ISSUE 19 - DVD REVIEW

PLAYBOY AFTER DARK
by Chad Gooden


“I love this show. Where else can I plug my book and get zonked?” Rex Reed says to Hugh Hefner on a lush couch in a blinding white suit and placing reaching for his drink. He is collected, cool and telling stories about the wild production of Myra Breckinridge. It is a lengthy and humorous interview on Hefner’s Playboy After Dark ‘variety’ show in the late 1960’s.
The show was a hip and laid back affair that invited a syndicated television audience into the fold while serving up cool music, beautiful ladies and very entertaining guests. Some say we glorify the past when the future dries up. In this case, the past may be a way to see how to make the future more interesting.
Imagine this, in 1959 Playboy magazine was publishing one million copies a month, selling nearly all of them and Hugh Hefner couldn’t get any advertisers. Hefner concocted a way to promote the magazine with a weekly television show. He put together a variety show different from everything else on television. He wanted viewers to feel like members of the audience, as though they were guests. This was achieved by having the camera move through the crowd of party goers, seeing performers and listen in on conversations. The angles the camera gets while never revealing other cameras is impressive. It’s as though the camera was roaming around just like a guest. There were beautiful girls in the background but weren’t the focus, the party was the focus. Syndication was relatively new and Playboy After Dark played in major markets across the nation. With syndication there was the absence of network interference.
Hefner had complete control of content and created something that still hasn’t caught on today. The shows had a looseness and energy that talk shows strive for today, yet fail. Hefner provided a stage for performers and talent that network shows would not rush to. One need only watch Ike & Tina Turner turn up the heat with their rendition of Sly & the Family Stone’s ‘I Want to Take You Higher’ to see the difference between today’s performers and a time when musicians actually had to sing, dance and play instruments.
Originally called Playboy’s Penthouse, it premiered featuring comedian Lenny Bruce, singer Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. The show also was the first to feature black performers on a regular basis. As you watch the show it is clear the guests are consuming real alcohol. And it is evidence of Hefner’s love of music when one sees the list of musical guests, ranging from Ike & Tina Turner to Sammy Davis to Canned Heat to Joe Cocker or Vic Damone. Bill Cosby might be floating around in the background playing a saxophone. A young Linda Ronstadt sings Billie Holiday. Sid Caesar cracking jokes and flirting with the ladies. And the ladies, back before boob jobs and looking sexier than Giselle or Britney, are refreshing look into the past. Much of the show consists of conversation with celebrities of the day and musical performances. The show ran for several years, stopping for a few years only to return with a new title, Playboy After Dark. The second incarnation was another successful run with the same format and now in color.
Forty six years later and with the release of DVD box sets of the show we can see a side of television rare then and now. The first collection has a sampling of both versions of the show. These discs are music fans and with an interest in the period. It’s interesting to watch Rex Reed discuss independent film and Dick Shawn dismiss white kids play rock and roll and be called on it by Canned Heat’s hefty and superb lead singer.
An interesting aspect of this collection is the difference between the versions of the show. The 1959 shows are straight-laced, sophisticated people milling around having drinks and listening to music. The 1969 version displays social changes in America since the original series. The use of psychedelic dissolves between segments, bright clothing, miniskirts and energetic (though probably professional) dancing that puts modern club movements to shame.
The real gem of the show is its variety, be it the guests or random conversation. At times scripted, at times off the cuff, the show is unique in lieu of the talk show format we all know today. It was a party with each episode, even if it was in a studio.
The draw back to this box set is that only six episodes (an hour each) are included in the set and there aren’t many extras except for a recent interview with Hefner. Anyone with an appreciation for music and look into celebrity history will find these well worth a look.