Think NBC's "Playboy" Won't Have Anything For Gay Men? Think Again!

***WARNING***

This post discusses plot points for the pilot of NBC's Playboy. Stop reading if you don't want to know any details.

Looks like Mad Men’s Sal Romano might have some company in his pre-Stonewall town come fall if NBC goes ahead and picks up its Playboy pilot to series.

Taking place in 1963 Chicago and set in the Playboy Club complete with Bunnys performing songs, waiting tables and carrying cigarette trays, the script by Chad Hodge (Tru Calling) revolves around the politics inside the club as well as the personal lives of the Bunnies, which include Maureen (Amber Heard) and Alice, a role that will either be played by either Leah Renee or Jenna Dewan-Tatum (both are cast as Bunnies, but which role each will play remains unclear).

Alice is the only Bunny at the club who’s married —a fact she flaunts whenever possible so as to avoid interactions with men at the Playboy Mansion — but after a year, her co-workers have yet to meet her husband, Sean.

When we get our first glimpse of Alice at home, we meet Sean, who is described as 32, bright and complex — a Patrick Wilson type and not at all the possessive guy who hates that his wife works at the Playboy Club. As Alice sits on the couch next to him — watching a Coke commercial starring Anita Bryant — she hands him $200 in cash, her tips from the night, and he’s impressed.

Their quick exchange alludes to how long the pair can keep up the charade they have going and you immediately start to suspect the reason why none of the Bunnies have met Sean yet — and why Alice doesn’t party with the rest of the girls.

After dodging an invitation to that night’s party at the Playboy Mansion early in Act 3, we overhear Alice calling Sean to get the details of a group meeting later that night. As they talk, Sean notes that the group might think they’re criminals after how much money the pair have been donating. Alice notes that in most states, they are criminals.

After their phone call is cut short, a quick cut shows Sean sitting on the couch next to another man — Joshua, 28, who is described as “scruffy and shirtless.”

Near the end of the script, we get to Alice and Sean’s meeting in the basement of St. Mary’s Church. She enters, late, and sees rows of chairs with 50 men and a few women listening to an opening salvo from a man named Wallace. Behind him reads a banner: MATTACHINE SOCIETY MIDWEST.

The actual Mattachine Society

Wallace is clearly the Harvey Milk of his day, rallying the members of the secret gay rights group to come out of the shadows.

Alice looks for Sean and spots him, in the back row. On his other side sits Joshua, who smiles when she sits down on the other side of Sean. Sean and Joshua are holding hands, a fact which doesn't bother Alice at all.

Alice donates her night’s tips — all $250 — into the jar and passes it to a pretty woman across the aisle, with whom she locks eyes and quickly looks away. While Alice is brave enough to attend a meeting like this, clearly she's more used to looking away when faced with a potential love interest.

When the woman introduces herself as Sally, Alice looks back and it’s hinted that perhaps she's about to stop looking away.

The gay reveal is a surprising and welcome twist, and indicates Playboy has more on its mind than just women in skimpy outfits. As any gay person knows (or should know), the 1960s were a pivotal time in the evolution of gay culture and gay rights, and to explore what life was like for gays and lesbians in such a repressive climate on a primetime network drama — especially on NBC where gays are seriously underrepresented — is truly noteworthy.

Look for more on “Playboy” on Thursday in AfterEllen.com’s weekly Pilot Pirate column.