Playboy founder Hugh Hefner will not provide voiceover narration for NBC's fall television show The Playboy Club, TV Guide reported Monday morning.
Hefner narrated the show's debut episode, but that will be his first and last voiceover appearance. Producers have decided to eliminate the voiceover narration device altogether, according to TV Guide. It is a stylistic choice, not indicative of any conflict between Hefner and producers. The character of Hugh Hefner will appear sporadically in the series, which is set in the legendary Playboy Clubs in Chicago in the 1960s.
The show stars Eddie Cibrian, Amber Heard and David Krumholtz. It is slated to debut in September, but has already generated an unusual amount of controversy. The New York Post reported in April that the series' lead actors all signed a contract that included a clause calling for the possibility of nudity and simulated sex acts, though it's unlikely that would air on American television. If producers exercise the nudity clause, that footage would probably appear in less conservative international markets or future DVD versions of the show.
NBC has not yet released any footage of the pilot episode beyond a brief trailer, but already watchdog groups have condemned The Playboy Club. The Parents Television Council protested its very existence, calling the show a "blatant attempt to obliterate any remaining standards of broadcast decency." The anti-pornography group Morality in Media is urging its supporters to boycott the show's advertisers and call affiliates to ask them not to air the show.
So far just one NBC affiliate has decided not to broadcast The Playboy Club. The Church of Latter Day Saints owns KSL, the NBC affiliate in Salt Lake City, Utah. KSL announced that it will not air the show. "The Playboy brand is known internationally," KSL President and CEO Mark Willes said in a statement. "Everyone is clear what it stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for, which is completely inconsistent with the Playboy brand."
The show will air instead on KMYU, Salt Lake City's My Network TV affiliate. "We respect the position of KSL and are pleased that KMYU can provide a home for The Playboy Club," said KMYU vice president and general manager Steve Carlston. "This highly anticipated crime drama will now have the opportunity to be seen by the viewers throughout the Salt Lake City market."
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