As I’ve noted before, it’s a not particularly well-kept
secret that most men under 50 years of age — given the opportunity — would
happily spend the entire day looking at pictures of scantily clad women
on the Internet. It’s also inevitable, really, that as reality television
has gotten bigger, there would be a series that would eventually lead us to the
doorstep of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, and inside his namesake
mansion. These two things dovetail nicely in The Girls Next Door, the E!
Network’s jiggly, wealth-flaunting series centered around Hefner, his
trio of blonde live-in girlfriends and their ring-a-ding lifestyle.
The three women in question are the
now-21-year-old Kendra Wilkinson, Holly
Madison, 27, and Bridget
Marquardt, the grand dame of the group at 33 years of age. As one might
imagine for the concubines of a millionaire retiree, there aren’t exactly
many taxing occupational demands or worried conversations about how they’re
going to pay the gas bill this month. Instead there’s an abundance of
premium-quality leisure activity, so the 16 episodes included here chart all
manner of lounging, partying and cheery beverage sipping, from a skinny-dipping
trip to Las Vegas for the opening of the Playboy Club at the Palms Casino and
Hotel to a Marie Antoinette-themed celebration of Holly’s 27th birthday, with the
butlers outfitted in powdered wigs and what not.
At this point in the review, and two seasons into the show, it’s worth noting that Holly (above center) is really the
sympathetic star of the series. Kendra (above right) is utterly vapid; her youthful thoughtlessness
comes through in the manner in which she haphazardly slings together gifts at
the last minute for respective parties for Hef and Holly, and her stuttering, toker’s
laugh about such matters. Bridget (above left) is quite nice, but seems kind of shruggingly
along for the ride, and probably a bit addicted to the pampering she receives;
one episode finds a cat dentist making a special house call to scrub the teeth
of her fluffy feline. If Holly seems no
less indulged and spoiled, there’s at least a recognizably human side to her,
one you can separate from her va-voomish qualities and life of rich entitlement.
She wants kids. Like, big time. When a former Playmate and FOH (Friend of Hugh)
gets pregnant, Holly organizes a baby shower, and plans some of the games
herself, melting chocolate candy bars in diapers. Listening to her talk about the
prospects of a family with Hefner, 81, is interesting. She’s enough of a
realist to know that it’s a long shot, but she does seem to genuinely care for
him and want children with him, which
makes you feel a bit for her predicament, however much of her own construction it is.
Sold in a cardboard slipcase that houses three slimline cases and three
discs (one for each lady!), The Girls Next Door: The Second Season
is presented in 1.33:1 full screen, with optional English and Spanish subtitles,
and a 2.0 Dolby digital audio track that comes in edited-for-TV and uncensored
versions. A substantial slate of bonus features includes more than 50
minutes’ worth of un-blurred deleted scenes, audio commentaries with the girls,
network promos, some blooper material and a voluminous photo gallery. As
one might guess, the commentaries aren’t necessarily things of great
revelation; Kendra, in fact, seems kind of like a puppy dog or small child that’s
confronted with its reflection for the first time. The behind-the-scenes
footage is cool, though, and if captured nakedness is your goal and you can’t
get your fix elsewhere, this is where this set soars. The show itself is
disposable — e.g., there’s little replay value — bit it is legitimately
fascinating, in its own way. We’re a country of voyeurs, the
States
those in The Girls Next Door. C+
(Show) A- (Discs)