If you're in the mood for sleaze, this series delivers bucketloads. But as with any documentary series, especially one in which most of the witnesses are peddling books or have other agendas, it's important to read between the lines and separate the chaff from the wheat.
The series is built on behind-the-scenes peeks into Heffner's hedonistic kingdom and vengeful blowback delivered by former associates. If all of the personal allegations made against "Heff" are true, he was a highly amoral deviant. But the most damning allegations come from single sources, notably former lovers like Sondra Theodore and Holly Madison who by their own admission remained at his side for years after discovering his dark side. With the late Heffner unable to defend himself, it's up to the viewer to accept or reject their claims.
What is supported by many witnesses is that Heffner was a jaded libertine with a taste for drugs and a stable of $1000-a-week concubines, including the two above-mentioned sugarbabies now eager to let the world know what a monster he was.
So we're left to choose between the glowing praise of Heff's male and female friends and the admirable fact that he was an early proponent of equal opportunity for minorities - or the claims (to be blunt) of a self-admitted bisexual coke whore who was happy to enlist other women to do the perverted things she loathed and an apparent gold-digging barracuda, both of whom came to the Playboy mansion with their eyes set on snagging a very lucrative prize for themself, and ultimately failing.
But the sleazy allegations don't end with Heff. The Playboy empire included clubs and promotions and a magazine. Here the testimony is more convincing, coming from well-spoken former execs like Miki Garcia and PJ Matten whose only goals were to move up the corporate ladder, albeit at a company built on the exploitation of the female body. It's no surprise that the male execs were sexist pigs, but anyone who lived through the "sexy 70s" probably worked in a similar sexually charged environment, something these women might not even realize.
None of this excuses Heffner or the piggish execs or rapist celebrities. There's plenty of genuine outrage to be had here. Some of the most satisfying moments are when Garcia and Matten name names and show pictures of the executive offenders. One only wishes they had gone to the police or the press to blow their whistles when it would have mattered, instead of doing business as usual and crying about it later. That is the lesson to be learned.
