The Playboy Club Canceled

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Oct 4, 2011 6:40PM

Well that was fast. NBC today canceled the poorly performing The Playboy Club with no plans to burn off the remaining episodes in a time slot black hole.

The series premiere opened to low ratings and viewership declined in the following weeks. 3.4 million viewers tuned in to last night's episode. There weren't lofty expectations for The Playboy Club what with it being a period piece aired on NBC - America's Largest Cable Access Network - with tighter content standards than AMC offers Mad Men. Criticism from the Parents Television Council and Gloria Steinem didn't help.

The cancellation also serves as a setback in Playboy Enterprises' plan to use its brand as a multi-platform marketing strategy.

But the real writing on the wall was last week when the show made a reference to Abe Froeman, the sausage king of Chicago. We were waiting to see a future episode where the Bunnies banded together on a Mission from God.

As further evidence NBC doesn't get it, they also ordered full season pickups of Up All Night and Whitney. Well, anything is better than having Leno on at 9 p.m.