1 9 5 9 – 1 9 6 0 (USA)
12 x 60 minute episodes
Presented as a “typical” night at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy pad, Hugh would slip into a smoking jacket, stick a pipe into the corner of his mouth and start answering the door.
As host, he would usher an assortment of guests into his “living room”, hand them a drink and ask them to start learning their fee – after a little small talk, of course.
Then Heff would answer the door again, another surprise celebrity would come traipsing in, and the whole phoney business would be repeated – all accompanied by enthusiastic hand clapping (not always in time with the music) and squealing exclamations from half a dozen or so decorous young ladies conspicuously positioned throughout the room.
Guests included Nat King Cole, Sammy Davis Jr, Ella Fitzgerald, Buddy Greco, Bob Newhart, Larry Storch and Lennie Weinrib. The show was taped at WBKB-TV in Chicago.
The initial response to Playboy’s Penthouse was a snicker. And when the snickers died down, apathy took over. The series was not a success, and it disappeared from TV screens after just a few weeks.
Heff returned in 1969 with Playboy After Dark.
Hugh Hefner
Himself