was something much more risque than what they delivered.

[Blue_In_AK]

82. They should have skipped this

and brought back The Event, which really sucked me in and left me hanging at the end of the first season. I SO wanted those aliens to win.

[chrisa]

86. A big LOL

I knew this stinker was doomed from when it started, even without watching it once.

[undeterred]

89. It seems so 'last-century'.

[truebrit71]

91. That looked like a stinker from the beginning...just like Pan Am...

...I am bummed that Prime Suspect appears to be on the chopping block, not least of which is beacuse of the strong female lead character, and the more realistic depiction of the NYPD as being full of bigotted pricks...

So naturally it will get cancelled....