The Girls Next Door Season One DVD Review
Posted by Neil Borenstein on 09.06.2006
See why Hugh Hefner is the luckiest man on the planet!
The Girls Next Door Season One DVD Review
Cast
Hugh M. Hefner
Holly Madison
Bridget Marquardt
Kendra Wilkinson
DVD Information
Genre: Reality TV
Region: Region 1 (USA and Canada only)
Number of Discs: 3
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: August 1, 2006
Run Time: 337 Minutes
Specs: Dolby Digital – English; English and Spanish Subtitles; Full Screen (1.33:1)
There are days when the male population is thankful for having somebody like Hugh Hefner on this planet to bring some of the most beautiful women in the world to their eyes every month in Playboy Magazine. And then, there are days they hate him so much because of how lucky this 80-year-old, Viagra induced human being can be to actually live and sleep with these beautiful women every day of his life. And with Season One of The Girls Next Door, we get to meet the three current ladies “Hef” is with out of the numerous women he has had throughout his almost 53-year career as the founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy Magazine.
The Girls …
In this reality TV series seen on E! at 10 p.m. on Sunday evenings, the three girls that are a part of Hugh Hefner’s life are:
Holly Madison
www.morazzia.com
This 26-year-old Blonde Bombshell is Hefner’s number one girlfriend, and thus she’s the one who shares a bedroom with the king of the Playboy empire. Madison is an animal lover, and had been professed as Hef’s “true love,” according to Wikipedia.org.
Bridget Marquardt
divapup.com
Marquardt is Hef’s number two in the Playboy Mansion, and the 32-year-old Blonde Beauty has a B.A. and Master’s Degree in Communications.
Kendra Wilkinson
www.playboy.com
Wilkinson, who happens to be the hottest out of the bunch in my opinion, is also the newest of Hef’s live-in girlfriends. Wilkinson, 21, is a former dental assistant, and, according to Wikipedia.org, is a regular “blogger” columnist on the Philadelphia Eagles’ web site, as her mother used to be a cheerleader for the team.
Together they are …
The Girls Next Door
The DVDs …
Disc One
Episode One – Meet The Girls
We get a tiny look at the Playboy Mansion to begin the episode. Hugh Hefner’s bedroom is frickin’ huge, as to be expected. We meet the girls. Holly is the first and Hef’s number one, and has been there for three and a half years. Bridget is the number two, and she has been with Hef for three years. Kendra is the newby, and she has been with Hef for around a year. They discuss their backgrounds, how they got into the mansion and their relationships with Hef and the other girls. Holly wishes Hef would get rid of the other girls so she could be the one and only. There are also nine dogs and a cat residing in the mansion. The girls are at the salon, getting ready to go to the AFI Awards, where George Lucas is being honored. Hefner ends up going not only with his three live-in girlfriends, but at least five other girls as well.
Episode Two – New Girls In Town Playboy is celebrating Tiffany Fallon becoming the Playmate of the Year with a ceremony, and this will be her way to meet the press and announce the issue coming out to newsstands. Bridget has always dreamed of being a Playmate, and even had a test photo shoot, but never ended up being selected. Holly has never been in the magazine, and would like to know what’s it like, but also is completely satisfied just being Hef’s girlfriend. Two new girls are coming in for test shoots to be centerfolds – Raquel and Sara Underwood, who is the eventual Miss July 2006. Holly shows Raquel around the mansion while Kendra takes Sara to the batting cages to hang out with her a bit. Holly, Bridget, Audra Lynn (Playmate of the Month 2003) and some other girl take Raquel out figure skating. Every Thursday night they go to a nightclub, and the two test girls come along. Bridget likes to see the girls all drunk because she thinks they won’t be ready for their shoots the next morning. The test shoots for Raquel and Sara are shown. And later that night, Hef, the girlfriends and some other random chicks go out to the Geisha House restaurant, where Hef turns into an asshole when his food is late. Back at the mansion, Hef tells the three girls to come up to the bedroom, and tells them that he’s working on getting a cover shot of them and they will be in a magazine featured in a pictorial, to which all of them are extremely excited.
