If you thought sex was a three-letter word, rethink! It is not. It is seven-lettered and it is called "Playboy". Now, while there were and are many playboys, the one that occupies a significant share of everyone's sexual appetite is the magazine itself. It's a no-brainer. So when a show comes out depicting the life of its creator, the curiosity to explore it is no less than an intellectual orgasm.
The pilot of this show uses recorded footage, excessive voice-over(though, in a good way)and nostalgic swing music, and charts the life of Hugh Hefner,the creator of Playboy, in a dramatic, endearing and inspiring narrative.
Born to conservative parents and suppressive times, this episode deals with Hefner's anguish at the lack of expression of love in an open space, and calling a spade a spade, he embarks on a journey of giving sex and nudity, two physical expressions of love and intimacy, their due through his revolutionary magazine.
Hidden beneath the entrepreneurial spirit of Hefner is his spirit of honesty. It is in fact his bold adherence to his outlook on sex that arrests your attention.The fact that you have to retreat to fantasy to experience the real bothered Hefner as much as it bothers us in our current times when men are seen as pure lascivious creatures because of their involuntary sexual attraction. It is in this respect this show is a very relatable tale of sexual openness.
Not showing sex and nudity as anything artistic or aesthetic, Hugh Hefner challenges his viewers to drop the layers of moralistic propriety and accept them as natural and healthy. This matter-of-fact, nonjudgmental take on a tabooed subject makes this pilot a satisfying watch.
A breezy 9 out of 10 for this one. Looking forward for the other episodes.