Claim: The cast of The Playboy Club includes Jenifer Lewis.

The Playboy Club is an American historical crime drama television series that aired on NBC from September 19 to October 3 , 2011 . Set in 1961 , the series centers on the employees -LRB- known as Bunnies -RRB- of the original Playboy Club operating in Chicago . The Playboy Club stars Eddie Cibrian , Laura Benanti , Amber Heard , Jenna Dewan Tatum , Naturi Naughton , Leah Renee , Wes Ramsey , Jenifer Lewis , and David Krumholtz .   The Playboy Club was canceled on October 4 , 2011 , after three episodes aired , due to its low ratings . It was the first cancellation of the 2011 -- 12 television season . NBC continued to film the series until October 10 , 2011 , hoping to sell the series to another network . Both Playboy magnate Hugh Hefner and show creator Chad Hodge have expressed hope that the series will be picked up by Bravo .   When production wrapped on October 10 , 2011 , Hodge and Laura Benanti both confirmed that they had finished seven episodes , including the pilot . Benanti further stated that the seventh episode has two endings , one of which is more final to the series .