Just after Joel McHale joked that NBC's new "The Playboy Club" will be "'Mad Men' with boobs," NBC's entertainment chairman said that isn't necessarily the case — and that he wasn't surprised by an NBC affiliate's decision not to air it.
Bob Greenblatt discussed the show in NBC's presentation to the Television Critics Association summer press tour Monday. McHale joked about the show while introducing him.
Also read: 'Playboy Club' Finds a Home in Salt Lake City
"Basically it's 'Mad Men' with boobs," the "Community" star said. "You also get to see a young Hugh Hefner when he only had 13 different strains of herpes." Greenblatt said that while the show shares a 1960s setting with "Mad Men," it will be "an energized soap opera" that will benefit from a brand that's "going to draw attention to it, good or bad."
NBC's Mormon-church-owned Salt Lake City affiliate has already opted not to air the show, which Greenblatt said he didn't find surprising. Another affiliate has decided to run the show.
"I guess I wasn't surprised. That brand name is pretty polarizing even though the show isn't all that revealing," he said.
He noted that the Utah station also doesn't air "Saturday Night Live."
During a panel discussion panel for the show, the show's executive producers and stars said the show portrayed women who found a way to empower themselves through jobs at a Playboy Club during a time of limited opportunities for women.
"It comes down ultimately to choices," said star Amber Heard. "And just like anything else, if the choices are available and they're making the choice, they're not being exploited."