American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story

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Season 1
User Score
3.8

Generally unfavorable reviews- based on 13 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 13
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 13
  3. Negative: 7 out of 13
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User Reviews

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  1. EludiumQ36
    Jul 2, 2017
    8
    "American Playboy" is a broad docu-drama of Hefner's life and the Playboy enterprise. The 10-ep series also documents significant events in recent American history that Playboy either influenced or responded to. I wondered half-way through the series if they would only cover up to the 70s, for instance, and leave later decades for future seasons. But no, though the series spends a lot of"American Playboy" is a broad docu-drama of Hefner's life and the Playboy enterprise. The 10-ep series also documents significant events in recent American history that Playboy either influenced or responded to. I wondered half-way through the series if they would only cover up to the 70s, for instance, and leave later decades for future seasons. But no, though the series spends a lot of time in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, they covered all subsequent decades in the final episode, which was not really fair or true to its storytelling. In other words, why spend so much episode time in the other decades but give short shrift to the next four decades?! I'm thinking they were originally hoping for a go ahead for subsequent seasons but late in the production were told, nope, this is only a one-and-done venture, so they condensed an entire season's worth of timeline into one final episode and that was a real let down. Now, I had never thought long enough about this or read up on Hefner but the series made it clear that he's an ultra liberal progressive. I'm sure that comes as no surprise but it's just clearly evident now. And that's not to say it's bad, it's just recognition that he's one of the significant forces that moves portions of society to a more progressive position, and the series celebrates that. I came away from watching the series with much more respect for his efforts and accomplishments. Yes, he made mistakes and has a list of regrets, but every larger than life titan does. He seems to have acted much more with compassion than malice in business and personal relationships, and he's lived a life most men can only imagine - he's an alright guy.… Expand

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
43

Mixed or average reviews - based on 8 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 0 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 8
  3. Negative: 2 out of 8
  1. The Daily Beast
    Reviewed by: Kevin Fallon
    Apr 7, 2017
    30
    Its examination of the events and of Hefner itself is so transparently revisionist and positive, at least in the two episodes given to critics to screen, that you don’t feel compelled to open your mind at all.
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  2. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Daniel Fienberg
    Apr 7, 2017
    30
    [A] sniggering white-wash.
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  3. The Huffington Post
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    Apr 7, 2017
    50
    The series doesn’t go too deeply into several issues raised about Playboy over the years, like exploitation, objectification, and elitism. Instead, when it comes to controversy, American Playboy seems to focus primarily on the accusation that because it flaunted naked women, Playboy was obscene.
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