Episode Three – Happy Birthday, Kendra
Kendra is very respectful of the staff, and hates to see the butlers come and bring up food, so she gets her stuff by going downstairs. That night is the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl, and they take the motor home to it. Kendra wanted beach balls that were being hit around in the crowd, so the staff that was there from Playboy went into the audience and got a bunch of them. Back at the house, the staff taped those beach balls to her bedroom door as a birthday surprise. Kendra’s family comes in the next day from San Diego for her birthday luau. Holly and Bridget go out shopping for things for the party. Kendra’s party turns out to be a big hit, even though Holly was out of it and sleeping by the time volleyball came around. Kendra’s presents included sports things and stuff from mob movies.
Episode Four – What Happens In Vegas
It’s Playmate of the Year 2004 Carmella DeCesare’s birthday, and the girls are traveling to Las Vegas to celebrate with her and January 2005 Playmate of the Month, Destiny Davis, who is Kendra’s really good friend and partner in crime. They have to wake up at 4:30 a.m., which is extremely early for them, but they need to catch an early flight. Kendra ended up misplacing her present for Carmella, so they spent a lot of time looking for it, but eventually they just had to jet to catch the plane. In Vegas, the girls stayed in The Palms, where they were put in the Hugh Hefner Suite. They met up with Carmella, who was with her boyfriend, NFL quarterback Jeff Garcia, and later with Destiny. They pretty much hung out by the pool all day, and had some drama with the cake. When they went back to shower in the room, they all got a little frisky, and there is some boobage here. The whole time, though, Holly and Bridget were worrying about getting back to the mansion by Hef’s 9 p.m. curfew. They were late though because the flight got delayed, but Hef didn’t seem to mind.
Episode Five – Fight Night
Not only is this Fight Night at the Playboy Mansion, but Bridget is buying a new puppy. She goes with her sister to pick up the new puppy, and when she gets back, the cat she owns is not pleased with the addition of a dog. At Fight Night at the mansion, several fights take place, which are taped live for ESPN. Kendra is the most thrilled out of the three girls considering she is the athletic one and the big sports nut, and a whole bunch of celebrities will be there, athletes included. Peyton Manning and Donovan McNabb were just two of the athletes that made it out. Another celebrity to come to the mansion for Fight Night was Barbi Benton, one of Hef’s ex-girlfriends, and one of his most famous as he saw her for 8 ½ years and she was actually the one to pick out the mansion (which cost, at the time, $1.2 million!) Holly seemed to be jealous throughout the night as Barbi had Hef’s attention almost the whole time, but in the end, Holly knew Barbi was too old for Hef and that she was hopefully more significant.
Episode Six – Operation Playmate
They are setting up a Slip ‘N Slide outside of the mansion for the girls, which the maintenance guy puts a tarp at the end for protection. It’s the Fourth of July, so Operation Playmate is in full effect. They send out care packages to the troops overseas, and also take pictures in military bunny costumes to go in he care packages. There is a whole manual for wearing the costume and being a Playboy bunny. They make cookies back at the mansion to go in the care packages, which doesn’t really turn out too well for Kendra. Then it comes time to put on the bunny costumes, which it takes two of the male butlers in the house to get Audra Lynn’s on. Kendra doesn’t want to do it, so Holly takes her place. Bridget is the third one with March 2005 Playmate Jillian Grace being the fourth. Hef stands in the middle and they take a picture for the care packages. Bridget gets to deliver one, along with her sister Anastasia, to her brother in North Carolina. Her brother took two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. Then, it’s the big backyard BBQ Fourth of July Party at the mansion, which includes a fireworks display as the mansion is the only private residence in Los Angeles that has a permit for using fireworks.
Episode Seven – Just Shoot Me
It’s time for the girls’ pictorial that Hugh Hefner promised them. They start by doing individual shoots in their bedrooms – Holly going first, Kendra second and Bridget last. The next day is the three-girl shoot with all of them together. Bridget has to be at a class at 7 p.m. as she’s working towards a second Master’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism. She e-mails her professor to see if she can take the final at a later time, but she can’t. They take group shots outside and in the grotto, and then Hef and photographer Arny Freytag decide they want to do a shower shoot. Unfortunately for Bridget, she needs to choose between going to class and doing the shoot, to which she chooses class, leaving Holly and Kendra to do the shower shoot without her. Bridget is upset about this though, and Hef schedules a re-shoot for all three of the girls to be in. At the end, Hef shows them the brown book with the future magazine layouts, and says their issue will be out in November. Oh, and there’s major nudity in this episode.
