Mad Men vs. The Playboy Club

  

   

Original Channel

Mad Men: AMC

The Playboy Club: NBC

Creators

Mad Men: Matthew Weiner

The Playboy Club: Chad Hodge

Stars

Mad Men: Jon Hamm, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, January Jones, Christina Hendricks, John Slattery

The Playboy Club: Eddie Cibrian, Laura Benanti, Amber Heard, Naturi Naughton, Leah Renee, Jenna Dewan, David Krumholtz

Air dates

Mad Men: July 19, 2007 - present

The Playboy Club: September 19 – October 3, 2011

Season structure (Season One)

Mad Men: 13 episodes of 47 minutes

The Playboy Club: 7 episodes of 42 minutes (4 unaired)

Why?

Dashing, charismatic men in the 1960s

Similarities

Charismatic leading man: Mad Men has Don Draper, and The Playboy Club  has Nick Dalton. They’re practically one and the same. Ambiguous backgrounds (Don’s involves war, Nick’s the mob) that we’re sure to learn more about. Charming, handsome, love women, drinking and smoking, good with people, confident. They are the draw of the show, since neither the audience nor the other characters can take our eyes off of them. They feed off the attention from others, and can’t commit themselves to just one woman.

Sexism: Both shows explicitly address the sexism that women faced in the 1950s and 60s, as well as briefly refer to homosexuality and ethnic discrimination. On Mad Men, the secretaries face sexism at work, talk about married life and how it affects the ability to work, and even the gynecologist treats Peggy like a floozy for her request for birth control. Don gets upset at an assertive female client, and says “I’m not going to let a woman talk to me like this,” even though he should be treating her with respect due to her role. On The Playboy Club, the women are objectified by customers. One of the central plotlines is kicked off due to a customer trying to sexually assault one of the Bunnies.

Differences

Based on franchise: The Playboy Club exists with approval (and occasional voiceover) from Hugh Hefner. It can’t maintain its objectivity and explore unsavory angles. Yes, it shows the sexualization and objectification of women, yet at the same time, tries to say that they’re using their sexuality in order to get ahead and attain success or freedom. While this may be true in some senses, the show will never be able to present an accurate and comprehensive depiction of the Playboy franchise and those involved. Mad Men has this distance from the ad agencies. It’s not like an agency is involved with the show and giving approval.

Women empowerment: While both shows address sexism, sexuality is given a bigger focus on The Playboy Club, understandably, given the source material. On Mad Men, even though the women are marginalized, they aren’t being taken care of. We get the sense that they’re actually in control somewhat. Peggy chooses to sleep with Pete, not because she feels pressure to. Joan basically runs the office, even if she doesn’t hold the highest title. Rachel isn’t fazed by Don and his persona. While on The Playboy Club, women need the men. They may be using these positions to empower themselves, but Maureen needs Nick to help her get rid of the mob head’s body. The others need their husbands and boyfriends for support. There’s a greater focus on interactions and relationships between characters than on the individual character development.

Crime angle: There’s a whole other storyline involving the mob and a covered up murder on The Playboy Club, that just seems out of place and unrealistic.

Conclusion

Coming 4 years after Mad Men, The Playboy Club was clearly trying to capitalize on Mad Men’s success and popularity. It’s essentially a rip off, with backing from the Playboy enterprise itself. This obviously makes a difference and gives the show a different angle. But, because it airs on network TV, it’s like someone thought it needed an injection of danger and excitement (because Mad Men is a bit of a slow burner, like many cable shows), so the murder/mob storyline was added. Deeper character development and less forced plot lines are two of the advantages Mad Men has over The Playboy Club, which in my view, are common characteristics of successful cable shows. They don’t feel the need for a quick pace.


The difference in where the shows find conflict can be found by looking at the end of the pilots. In Mad Men, it's revealed that Don Draper is married with two children. In The Playboy Club, it's revealed that Nick is related to the head of the mob and is still involved.