After being dumped by the NBC affiliate earlier this month, NBC’s The Playboy Club has found a new home at Salt Lake City’s My Network affiliate, KMYU.
The station will air the soapy drama, which stars Eddie Cibrian and Amber Heard in a 1960s-set club where crooners, mob bosses and politicians mingle among Chicago’s elite, in its regular Monday night slot this fall.
The move, which was first reported by TV Guide, follows a mid-June decision by KSL-TV to opt out of airing the network drama because of objectionable content. At the time, the Utah station, which has ties to the Mormon Church, argued that the series didn’t fit with its mission.
“The Playboy brand is known internationally,” KSL president and CEO Mark Willes said in a statement. “Everyone is clear what it stands for. We want to be sure everyone is clear what the KSL brand stands for, which is completely inconsistent with the Playboy brand.”
NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt didn’t seem particularly concerned, telling The Hollywood Reporter, “They have to do what they have to do. If I thought it was inappropriate to the brand, I wouldn’t put it on. This affiliate does not [carry] Saturday Night Live.”
He added, “It’s their prerogative to make decisions for their market. We feel confident that this is the only place reacting like this.”
To be sure, NBC brass has been careful to downplay the show’s potential raciness, with Greenblatt telling Madison Avenue buyers in mid-May that the drama is “tame” compared to what viewers see on MTV’s The Jersey Shore.