Special Features
Commentary - All episodes can be watched with commentary from Holly, Bridget and Kendra.
Episode Promos - All episodes but Meet The Girls can be viewed with the particular episode’s promo shown before it.
Deleted Scenes:
Duke, you look handsome- Duke, one of the dogs, is a model for an animal magazine, and he apparently flirts with girls. They are at a party with a whole bunch of dogs, seemingly a dog fashion show sponsored by Cesar dog food. Holly is a celebrity dog “carrier” with Duke. 2:39
Because I know it’ll make you love me more- Kendra wants to go to the ESPY Awards, and she wants to know if they have a hookup. She asks Mary, a secretary, if they have a hookup for ESPY, though she fumbles around asking. She says she can get her in, but Kendra needs to ask Hef, which is a hurdle onto itself. She’s freaking out the whole time, but Hef is okay with it. Jeez, he’s like their father, not their boyfriend! Norma, another secretary, calls for a hookup to see if she can get tickets for Kendra. Mary ends up handling it. We don’t ever find out, however, if she got the tickets or not. 6:13
Oh my God, you get a raise- Kendra goes to the salon to get ready for the ESPY Awards, so I guess she got the tickets. Destiny meets her there, and Edgar is doing her makeup just like he did Kendra’s. They go in a limo, and they love Mark because he brought camera, and I’m assuming he’s the driver. Kendra says he gets a raise. I doubt he actually got it though. 2:45
I’ve never done any nude modeling before- Sara Underwood comes in to have a shoot. She’s never done any nude modeling before. 1:36
Actually, you can start on your knees like that- It’s time for Raquel’s photo shoot now. Her shoot and Sara’s shoot were both taken at the Playboy Studio West. 1:41
You’re leid now- Kendra talks about Ray Anthony, a trumpet player, having sex with a lot of old school chicks, and she puts a lei on him at the mansion. 0:58
Ride the bride- In Las Vegas, Kendra is complaining about forgetting Carmella’s birthday present. She ends up going to the casino gift shop to go shopping for something(s) else. One of the things she picks out is a thong that says “Ride The Bride.” Bridget and Holly find the thong very amusing. 3:06
Can I get the phone number for your sister- This is about Bridget’s sister, Anastasia, coming to stay with her during the summer at the mansion. The guys at her [Anastasia’s] school asked if they could get the phone number for her sister. 1:15
It’s a Hef doll; a baby Hef- At the lunch with the girls and Barbie Benton. They watch something in the theater, an old show with Hef hosting – Playboy After Dark –along with Barbi. A present was given to Barbi in the show and it was a Hef doll. 1:34
I bought everything the puppy needs, and more- Bridget and her sister go out shopping for things for her puppy at Petco. She spent over $180 in one day’s worth of shopping for the puppy! 1:34
I’ll be Destiny- At Playboy Studio West, Kendra goes to put on a costume, which is shocking. She needs help putting pantyhose on, as well as the bunny costume. She decides to use Destiny’s nametag. 2:46
Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my shower- They are getting ready for the shower scene, and Kendra teases the boys at the table. 0:29
Feathers in places we shouldn’t have feathers- A shoot of the girls having a pillow fight on a bed for their pictorial. 0:37
Disc Two
Episode Eight – Midsummer Night’s Dream
It’s time for the Playboy Mansion’s biggest party of the year – Midsummer Night’s Dream. Bridget goes to Trashy Lingerie, a store, to get her outfit ready for the party. The girls surprise Anastasia with a complete makeover for Midsummer Night’s Dream. She starts off going to a spa with her sister and then they go shopping for clothes. Then they take Gizmo, Bridget’s cat, to Petco to get groomed since the cat won’t let Bridget brush her, and Gizmo only ends up causing some more hell at Petco. Meanwhile, Holly took Anastasia for lunch and bought her fake boobs, and then went to get her waxed. Anastasia’s last step was to go to the salon where she got her hair dyed and got extensions. Hef only needs a haircut to get ready for the party, while the girls seem to take forever to get ready when they’re wearing practically nothing anyway. The girls love Anastasia’s made over look, and she does actually looking a bit like her sister. Her mother even loves the make over.
