In 2011, it seemed that no new TV show on the new fall line up was more dazzling, more heavily hyped and promoted, and more absolutely certain for success than NBC's The Playboy Club. It was an epic, bold and most extremely ambitious undertaking for network television, telling the story of the beginning days of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Empire in the sexual revolution of the 1960s. It had a star filled cast, lead by Amber Heard, Jenna Dewan Tatum and Eddie Cibrain among an ensemble filled with the most talented cast with the most electric chemistry, it had the most gorgeous production design that made this Playboy Club a colorful wonderland hangout of dreams, it had a one in a billion, once in a lifetime story told through the eyes and the hearts of the most beautiful cast of characters you could ever ask for. Characters of the most beautiful heart created together. Created for one another. In this Bunny Empire, there was a real sense of honor, compassion, integrity, of standing up for what you believe in, and in the case of the Bunnies, of sisterhood. The Playboy Club was meant to be a smash success with sky high expectations, and it was the real life All For One, One For All mentality shared by this cast for each other with electrifying chemistry that translated into the onscreen cast of characters with electrifying chemistry that both in reality and in the fantasy made this not only the greatest TV show I have ever seen, but the greatest story I have ever seen. In 2011, there was nothing I wanted more, nothing I believed in more, and nothing that seemed like such a for sure world of happiness to stay in pop culture than The Playboy Club. But what I did not realize as I spent all that summer being as excited as I could possibly be for this show was that many hurtful, mean spirited and ill intended groups and individuals were protesting and campaigning AGAINST my show of dreams, brandishing The Playboy Club as immoral and the anti-family show that was the worst thing ever to happen to family programming. Determined to ruin this show’s chances, the Parent’s Television Council blatantly threatened the show’s advertisers and threatened the NBC affiliates, saying they’d go to the FCC over this show. This entire sect of people was out to destroy a show made of a cast and brain trust that wanted to not destroy, but create. Create something magical and enchanting, something kind, compassionate, innocence and joy, and something that was nothing less than the most beautiful game changer of TV ever done. Everything about The Playboy Club was ambitious, and for that reason it was treated with scorn and ignorance by both groups and individuals acting with malice in their hearts who don’t know better, who don’t care to know better, who couldn’t create what this show could and don’t care to create. Only to tear down and ruin. The Playboy Club had terrible forces working and plotting against it, and it lead to it’s cancellation, a cancellation that still seems impossible to understand because of how much this show stands out and shines, even with only 3 breathtaking episodes. The Playboy Club was everything I had ever dreamed for in a TV show and to be told that what I loved and believed in most was to be treated like garbage to be forgotten, it was one of the most heartbreaking disappoints of my life and all of TV, and Hollywood in general, has not been the same for me since. To be told that The Playboy Club was ever something to be ashamed of is one of the worst lies Hollywood has ever told.

