'Pornographic' TV Series 'Playboy Club' Canceled; Conservatives Celebrate
The controversial NBC show "The Playboy Club," which, according to some critics, was sending out a sexist message and could be qualified as pornography, was pulled from the network's schedule after only three episodes, an event celebrated by conservative groups Tuesday.
The show faced criticism from conservative groups, such as Morality in Media and The Parent's Television Council, as well as individuals, like feminists Gloria Steinem and Dr. Gail Dines, because of the sexualized nature of its content.
"I am jumping up and down right now!" Dawn Hawkins, executive director of Morality in Media, wrote in a press release published after the cancellation was revealed. " 'The Playboy Club' series will no longer air. Apparently, they've realized it does not pay to exploit women and promote Playboy's philosophy that women are to be used, abused and discarded."
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Hawkins claims that key NBC advertisers left the show after receiving more than 20,000 emails through her website. Morality in Media, Inc. is an organization focused on "opposing obscenity and indecency through public education and the application of the law."
"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," said Hawkins, referring to the phenomenon of pornography addiction.
"The Playboy Club," which premiered Sept. 19 on NBC, focuses its plot around the skimpily dressed Playboy bunnies working in the historically sexist venue. Critics have suggested that the show not only glorifies an environment where women are being objectified, but that it also balances on the edge of pornography.
Those critical of the television series were particularly vocal in slamming NBC for presenting so-called pornographic material during primetime hours, when children might be watching. "The Playboy Club" aired on Mondays at 10 p.m.
In September, the Parents Television Council wrote an official letter to NBC stating, " 'The Playboy Club' is the latest and most obvious example of the way the entertainment industry is mainstreaming and even glamorizing pornography." The letter alleged that NBC was "eager to push a pornography-based show into every home in America."
"The Playboy Club" premiered to low ratings that subsequently dropped for each of its three telecasts, hitting only 3.4 million viewers on its last night, and a 1.2 rating in the adult demographic, according to Entertainment Weekly.
The series is an historical fiction drama about the string of nightclubs operated in the 1960s by Hugh Hefner, the infamous "Playboy." The show features a setting similar to AMC's successful show "Mad Men."
NBC will reportedly fill the Monday night time slot with repeats of the new police drama "Prime Suspect."