Episode Nine – Under The Covers
At the beginning, Hef has to explain to Kendra why it’s “69” and not “96.” Yeah, you read that right. It’s okay though, Kendra is still hot as hell. Anyway, on the Playboy Mansion property is a Playmate guesthouse where Playmates can come and stay during the time of their shoots. Barbi Benton had originally decorated the place, but Holly wants to redecorate it. Meanwhile, the girls shoot their potential cover for the November issue that will have their pictorial, and the concept is just them laying on a bed. The only real decision is whether to use one with white sheets or black sheets. The girls like how the black sheets shot came out better, but it’s up to Hef and he chooses the black sheets. The mansion itself is seven acres of property, but across the street, Hef also owns property, which he uses for the Playmate House, where Playmates can come and hang out. Holly wants to have a little dinner BBQ style for the Playmates over there. So she decides that she’s going to cook, even though she never really cooks, and takes Anastasia food shopping with her. Holly makes pasta salad at the mansion and then at least attempts to cook burgers and hot dogs at the Playmate House. Carmella DeCesare and Tiffany Fallon are two of the special guests there. Afterwards, the girls became kind of nuts over the arrival of the new magazine, which had actually arrived via Fed Ex but was being hid from a snooping Holly. Hef brought a box down to them while they were eating, and they did make the cover and were completely thrilled over it.
Episode Ten – Ghostbusted
It’s Halloween time at the mansion, and every year the yard gets decorated with tombstones for the Playmates. Holly wants to make tombstones for the new Playmates and Kendra helps her, especially with Destiny’s. Halloween is a big deal at the mansion and they throw one of the biggest parties of the year then. Bridget has decided to decorate her room like a haunted house for the holiday. And there is a legend that a woman killed herself in the mansion before Hef even bought it, and that the house is haunted. Bridget has a paranormal investigator and medium for a séance come to the mansion. First, the paranormal investigator, Barry Taff, gets there with his assistant and they search the house, seemingly finding things everywhere, though not really giving many answers to the girls. And Kendra is disinterested throughout the whole thing. Then the psychic, Dorothy Mitchell, comes for the séance, and she only finds one spirit that is not like the one Bridget thought she saw in her bedroom one night. Kendra thought she was full of shit, and that’s why I love Kendra. The girls still have no idea whether the place was really haunted. I personally think Hef is the ghost. Anyway, the girls end up going into Hef’s bedroom to watch a horror movie he made when he was 16-years-old.
Episode Eleven – Grape Expectations
They go bowling to begin the episode, and Hef doesn’t actually bowl because he says he has back problems. He does give pointers though. Today, Bridget is taking Holly and Kendra with her to her hometown of Lodi, California. While there they take a tour around in the limo, seeing Bridget’s high school and church. Then they meet her mother and Anastasia at Michael David Winery to go grape stomping. They pair off with Holly and Bridget teaming up to take on Kendra and Anastasia. And Kendra and Anastasia win. Then they go to Bridget’s grandmother’s house, followed by a trip to Stogies Cigar Bar to meet up with her father. On the way home, the girls begin to wonder if any of Hef’s ex-girlfriends are trying to move-in on him, being movie night and all. In the end, though, the girls get back pretty late and all is well.
Episode Twelve – I’ll Take Manhattan
Hef and the girls are going to New York in order to promote the November issue of Playboy - the one with them on the cover and in a pictorial. Hef is extremely high maintenance, and they take a private jet because that’s the only way Hef flies. On the flight, Kendra has no idea what the Mile High Club is, and I personally offer myself to assist her in figuring it out. Once they land, Hef goes straight to the hotel to take care of some press, which includes a phone interview with Howard Stern. Meanwhile, the girls meet up with some other girls – Courtney Culkin (April 2005 Playmate of the Month), Monica Leigh (Playboy Cyber Girl and future Playmate) and Pilar Lastra (August 2004 Playmate of the Month) – at the Statue of Liberty. Hef and the three girls do some press work at Virgin. They sign autographs for fans, and then right behind the backdrop was a setup to do press for magazines and television. Then they go to the Jekyll and Hyde Club. The next day, the girls are going on The View. Kendra and Bridget are nervous because they don’t want to talk about sex. The interview went quickly and the girls did not really enjoy the experience. Kendra hates the show, and thinks the women on there need boob jobs and a reality check. I personally think they just need to shut the hell up and go away. But anyway, they headed to a party that night at Frederick’s, hosted by Hef’s daughter, CEO of Playboy Enterprises Inc., Christie Hefner.
