Season 1 – American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story

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Takis T @TakisTz Apr 11 One can argue about how this doc-series should have been commented on by the various narrators you see in it. Others will say that this is too much glorifying of Hefner (possibly, not necessarily). And some will say that women are degraded in the doc as much as they were by Playboy. Still. It's an excellent doc-series when one accepts its perspective as it is. See more Marc Z @TKDLife 08/30/2023 This is a serial look at the life of Hugh Hefner and evolution and history of Playboy Magazine. The series mixes acting, interviews, film clips, and social commentary to tell the story of how Hugh Hefner took an idea and turned it into a magazine and then an empire of clubs, products, merchandise, and more. One of the best things about the series is how it tells the story of the evolution of sexual mores and social justice through the lens of this man and this magazine. The narration and the acting portion does a really good job of tying all this together. I never knew the story of the injustice of the case against Hef's assistant, Bobbie Arnstein, and how it impacted him. Sad injustice. A really worthwhile show. It does contain nudity. See more tarek a @tarekali 02/27/2021 This documentary and real life enactment series is as slick and sophisticated as its legendary founder Hugh Hefner, and the playboy lifestyle he created. The production values are amazing, and the soundtrack is even more delightful. It's quite interesting to take a journey of multiple phases with Hef, starting from his unmooring from puritanical beliefs in the 50s, to his adoption of his own dreamed lifestyle inspired by his friend and promotions manager Lownes. One could fault Hef for the destruction of family values across the world, and for increased unhappiness of humankind. But one must admire his tenacity and vision to fulfill the lifelong dream of most men worldwide, debatable on its own merits. The story of Playboy is also a direct parallel to the story of America, born at a time of great rebirth, optimism and progress - the roaring 50's - when millions fulfilled the American Dream of a better life. Many great brands were born at this time, and Hef's boat rose with the tides. As we well know the bitter division of racism is alive and well in America today. Hefner broke ground with courage in the era of civil rights when he showcased talent of all races, ignoring the rage of racist Americans. His support of legends like Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Aretha Franklin are indicative of his tremendous courage and vision. At critical historical junctures in the long story of America, playboy provided a much needed platform for the frank expression of views. One could definitely claim to have bought it for the articles. The honest and impartial coverage of civil rights issues is itself a permanent accolade. There are some good learnings from the lifestyle that would benefit most men especially today - confidence, tenacity, vision, instinct, suaveness, sophistication, refined tastes, pursuit of perfection, learning and wisdom, literature, arts, music, science, politics, etc etc etc. It was not all about the sins and pleasures of the flesh - it was also about rising above the original and becoming the best version of oneself. See more Brian D @Brianwd 12/30/2020 I enjoyed this. You learn a lot about Hugh Hefner. I didn't realize how progressive of a thinker he was. He put black people on the cover of his magazine at a time when that was rarely done and he knew he'd lose readers because of it. He invited people like Aretha Franklin to play at his first Playboy club. He did an interview with Malcolm X that he published. Steve Jobs said it was the single most important thing he did in media. He was extremely forward thinking and really helped push race relations. He pushed people to think in new ways by exposing them to new things. This doc goes into detail about it all. It's very interesting See more 09/27/2020 Loving this show. The era and the history, plus the storylines and steamy scenes. Quite entertaining. See more terry s @TerryBSnyder 04/12/2020 The first two episodes were pretty solid. Learned a lot about Hef - this series tried to take two maybe three episodes of content and stretch it over ten - See more Read all reviews

American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story — Season 1

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