The Playboy Murders

I thought this series looked good in the promos, but after 4 episodes its turned out to be a somewhat formulaic, low budget crime series. I like Holly Madsion, so it's good to see her on the screen as a narrator/insider of sorts, but it's the stories themselves that are the problem. At this point, none of the women covered are actually centerfolds, but rather employees of associated Playboy enterprises. Most don't come from great backgrounds, have unrealistic dreams of what Playboy will do for their lives, and then drift into less than desirable lifestyles with drugs, abusive partners and all that sort of thing. Not too many surprises, really.

A good edit would've cut the episodes by half and made them more compelling - there's a a lot of repetitive ground covered.

Holly presents well and looks great - better than she did in her mansion days, but her Californian vocal delivery seem a little out of place covering stories about the gruesome deaths of her fellow alumni.

UPDATE: The 5th episode actually covers the story of a centrefold Star Stowe and her tragic decline. It is the most interesting story of the series, but even then you get the impression that while Playboy could've done more to help her out, hers is a case of self destruction more than anything else.

Holly Madison's first attempt, The Playboy Murders, at true crime tv is like her second attempt, Lethally (Bleached) Blonde - a flop. There is one crucial reason for its failure: its unrelenting, tiresome, and antithetical repetitiveness. In every single episode, Madison drones on like a cult follower about the glitz and glamour of being associated with Playboy and Hugh Hefner. This is a proven contradiction to everything we know (that is backed up by documentation) about Hugh Hefner, the drug-fueled parties at the Playboy Mansion and Hefner's emotional and sexual manipulation of women. I always have empathy for murder victims, but that's the only thing I gained from the show.

Season one was mildly intriguing. Most of the epiodes held a viewer's attention and they didn't stray too far off of the actual murder story. Although they did meander at times.

Season two is pretty bad. I mean they are *clearly* stretching to find connections to Playboy... someone who happened to be a Bunny at one of the clubs back in the early days of the 60s (for probably a short period - they don't say), ends up in a murder case some 50 years later.. and that's the tie in.. that's an exception amount of reaching. That reach seems to be happening throughout all of season 2. I'm just waiting for them to start detailing stories of murders related to the cleaning staff at the mansion in the 70s, or a gardener.....

Every episode is more boring than the last.. 60% of the episodes are just "backstory" for some Playboy related woman, then pretty bad "podcast-like" narrative to explain things surrounding crimes..

The last episode wasn't even a murder....

....they have no clue what show they are making.

It's just coming across more and more as nothing more than a desire to defame Playboy in some manner.

Holly Madison is a terrible host. Long, droning, monotone, speeches with no vocal inflection or apparent interest in the story being told. Honestly it'll put you to sleep.

Pass.

I lost respect to the whole playboy bunny thing until I did research and watch documentaries, it changed my whole life and it's heartbreaking what these women went through, what they must have seen and they didn't deserve that because instead of getting the dream they wanted, they got the complete opposite which is a nightmare in paradise. How can anyone do that to them? And I have ton of unanswered questions after watching this series, it haunts me what happens to them on that fateful night. Hugh Hefner is the main person I have a problem with and I'm starting to think that the mansion is a curse more than a blessing.

Every episode has the same pattern.formula:

1. The victim, a beautiful girl whose friends say "she wasn't a bimbo" she was a warm beatiful person.

2. Teary-eyed and totally boring recollections by her friends about the fun they had and how the victim had the talent to become a wonderul ______________ (usually actress)

3. A bad guy the victim was warned about

4. A good guy who the victim should have dated but didn't because he lacked danger

It continued the formula of the print Playboy magazines where they would insist the playmate was destined to be a great comic actress.

Basically, you've seen one episode, you've seen them all.