Episode Thirteen – My Kind of Town
They continue their promotional tour in Chicago, which is where Hefner actually grew up and started the whole Playboy empire. They went to his old grammar school, as well as the house he lived in while growing up. Hef’s brother, Keith, tagged along for this trip as well. Back at the mansion, the maintenance and other staff still do a ton of work around the house even while Hef and the girls are away. They go to the Playboy Headquarters, where they are greeted by Christie Hefner. They end up walking in on a shoot with Monica Leigh, who is a future Playmate and current Cyber Girl. Then they go to Japonais restaurant for the night, where they encounter four women at another table flirting with Hef. He goes over and talks to them. The next morning, the girls go on the MANCOW radio show, and get interviewed as well as read various parts of the news – Holly does world news, Bridget does entertainment and, of course, Kendra reads sports. After the show, Hef and the girls continue to roam around Chicago and look for the “Hugh M. Hefner Way” sign, but it was stolen. Then they check out, from the outside, the original Playboy Mansion. They head to a bar that night, and then head home for LA, where their dogs greet them.
Episode Fourteen – Clue-Less
The episode begins with Hef showing Holly one of his very old vehicles, which he had actually used in an advertisement. It’s a stick shift, which Holly is not at all used to, so she has some trouble driving it. She almost ends up wrecking it. Today, there are two events going on. In the morning, there is a tennis tournament to raise money for diabetes research, and they raise $500,000. Kendra is playing, and she’s going against Destiny. They each pair up with one of the Jensen brothers. Kendra is with Murphy Jensen and Destiny is with Luke. Kendra and Murphy end up winning. Meanwhile, Bridget gets ready for her murder mystery party later that night, and everybody has to dress in 1920s or 1930s attire. Over 20 people are invited and they get split into three teams to try and figure out who killed the butler. Finding clues and everything is involved, but I won’t tell you who did it – you can watch to find out. This didn’t occur on her actual birthday though, so they surprised Bridget with a cake on her real birthday, which Holly helped decorate.
Special Features
Commentary - All episodes can be watched with commentary from Holly, Bridget and Kendra.
Episode Promos - All episodes can be viewed with the particular episode’s promo shown before it.
Deleted Scenes:
How’s the shaved pussy- Bridget brings Gizmo in for her grooming, and she just tells the groomer what to do. The cat is far from thrilled during the whole procedure, which includes a shaving and a bath. The groomer has trouble getting her in a crate afterwards for drying. Then Bridget comes to pick her up. Kendra thinks she looks funny. 3:56
Yeah, you can get it online- Bridget makes a call to the paranormal investigator after doing some research and figuring out she can get a certificate online. And she asks the investigator that comes if he’s bringing gadgets with him. 1:00
A clean paranormal bill of health- The paranormal investigator is going through Bridget’s room, and tests Gizmo. She registered zero, so she’s not haunted. 0:49
I think it would be bad for her self-esteem- Holly and Kendra are putting together the Playmate headstones, and they go to the pet cemetery where Hef actually buries his real pets. They get upset because there’s no room for their dogs, and one of Holly’s dogs actually has the same name as one of the dogs Hef has already buried. 0:43
To all the girls next door- Hef looks through the brown book for the December issue, where they are doing a major piece on Marilyn Monroe. Hef takes us down to show us something, and they were both born in 1926 and the house was built in 1927 during prohibition. People hid their liquor and they have a private space where people held the booze. He turned it into a cellar and in there is a special wine for Marilyn Monroe for her 80th anniversary celebration. He takes a moment to toast Marilyn Monroe and all the Playmates that came afterward – to all the girls next door. 2:02
The love of animals from childhood- Hef takes a stroll outside the mansion by the animals. He goes to the squirrel monkeys and feeds them. He has 200 species of exotic birds and animals on the premises, and his love of animals comes from his childhood. 1:01
The HMH terminology- In the private jet, somebody from the staff tells the help on the plane how to make drinks and serve them to Hef. 1:33
A little Hef trivia- Holly, Bridget and Kendra are at the Statue of Liberty, and somebody from WB11 is interviewing them. The interviewer asks the girls questions about Hef. By the way, Hef was 22 when he lost his virginity. I know you were all wondering. 1:22
… And downhill from there- They went to the New York Playboy office, where they see the digital edition of their November magazine. And then they got to meet the licensing people who had clothes for the girls, which were being given to them at no cost. 2:16