However, while cancelled, The Playboy Club’s story was not over yet. Far from it. Upon the show’s cancellation, there were still four more fully filmed and completed episodes of The Playboy Club that were still ready to be shown and seen but upon the show’s cancellation were left unaired. Of the 7 episodes made only 3 were shown, meaning that for the most ambitious, star filled and heavily promoted new TV show of the new fall season, there was more of this show already made that was left unaired than what did get aired. More often than not or at least in many cases, cancelled shows do get their post cancellation episodes released or aired at some point to run things out. This past new fall TV season there were cancelled shows that still got to air their remaining episodes even after the call had been made. Yet here we have The Playboy Club, the most easily hyped up and heavily promoted show of the Fall season with a considerable name filled cast and all these huge expectations that had been placed on it, and yet after the show’s cancellation, there was still great and persistent interest in the 4 remaining unaired episodes from the fans of The Playboy Club to see them. Many cancelled shows that were not even promoted or hyped even half as much as The Playboy Club was or had anywhere nowhere near the expectations this show had got their remaining episodes released to bring themselves closure. Yet despite the clear interest surrounding in seeing these remaining episodes, something many people have requested across the internet, despite the fact that these episodes are of a show on a spectacularly higher level quality of acting, storyline, settings, production design and overall happy spirits that makes The Playboy Club a far significantly more evolved experience, despite the fact that many extremely gifted and talented people worked as hard as they possibly could to the fullest potential of their abilities to create the most breathtaking story they could make, despite the fact this show was made to stay, made to be something to hold onto, despite the fact that this was the one show I had always been waiting for, the one thing in pop culture I wanted most of all…despite it all, NBC and 20th Century Fox television have done nothing to honor both the hard work and commitment that this extraordinary cast and creative team gave nor have they been willing to listen to the clear and obvious requests for over almost 2 years now that the fans of The Playboy Club and it’s cast that they are still very much asking for, now actively more than ever in fact, which is that the right thing finally be done; that all seven episodes of The Playboy Club be set free and released on DVD/Blu-Ray, released on iTunes, put up online somewhere to see, still aired on some channel if chosen, possibly Bravo as discussed, or no matter what case or what platform set up for it, that NBC and 20th Century Fox television stop pretending that The Playboy Club never happened and all of the episodes made be released into the light of day for the public to see, to at long last be seen, enjoyed and cherished to a passionate fan base that really was wooed by this show’s massive promotional campaign and did excitedly buy into it and still truly believe in it despite what anyone else has said. It’s an obviously better choice than letting those episodes stay hidden away on a studio lot somewhere instead. For such a huge promotional campaign that was determined to win people over, The Playboy Club still did win itself fans that refused to give up on it, fans that will still pay to see these episodes, and more importantly than even that, fans that are passionately campaigning for it’s return, that refuse to back down to bullying and wrongly enforced opinions of what the mean spirited haters of this show think of it and it’s time everyone involved realize that and the signficance of what it means. Those unaired episodes are of a show and an experience specifically designed to be extraordinary, made to be a step beyond, and they deserve to be properly and fairly released, once and for all. That this creative hostage deadlock at long last come to an end.

I feel that The Playboy Club’s true worth and value as a creative property is not yet set in stone as long as those episodes remain unseen. The truth is, I feel the release of the unseen episodes can still change this story’s ending and change this show’s ultimate destiny yet. I truly believe the release of The Playboy Club’s four still yet to be seen episodes can still give this show a second life that can bring it a second chance. I feel the release of these episodes will gain it fresh new exposure and get people talking about the show again, and I feel having The Playboy Club back with these four new episodes can this time put this show’s potential in a new and reevaluated light that can and will be what it needs to find this show a new home on cable, premium or at least more adult leaning, on a situation with much more creative freedom for it and where the protesting haters can’t exploit advertisers to ruin it’s chances. Lots of cancelled shows still find growing and revived fan bases with new people discovering and fresh new interest for more in their after lives, yet as long as the episodes are kept hidden away and no more of even the slightest effort is given, no one will ever know for sure as long as no effort to even try is ever given. The only thing that will ensure The Playboy Club stays in failure is if those episodes are never released, but bringing this show back to finish what what was started on NBC can bring about any number of new endings and more importantly, new beginnings. There are many ways for a show to come back in any number of new ways. No one will ever know for sure unless the right thing to do and the obvious thing to do is done. It’s not fair that the people who still passionately care about The Playboy Club have to live with the enforced will of the people who unfairly hate it.

