Playboy TV Wants to Change, Not Really

by Liz Colville

When deciding to reinvent itself last year, Playboy TV had all the promise of a young child: at a meeting a senior vice president said, “If this channel could be anything, what should it be?”

But I mean, really, can it really be anything? The bunny logo is kind of standing in the way of its dreams, if it dreams of being anything other than a station about boobs. But OK, what did it decide to be? Ah, a station of reality TV programs, including one called Brooklyn Kinda Love. How did the Playboy team decide on this format, if the decision did not involve merely staring into space for four seconds and going, “I know!”?

The company did some research with the help of a firm called Culture-Brain, founded by Sharon Lee, which

indicated that women — particularly younger women — were not opposed to pornography as long as it had certain attributes. Among them: real chemistry, nonenhanced body parts, varied body shapes and “contextualized” sex. “They want the romance to flow organically from the story and not pop up in a forced fashion as is the case in so many adult movies,” Ms. Lee said.

That metaphor is…what’s wrong with something popping up in a forced fashion? Sorry.

But why did/how dare women become so into “erotic” television?

Many factors play into women being more open to erotic television, Ms. Lee said. One is the steady march of cable channels like Bravo and MTV to racier content, not to mention what’s shown in mainstream movie theaters (“Sex and the City 2”).

The writer just couldn’t think of any other movies at the time. Still can’t. Also, Women Found to Know Where Internet Lives:

“As a result of exposure to unrestricted adult content on the Web, where you can see naked midgets on a Sunday if you want, squeamishness around overt sexuality and the sex act is being desensitized,” Ms. Lee said.

All right. The station is to be called “TV for 2,” because:

“Guys will always be satisfied with Playboy…but I’m pretty sure a lot of guys would rather be watching with their partner by their side.”

Going to go ask a dude about this to confirm. Suspect nonsense.