The limo’s totally gonna beat us- This is about them driving in New York, and how long it takes to get to the hotel due to the Columbus Day Parade. They decide to walk it once they can actually see the hotel, but the limo ends up outrunning them so they run after the limo. At this point, they are racing the limo. They beat the limo, thanks to the Columbus Day Parade barriers forcing the vehicle to stop. 1:10
I like your boobies- In Chicago, they went to Virgin to sign autographs. They are surprised at how many people showed up. One guy said he liked their boobies, to which Kendra replied she liked his boobies. 3:26
Legs at 11- They went to the WGN TV station after being on MANCOW. They did the morning news and then messed around with the weather green screen. 1:26
Disc Three
Episode Fifteen – It’s Vegas Baby!
Kendra decides to wash her own car instead of taking it to a car wash. Good for her. Hef and the girls go to Las Vegas to promote the opening of a Playboy tower at The Palms hotel, which will include the first Playboy Club to be open since the 1980s. They will also be holding a fashion show to unveil the new bunny costumes that will be worn by Playboy bunnies at that club, which are being designed by Roberto Cavalli, who happens to be Holly’s favorite designer. They went to a restaurant called The 9 for dinner, and Kendra hates seafood. ME TOO! Then they decided to play some blackjack. Afterwards, they went to George Malouf’s newest suite in the hotel called the Hardwood Suite, which is basically a half court basketball floor and hoop with beds. Kendra is a pretty good basketball player. The next day they head to Madame Tussauds wax museum, and check out Hef’s model, which is actually made out of silicone. They go shopping at the Playboy store, and then go to the Voodoo Lounge at the Rio to have dinner with Cavalli. Kendra loves the Olive Garden. ME TOO! At the fashion show, they unveil the new bunny costume designs, and Holly is one of the models.
Special Features
Commentary - Episode can be watched with commentary from Holly, Bridget and Kendra.
Episode Promos - Episode can be viewed with the promo shown before it.
Deleted Scenes:
I don’t get gotten- Hef and the girls go to Madame Tussauds. Bridget’s favorite area is the horror area, and she got the crap scared out of her, as did Kendra, by somebody that was actually real. Then they traveled through a haunted house type thing, where they got scared a few more time. 4:10
Look at the little tail- Holly goes to the Playmate House for her bunny costume fitting. 1:35
Most of us aren’t professional runway models- The models are getting ready for the fashion show, and everybody was nervous. Hef takes interviews and press photos in the meantime. Then the fashion show starts, with the original bunny costume designed by Hef. They show the history of the bunny costume in this scene. Then they show the new ones designed by Cavalli. 3:46
This is our family- Girardo, who took a tour in Iraq as a medic and who used to work for Playboy, and whose parents work for them now, comes to visit at the mansion. He goes around and sees everyone, including his parents, during what is actually a leave from service. 2:46
Unaired Pilot Presentation – Hef’s World:(Can be viewed with commentary from Holly, Bridget and Kendra)
This opens up basically like the Meet The Girls episode, taking us on a mini-tour of the mansion and we meet the staff. Hef gets his soup taken up to him in bed and he says hi to us. Then we meet Holly, who is going to plan a slumber party for Bridget for her birthday. Holly goes to round up her dogs, but has a load of trouble doing so. Then they are hooking up the Slip ‘N Slide, just like in the Operation Playmate episode where Holly is the test subject. Holly is still planning the slumber party, and she and Bridget head over to the Playmate House to grab some things, including pillows and comforters. Then the balloons get setup, and Bridget gets surprised by a bunch of girls. Hef ends up going to his bedroom to watch a flick from 1917 while the girls hang downstairs and play with dildos and some other sex toys. Kendra gives Bridget a lap dance as well. They had ordered a stripper for Bridget, but he was running late, so they try and stall her by having her open some presents slowly. He finally gets there and the girls set Bridget up for him. He comes in dressed like a vampire – or at least he’s supposed to be but he looks more like Zorro. Then they have a problem of no lighting in the yard with the Slip ‘N Slides, but they eventually get it to work and the girls play around on it. All in a day’s work at the mansion! 19:06
All About The Girls: Holly Madison(3:04), Bridget Marquardt(5:47) and Kendra Wilkinson(2:26)
These are short little features with the girls where they talk about getting to the mansion, why they’re there, how they feel about Hef and each other and just basic things about their personality, lives and what they want for themselves in the future.
