Playboy Club "just like Mad Men", says made-up NBC exec

In the latest round of that thing they do in America when they announce a bunch of new shows and axe a bunch of others a couple of times a year, NBC has picked up The Playboy Club, a drama set in sixties-era Chicago. pretended to catch up with an NBC exec and picked his fictional brains about it.

LBP: So, make-believe NBC exec, tell us all about The Playboy Club.

Exec: Well, it's a story that centres around the employees of a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the sixties. The main character is�

LBP: Sorry, let me stop you there a second. That's Mad Men you're describing, isn't it?

Exec: Yes, that's right. (awkward pause) Sorry, what's your point?

LBP: I'd understood you were going to tell us about The Playboy Club.

Exec: Ah, but that's just what I mean! This show's exactly like Mad Men! And just as good! Here, look at this promo!

Exec: See what I mean? See the guy in the sharp suit? The smoking, the drinking? Exactly like Mad Men!

LBP: Right. Um ... I mean, it looks great and everything, but ...

Exec: But what?

LBP: Well, is it a multi-layered ensemble drama?

Exec: Uh ... well, sort of ...

LBP: Does it depict in microcosm the changing face of 1960s America?

Exec: No, not as such, but...

LBP: Does it hold a mirror to the world and make us ask questions about our past? Does it say: "Look at this: the civil rights movement. Flower power. The counterculture. Feminism. This is where we came from. Look"?

(Long pause)

Exec: Um ... well, there is a guy in a suit ...