There are still those who said and will still say that The Playboy Club is immoral, the anti-family programming show most harmful to the mentality of family TV itself, something that never had any business being on television to begin with and that this show is something to be ashamed of. That for being the first new show of the fall season to be cancelled, this show is the very definition of failure. Then in that case, there’s something to be said about the notions of failure and family at play here. Months after the show was cancelled, something happened that changed the way I see Hollywood as a whole on a greater emotional and spiritual level, and so therefore on an entertainment/fanboy level as well. Something that has changed my perspective, so it might as well have now changed my life. Amber Heard got cast in Robert Rodriguez’s super violent Machete Kills as Miss San Antonio, a manipulative assassin who before I even saw a minute of footage, I knew Amber would be fighting Michelle Rodriguez’s She character to the death. And she would lose. Dying in vein, dying in tragedy for evil Mel Gibson. Dying for Robert Rodriguez onscreen and having it be gloried. Having it made out to be cool. The absolute moment I got this news, I knew Amber’s fate in Machete Kills could only end in onscreen doom for her character. That was about to be told by a truly mean spirited violence glorifying director with a proven track record of disturbing and unsettling violence towards women in movies to root on for Amber to die onscreen and buy into the idea of that being cool…after being told that getting to see Amber have a happy fun filled life of love in the world of Playboy as Bunny Maureen every week, and that the very notion of everything Maureen stood for, was worthless, pathetic, a disaster, every scornful name in the book. Protesters galore for Amber being happy in this world, in this story, in this project that she was meant to shine in. Hatred like you could not believe. I thought about how much this show was hyped up, how it was going to be my show every week, my favorite story every week, my dream come true every week. I thought about how heartbroken I was when that was taken away from me. Finding out Amber was on the evil side in the world of Machete was one of the saddest and most devastating moments of my life because I felt like I was losing The Playboy Club all over again for a second time. It wasn’t okay for Amber to be Bunny Maureen anymore in the professional circles. It wasn’t okay to go back to that world. But why was it okay that Amber would have to die violently for the bad guys in vein to satisfy Robert Rodriguez’s reckless and too often senseless onscreen malevolence and bloodlust instead? No one came forward and protested against Amber being killed onscreen violently. Gloria Steinem didn’t find the time to come forward and say there was something wrong with that. Gloria never stopped to understand what her hurtful words would go on to create. The media and this entire sect of haters and so many tore down upon this show about Amber and these girls being the best they could possibly be together, united in the love of their sisterhood, in the love they would find in their lives, and that Maureen was destined to go on and become a beloved superstar who would marry Nick Dalton and have Janie, Alice and Brenda as her best friends for life. They claimed that this was against the very notion of family but they are wrong. Show many TV shows exploit the ideas of families being torn apart by violence, shows like The Killing, that never get told they are toxic towards the notions of family life, but The Playboy Club was about Maureen looking for a home to belong and people she cared about to love her. The Playboy Club was about Maureen’s dream of a family. It was about all the characters looking for family in some way. I don’t care what anyone says, but The Playboy Club’s very legacy is about longing for your place to belong and the family you need the most, both onscreen and in real life, and yet it can’t even be treated with the proper respect of the work given and the people that did watch to release the remaining episodes. The notions and hopes of family that the Playboy Club held was what made it great, made it worth saving, made worth being legendary. Yet The Playboy Club became a Hollywood industry poster child for the very notion of failure and for the hurtful people out to ruin it the poster child of immorality, despite being a creation that only wanted to bring joy and love. Yet it’s supposedly media approving and industry acceptable for something violent and horrible to happen to Amber onscreen in Machete Kills and for that to be celebrated, onscreen and off. It’s acceptable to call that cool. That is what it feels like I am being told to believe now. It’s just a movie, it’s just the industry, it’s just the job…it’s all just excuses meant to justify a nightmare I’ll probably never be able to forget about, and as often seems, a nightmare I have no way of standing up to. A nightmare that is branded about as something cool as the most special story I ever knew, everything Machete Kills isn’t, wasn’t and will never be, stays forgotten and unfinished forever?