Photo Gallery- Over 200 still shots of things revolving around Playboy, mostly involving The Girls Next Door.
The Opinion …
I have to admit that my viewing of reality television is limited and selective. I’m not a big fan of reality TV, so you have to come out and give me something that interests me, or you’ve lost me. I like magic, so Mindfreak with Criss Angel is a big hit for me. I’m a big professional wrestling fan and mild mixed martial arts fan, so both Tough Enough and The Ultimate Fighter work for me. And, I do like beautiful women, so, The Girls Next Door certainly has its appeal.
I found this program to be quite entertaining. Aside from the beautiful, naked or completely clothed, women, there’s a little bit of everything here. Perhaps the biggest thing for me was the fact that you do get a look into the history of Playboy a little bit. It’s been around for so long since Hugh Hefner founded it in 1953, and to be able to learn about its roots is actually very interesting.
Stories are never extraordinarily detailed, though a lot of attention was paid to the running theme of the girls pictorial and cover in the November 2005 edition of the magazine. There was a lot dedicated to that in Season One. But there were also some birthday oriented episodes, and looks at some of the big parties held at the mansion like the Midsummer Night’s Dream bash.
Plus, you get to really know the girls a bit. Now, my reaction on each of them is a bit mixed. As a whole, I don’t completely believe them when they say they’re there because they love Hefner and aren’t in it for anything else. Hell, even they contradict themselves at times to prove that they are in there to gain something besides the adoration and affection from an 80-year-old, Viagra induced man.
Holly seems to be the only person sincerely in love with him as his #1, but even she seems like the person that can duck out of this thing at a moments notice. Bridget is somewhat annoying with her voice, and is not the best looker in the world, but she has a great personality about things. She’s also a pretty smart person as she is on the road to a Ph.D. That definitely counts for something. And Kendra, well … I fell in love with Kendra, as you could probably have figured out throughout this review. Not only is she hot, but she’s also got a snappy personality, and is a huge sports fanatic.
Each individual girl brings something a little different to the table, and this show is based around them – not Hefner.
Now there is some nudity on this DVD, so it’s definitely oriented for the adult male demographic, but I think some adult females would get a kick out of it just based on the stories and not the whole “let’s just watch this for the boobs” scenario a lot of the men are probably watching it for.
Overall, I would have to say that the show was very entertaining, keeps your mind into it for the 21-22 minutes it ran, and really has you thinking, “Why in the blue hell can’t I be that lucky?”
Audio Quality
Audio is fine, though I don’t really like it that the volume on the bonus features is noticeably lower than that of the main episodes. Otherwise though, it’s good.
Score: 8.0
Video Quality
Great video quality. There are strong, vibrant colors, and there are no glitches along the way.
Score: 9.0
The 411: I was thoroughly entertained through this 3-disc, 15-episode DVD set. It’s not for everybody; certainly not for the kids. But the storylines will attract the adult women and the naked women in addition will definitely draw in the adult men. This set retails for about $24.99 almost everywhere I have seen it, and it’s definitely worth every penny. You get your money’s worth, and though the show won’t last in your mind forever, it’s deep in content and will keep you amused at the present moment.
