NBC Cancels 'The Playboy Club' After Porn Controversy, Bad Ratings
After just three episodes, NBC canceled their new TV series “The Playboy Club” as a result of low ratings and viewer outrage, drawing praise from many family organizations and faith-based groups that avidly sought to “close the club.”
The drama, based on the chain of Playboy nightclubs started by Hugh Hefner in the 1960s, drew strong opposition before it even premiered on Sept. 19, foreshadowing a dismal future.
Though the first episode debuted to 5 million viewers, the ratings fell dramatically thereafter, eventually leading producers to cut the show – the first cancellation of the new fall season.
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Groups like Morality in Media and the Parents Television Council worked aggressively to bring what they believed to be a demeaning and pro-porno show to an end quickly.
Morality in Media, a faith-based group in New York that fights porn in the media, circulated online petitions to ban the series, urged NBC to shut it down, and boycotted advertisers of the show as well, as it accused the series of contributing “to the sexual objectification and exploitation of women.”
“It is great news that ‘The Playboy Club’ is canceled after just three episodes,” said Dawn Hawkins, executive director of Morality in Media, in a statement.
“Clearly viewers are not interested in supporting the brand that normalized pornography and caused immeasurable harm to women, children, and to the men who became addicted to porn.”
The Parents Television Council, an organization infamous for their efforts in keeping entertainment family friendly, also lauded NBC’s decision to cancel the dangerous show during primetime hours when children were watching.
“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.”
Leading up to and during the drama’s run, the PTC continually advised NBC to be more responsible in their selection and airing of shows.
“Since much of the new NBC leadership comes from the cable industry, we are hopeful those making programming decisions will consider more carefully the difference between the publicly-owned broadcast airwaves and a subscription service like cable. The network’s decision to air this series was a violation of the public trust that comes with the privilege of holding a broadcast license,” Winter noted.
The PTC, like Morality in Media, also targeted advertisers, asking them if their corporate image really aligned with the Playboy brand. They encouraged local NBC affiliates to boycott the show as well, with one station eventually deciding not to air the show.
Winter concluded, “We are grateful to every member of the public who responded to our call to take action against this attempt to mainstream a brand that is synonymous with the pornography industry. We hope other broadcasters heed the important lessons of this programming debacle.”
Gloria Steinem, a woman’s rights advocate who went undercover as a Playboy bunny in the 60s for an expose, also had a hand in helping cancel the show as well.
She too aggressively campaigned against the series, which she thought “normalized prostitution and male dominance.”
“The efforts of Morality in Media, Parent’s Television Council, Gloria Steinem and many others lead to the public outrage and ultimate cancellation of the show,” Hawkins of Morality in Media affirmed.
“The Playboy Club” will be replaced by Brian Williams’ newsmagazine series “Rock Center” starting Oct. 31 at 10 p.m.
It will be the first new primetime broadcast to come out of NBC News in almost 20 years.
“There’s no one more enlightening or personable in the news than Brian Williams,” Robert Greenblatt, chairman of NBC entertainment, said in a statement. “We welcome Brian and this fresh new take on a primetime news show to our schedule, especially as we head into an election year.”
