Whether from competition, a poor lead-in or plain disinterest, the public didn't show much adoration for "The Playboy Club" on Monday night, with the show taking a distant third place in its time slot. As it turns out, the show, based on the famous 60s upscale private lounge that featured women servers dressed as skimpy bunnies, didn't do much for some former employees of the club, either.
The new NBC drama, shot in dark "Mad Men" tones, features Eddie Cibrian as a charming club keyholder and Amber Heard as a new bunny, and is dominated by sexy images of servers dancing with customers and shady clientele. Though alluring, those depictions were factually inaccurate, according to one former Bunny.
"The first thing that was incorrect was the dancing together—we never danced! The Bunnies danced together, but never with a customer. It was a rule," Marilyn Miller wrote in a letter to Vanity Fair. "You couldn’t dance with the keyholders. They couldn’t touch you. You couldn’t date them, or you’d get fired. The Bunnies enforced the rule themselves—they didn’t want to get hit on all the time.
"Another thing the show got wrong was that there weren’t any mobsters or politicians at the club," Miller continued. "I didn’t like the whole show. I thought it was cheap, it was degrading, it was demoralizing. It makes the Bunnies seem silly...
Not one Bunny I know liked the show. Everyone is hoping it gets canceled."
For much more from Miller and on the show, click over to Vanity Fair.