Playboy After Dark Season 1 Episodes

Episode 1

Episode #1.1

Sat, Jan 18, 1969

Noel Harrison sings. Comedy from Sid Caesar. Horoscopes are read. Like wow man, really happening. The Grateful Dead circa 1968 play Mountains Of The Moon, nice acoustic version and plug in for St. Stephen. They are in fine form. Jerry Garcia is clad in a poncho. Far out. Phil Lesh claims he spiked the punch. If he did, it seems to have had little effect. The GD play out over the credits with Turn On Your Love Light.

Episode 2

Episode #1.2

Fri, Jan 31, 1969

A strange show with a mixed bag of a cast. Bill Cosby does a routine and spends the rest of the show lurking at the edges of the action, occasionally offering comments that come off as more obnoxious than incisive. Songwriter Shel Silverstein gives a rendition on the acoustic guitar of his tune The Unicorn that was popularized by the Irish Rovers. Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers lip syncs a couple of songs. Classic rock band Iron Butterfly sets up on the live stage and then lip syncs as well. Hef talks religion with a theologian in the library. The show closes out with Cosby leading the Butterfly in an instrumental tune he calls the Fat Albert. Silverstein leaps on Cosby's back as the credits roll. Gawd what crazy stuff. If this is how the hip people played in 1969 you start to wonder if it wasn't more fun at Bob Hope's house.

Episode 3

Episode #1.3

Sun, Feb 2, 1969

The daft Professor Irwin Corey dominates this show with his inane ramblings. I expect he was never invited back to any Playboy function after this performance. Steppenwolf and John Kay make it worth wading through the nonsense with amazing renditions of Sookie and Born To Be Wild before it became the iconic song it did. George Plimpton plays 3-D tic-tac-toe with Hugh and expounds on his strange career as a participation journalist until Corey staggers in to disrupt the conversation. Tony Bennett closes out the show with a solid set.

Episode 4

Episode #1.4

Fri, Feb 7, 1969

This show is heavy on talk and stand up comics. Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate are the central figures as Hef talks violence in movies with Polanski and its influence on audiences, a chilling discussion in view of events that took place only a few months later. This is one of the few extended pieces with Sharon without a script in front of her. Unlike Tarantino's movie, she comes across as jaded and serious. Hef tries to cut off the interview with Polanski by getting up and walking while but Polanski follows, blithering on causing Sharon to chuckle. Comic Jackie Gayle does a routine on the couch while seated beside Sharon. Roman sticks his nose and looks rather foolish. Overall, Polanski comes across as an oddball, though part of that may be due to heavy Polish accent. Don Adams and Bill Dana battle each other in telling tales of their shared comic past, revealing Adams's overweening ego. Lounge lizard Vic Damone does a bit that could have right out of Bill Murray's act on SNL. Della Reese lip syncs to a couple of tunes. Overall, because of Sharon and Polanski, one of the more memorable episodes.

Episode 5

Episode #1.5

Sat, Feb 15, 1969

The Pair Extraordinaire performs. Norm Crosby does a routine. Otto Preminger is on hand decked out in a Nehru Jacket and love beads to promote his bomb of a movie Skidoo. Assisting him is Harry Nilsson who did the soundtrack. At one point Otto hovers over Harry at the piano browbeating him to play a tune like a child a parent. Rich Little does impressions and The Brothers Castro close out the show with a set.

Episode 6

Episode #1.6

Fri, Feb 21, 1969

A mustachioed Tommy Smothers talks about the censorship of his show, oh yes Tommy it was about to get much worse. Louis Nye sits on the couch and does comedy, more or less. Buddy Miles talks about his music and performs with his band. Former Kingston Trio front man John Stewart comes out with his new singer and partner Buffy Ford. They banter with Tommy Smothers and play a nice couple of tunes.

Episode 7

Episode #1.7

Sat, Mar 1, 196960 mins

Don Adams steps in to help Tommy Smothers for a new Smothers Brothers act. David Hemmings is somewhere in the crowd. The rather plastic group Avante-Garde lip syncs a couple of numbers. Joan Baez talks about the "resistance" and the coming revolution. Wow. cool. Having pontificated, Joan sings. Tommy Smothers rambles on next about the progressive world to come. If only they could fast forwarded fifty years, I wonder what they would have done? Tommy and Joan over the closing credits.

