American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story

This is exceptional! Without a doubt, one of the most captivating "documentaries" I've seen.

It splices original footage of Hugh, relevant people from the time, interviews with celebrities and significant historical events in with an acted story to really bring the story to life

And WHAT a story! High wasn't just an incredibly successful man, he pushed for all sorts of societal changes, most notably civil rights (!!) in the 60s, and was a marketing and brand genius.

The Playboy bunny costume was the first licensed uniform ever and the Bunny logo is said to be one of the most iconic of all time.

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Playboy is that iconic brand that has always remained in my mind synonymous with porn. I have never read the magazine nor was it ever available at my home, I only had exposure to the brand through the internet and that too very rarely. So, I was surprised to find such an inspiring story of the life of Huge Hefner. I have to say that this series/documentary was an eye opener and well made, not revolutionary but still intriguing. Worth a watch just to understand the cultural impact playboy has had on society.

After I started watching this documentary I realized that I've had the completely wrong perception of Playboy my whole life, i.e. if I'm to believe everything depicted in this documentary. I've only browsed through Playboy magazine a few times in my life, and I never read any of the articles in it ;-) Though I've always been fascinated by the life of Hugh Hefner, though from a purely sexual perspective. After watching the first 4 episodes of this series though, I'm even more fascinated and impressed by this man as I had no idea he was such a visionary and innovative entrepreneur and that he had such a nag for surrounding himself with talented people. Further, the documentary gives the distinct impression that he was anti-establishment, an equal opportunity employer, had an open door policy, was a great boss, was surprisingly respectful of women (even though at the same time he was obviously exploiting them too), was color blind and, even though indirectly and possibly unintended, he supported for the civil rights of blacks by ignoring the fact that the southern states didn't want to air his Playboy Penthouse TV show because he had a lot of black entertainers on this show. It's almost too good to be true. And as mentioned I have only seen 4 episodes so far, but I kind of doubt the tone is going to sway again Hefner. Lastly, I liked the acting and the occasional switching back to real Hefner footage.

Last episode seemed to be rushed and didnt touch on the end of his life barely at all.. The whole rest of it was great and I learned alot. Maybe second season?!

I highly recommend this. Very intriguing story. I don't think Hugh was a drug trafficker or user but I would have loved to been a fly on the wall at all of his parties. I want to watch it again.