I was a fan of the first Machete film and saw it 3 times because it was a Hispanic leaning and Hispanic involving action movie that seemed fun at that the time but was savage in it’s violence, violence I didn’t think was a big deal because it was aimed at the racist, the cruel and the injust. It was designed to seem funny, although if I had been smarter than I would of known right away that it wasn’t. I got into the world of Machete because I myself am half Hispanic and come from Hispanic lineage and cultural background and it was Robert Rodriguez acting as if he was representing Hispanic pop culture in his movies. I’d been seeing Robert’s movies for a long time now but when Sin City came out, I was horrifying and sickened by the vicious malevolence and practically bully filmmaking that he lowered himself by reveling in, and his movies have become significantly more violent ever since Sin City. Yet with Machete he still somehow made it all seemed fine and acceptable to me, violence in the name of Hispanic pride. Until Amber Heard, my real life hero and inspiration, and the most kind hearted and most courageous thespian soul I ever known, the greatest movie star, the greatest individual and the most beautiful soul in every single way possible, would be a part of that savage violence in the name of Hispanic pride, and I seriously felt like I was going to throw up when I found that out. I want and need it to be known that I will not root against Amber Heard or cheer on onscreen violence against her for the most hurtful and disappointing director I have ever known, a man who glories nihilistic extreme and brutal violence, with women most definitely being on his receiving end of it, and does it senselessly and carelessly. To root on Amber to be killed off onscreen in the name of Hispanic pride would be, for me, an absolute personal betrayal of everything Hispanic culture means to me, of everything good about my own personal belief of my own ethnic background that I hold for myself. Hispanic pride is about not backing down and never giving up on friends and family and the people you care about. It’s about standing up and fighting for what you believe in. For the people you care about most. It isn’t some sick and blindly macho movie violence power trip. Killing Amber Heard off to save the world in a movie is not saving the world. It defiles the very notion of what saving the world should stand for in a story. I am shocked, sickened, most extremely disappointed and so very ashamed of Hollywood for thinking this way. I am so scared and so sad because of it. Tearing down The Playboy Club with extreme prejudice, then acting as if it was perfectly ok and no big deal that Amber would have to die onscreen for Robert Rodriguez and would act as if that was cooler and better for her career. I hope Miss San Antonio finds redemption somewhere, someday. From the bottom of my heart, I mean that.

It wasn’t until Machete Kills happened and there was no Playboy Club to make me feel better that I began to realize just how much violence towards women in movies and TV I’ve seen over the years has finally taken it’s emotional toll on me. That every time there’s some excuse for it to be ok, every time, every year, until 20 plus years later you look back and the movies are filled with suffering and pain every bit as much as joy and wonder, all because someone kept saying “It’s part of the job” over and over again every time, never without stopping to say that at some point it couldn’t be ok anymore. That something could and would go too far. That the pain doesn’t stop even after the story does. So that my friends is my reason for why I decided to campaign for The Playboy Club’s existence and future. It is the reason I created my website, theplayboyclublives.com , and made it the way it turned out to be. Because no story I have ever known ever had a more compassionate heart than The Playboy Club did. In The Playboy Club, I truly see the best of all of us. I mean that. The Playboy Club was about the civil rights movements of African Americans and the LGBT community and the open, caring acceptance of both cultures and the special individuals within them. The Playboy Club was about the deep personal longing to be someone special and to be loved for being someone special. It was about the hope of having a life you could be proud of. It was about how beauty is always and forever something to be cherished, never taken for granted and worth fighting for at all costs. The Playboy Club was about being the best you could possibly be and that’s what made it the undisputed fucking best, with the power of 300 episodes crammed into only 3. The Playboy Club wanted to stand for something great and bring joy and happiness while doing it. It didn’t want to hurt anyone and it was so, so much more than savage violence glorification and indulgence. This is why The Playboy Club must exist. Why it must live on in any way and in any form it possibly can. This is why The Playboy Club is now my favorite story of them all. So many great and wonderful things in Hollywood are taken for granted and thrown away while brutality and blandness are too often held onto, but every once in a while, someone must stand up to that mentality. Please, once and for all, release all The Playboy Club episodes to be seen and purchased on whatever platform seen fit, just as long as they are finally out and available. Thank you for listening. The Playboy Club Lives.

Nick Astrinakis - theplayboyclublives.com