Episode 8

Episode #1.8

Fri, Mar 7, 1969

The Checkmates play. Leroy Neiman draws. Sammy Davis Jr. sings with Bill Cosby on maracas. The programs is basically a showcase for Sammy - Anthony Newley joins him at one point. Jerry Lewis crashes the party and brings Peter Lawford along. Jerry and Sammy have an extended talk session on the couch as Hugh Hefner moderates. Sammy and Jerry then sing together with Cosby on electric bass.

Episode 9

Episode #1.9

Sat, Mar 15, 1969

Harry Blackstone Jr. performs magic tricks just like at a kid's birthday party. Wow. Tony Hendra does comedy routines. The Checkmates do a lively set. Master songwriter Jimmy Webb does a tune on the piano while Lindsay Wagner looks ion n adoration. Webb was the best part of the show and surprisingly does only one number. This was at the very beginning of his performing career before his first album had been released.

Episode 10

Episode #1.10

Fri, Mar 21, 1969

The Collage sing. The Checkmates are back again, they perform. Don Rickles is the main attraction. Cosby wanders about, sitting in with the band playing the bongos. Shecky Greene does some comedy bits. Attorney Melvin Belli talks. Not the most memorable of shows.

Episode 11

Episode #1.11

Sat, Mar 22, 1969

Episode 12

Episode #1.12

Fri, Mar 28, 1969

The first 12 minutes of the show are given over to a hypnotist. Yawn. John Hartford performs. The hippie vibe is strong in this one. Hef is trying hard to be hip. Gore Vidal joins Hugh in the library for a stimulating conversation. Well, not really. Three Dog Night does a couple tunes. Unfortunately, this is before they became a hit machine and the tunes are rather forgettable. There are a few more songs, a few more jokes and the show mercifully comes to a close.

Episode 13

Episode #1.13

Sat, Mar 29, 1969

A rather forgettable show, the highlights being Hugh and friends briefly playing Twister, fully clothed of course. Bob Newhart does a routine and is then forced to watch a clip of himself on Hef's old Playboy's Penthouse program from the Fifties which was allegedly Newhart's first ever television performance. Bill Cosby playing stand up bass with the band.

Episode 14

Episode #1.14

Fri, Apr 11, 1969

Excellent show starts off with Jackie DeShannon lip syncing a couple of songs from her newly released album Laurel Canyon. Live or syncing, Jackie was great and unbelievably she is backed up by a young, nerdy Barry White on vocals. Marty Engels does a comedy routine, Jim Brown pontificates quite eloquently on race relations, movies and projects for the ghetto while Bill Cosby wanders through the entire program wearing a bathrobe. Taj Mahal steals the show with a truly live set. The legendary Jessie Ed Davis backs him on lead guitar. Taj and the band play out an instrumental over the closing credits.

Episode 15

Episode #1.15

Sat, Apr 12, 1969

Jazz and Blues performers dominate this show. James Cotton and his band reel off a pair of fine songs as does Joe Williams and Sue Raney. Buddy Rich does his usual excellent turn on the drums. Pat McCormick, who was a lead writer and sometime performer on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson from 72 to 81 does a turn on the couch telling jokes.

Episode 16

Episode #1.16

Fri, Apr 18, 1969

Shelly Berman opens the show with Hef. David Steinberg does comedy on the couch, the same kind of stuff that helped get the Smothers Brothers cancelled, but nobody was watching this show. The Times Square Two do a comic-music set. Buddy Miles is back with his band. Joannie Sommers sings. Low Rawls closes the show with a solid set.

Episode 17

Episode #1.17

Fri, May 2, 1969

Jack Carter and Soupy Sales joke around. Three Dog Night perform Celebrity Ball with an invisible band. Man, were they good. Not to be outdone, James Brown brings along his invisible band as well. Cosby sits on the edge of the couch. How exciting.

