Exclusive: Hugh Hefner Won't Be Narrating NBC's The Playboy Club
Playboy Club
You won't be hearing much from Hugh Hefner on NBC's The Playboy Club this fall. Hefner narrates the new series' pilot episode, but won't do the same in future episodes.
That's because the producers behind The Playboy Club are leaning toward eliminating the show's narration device all together, according to show insiders. (In the pilot, Hefner sets the stage for the show via voiceover at the open and close of the show.)
But that doesn't mean The Playboy Club will be completely scrubbed of its legendary founder. The character of 1960s-era Hugh Hefner will make an appearance from time to time on the show, although it's unclear how much we'll see of him, or if he'll involved he'll be in the show's storylines.
The Playboy Club decision represents the second major voice-over switcheroo on a new fall network show. As TV Guide Magazine's Kecks Exclusives first reported, Robert Wagner won't be playing the voice of Charlie on ABC's Charlie's Angels reboot after all.
Set in a 1960s Chicago branch of the infamous Playboy clubs, The Playboy Club stars Eddie Cibrian as a man running for district attorney. Amber Heard and David Krumholtz also star.
The decision to pull back on Hefner's narration is a stylistic choice and unrelated to the controversies surrounding the show. Groups like the Parents Television Council are asking NBC affiliates not to air the show — although just one, Salt Lake City's KSL, has opted to drop it so far. (The market's My Network TV affiliate, KMYU, will run the show instead.)
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