NBC Cancels The Playboy Club, Prepares to Launch Brian Williams’ New Show

The cast of The Playboy Club
The cast of 'The Playboy Club' - © NBC Universal Inc

Hot on the heels of the news the network’s keeping Up All Night and Whitney around for a full first season comes word that The Playboy Club is closing its doors. This isn’t really shocking news as the show just simply failed to find an audience (although I thought the premiere episode had potential), leading to NBC’s decision to quickly pull it from the primetime schedule.
 
Replacing The Playboy Club will be the new primetime newsmagazine show, Rock Center with Brian Williams. NBC’s set that show’s debut for Monday, October 31, 2011 at 10pm ET.
 
Steve Capus, President of NBC News, stated, “Brian Williams already anchors America’s most watched, honored and respected nightly news broadcast. Rock Center now gives him, and our all-star cast of journalists an opportunity to take viewers on a weekly journey of discovery. Smart, original and occasionally irreverent, we hope it will become a destination for viewers looking for something special.”
 
“There’s no one more enlightening or personable in the news business than Brian Williams,” added Robert Greenblatt, Chairman of NBC Entertainment. “We welcome Brian and this fresh new take on a primetime news show to our schedule, especially as we head into an election year.”
 
Explaining what will set his show apart, Williams said, “Rock Center will cover a slightly different world than anything else on television. The format will be good, real, hard journalism – and then some. We intend to be the new home of quality journalism on a weekly basis, and on the web at all times.”
 
Source: NBC – October 4, 2011