Episode 18

Episode #1.18

Fri, May 9, 1969

Five years before Jesus Christ Superstar, a very young Ted Neely, billed as Teddy, sings. Comic Jack E. Leonard may have been the most obnoxious comedian of all time. Cosby sits on the couch beside him. Jefferson Airplane wannabe MC Squared plays. Pete Seeger talks ecology and sings. Carmen MacRae sings.

Episode 19

Episode #1.19

Fri, May 16, 1969

Beloved children's entertainer Shari Lewis opens the festivities with an adult routine from Lamb Chop. Truly weird. Makes you hope she ran that sock puppet through the rinse cycle a few times before she let her entertain kids again. Highlight of the show is Canned Heat. Bob Hite does a song and then Al Wilson goes into On The Road Again. Academic Max Lerner actually engages Hef in an intelligent conversation about the sexual revolution. Buddy Greco closes the show.

Episode 20

Episode #1.20

Fri, May 30, 1969

Lenny Bruce's mother talks about her son and Hugh shows clips of the late comedian. Comic-musician Pete Barbutti plays the broom and does other bits. The magnificent Marvin Gaye shows up but appears to be only lip syncing. Classic comedy ensemble The Committee perform, but Howard Hesseman is nowhere in sight. The most recognizable member is Barbara Bosson who would star in Hill Street Blues a decade later. The highlight of the show is the Byrds. This is the lineup with Clarence White on lead guitar. The numbers include two Dylan songs, You Ain't Goin' Nowhere and Wheels On Fire. Clarence lays down some spectacular licks and Roger McGuinn is in fine voice. Barbi Benton sits in front of the band during their performance. It's early in the show and she's not yet Hef's co-host.

Episode 21

Episode #1.21

Sat, May 31, 1969

The Grass Roots do Bella Linda and they're either lip syncing or they have a string section hidden out somewhere. They also mime Midnight Confessions. The great Billy Eckstine also appears to be syncing. What a shame. He does perform live at a later date with Linda Ronstadt. Director Paul Mazursky joins Hef in the library for a discussion. Rich Little does a bit. Pianist-singer Bobby Doyle actually performs live.

Episode 22

Episode #1.22

Sat, Jun 28, 1969

Frankie Randall sings. The Chicago Second City comedy troop performs. Cast members include Valerie Harper and Paul Sand. Pat Morita, yet to graduate to full-time actor, does standup. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band play a lively set. Shelly Berman adds more comedy and Lou Rawls sings magnificently.

Episode 23

Episode #1.23

Sat, Jul 19, 1969

Petticoat Junction actress Meredith MacRae sings Going Out Of My Head. Her husband, Greg Mullavey talks. A young Michael Caine expounds on his latest movie. Mort Sahl does comedy. Doug Sahm and the Sir Douglas Quartet do their classic songs Mendocino and She's About A Mover. Augie Meyers is on the keys. The Clara Ward and Her Gospel Singers close out the show.

Episode 24

Episode #1.24

Fri, Oct 10, 1969

Singers Johnny Mathis and Nadia Christian lip syncing a couple of tunes. Mort Sahl gives a short, extremely misogynistic monologue and basketball star Bill Russell pontificates on race relations. Comic Corbett Monica does a gay bashing routine to top off the festivities. My how the times have changed. The best part is the Chambers Brothers actually performing live. Their tunes that I Wish It Would Rain live. These shows are basically Hef's home movies with the clothes on. It brings back fond memories of his magazine of the era, over priced, pretentious nonsense, but makes for a wonderful time capsule.

Episode 25

Episode #1.25

Fri, Nov 7, 1969

Skiles and Henderson do comedy. Joanne Vent does an extended set. John Kay and Steppenwolf perform. The great Joe Williams sings a duet with Joanne Vent. Joey Bishop entertains. Joe Williams closes out the show and outperforms everyone. Amazing voice, talent and presence.

Episode 26

Episode #1.26

Fri, Nov 14, 196960 mins

Deep Purple- Hush. Don Adams discusses flying, golf, etc. David Hemming and his new bride Gail Hunnicutt is interviewed.