THE GIRLS NEXT DOOR: SEASON THREE
(not rated)
MOVIE: **1/2 (out of 5)
DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5)
STARRING
Holly Madison as HERSELF
Bridget Marquardt as HERSELF
Kendra Wilkinson as HERSELF
Hugh Hefner as HIMSELF
Developed by: Kevin Burns
Studio: E! Entertainment
BY KEVIN CARR
It’s amazing how much Playboy has changed. I remember as a pre-teen boy finding my dad’s skin mags in his bookcase and flipping through them. Even then, back in the early 1980s, they were taboo. But now, in the age of full penetration in Hustler and freaky-deaky internet porn, these images seem so tame. It was so tame that the Playboy brand was losing its pizzazz a few years ago.
But the pizzazz is back, and old Hef has his three blond bombshells Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson to thank for that. “The Girls Next Door: Season Three” is out on DVD, spotlighting their sometimes humdrum, sometimes wild lives. With three girlfriends whose combined ages barely surpass his own, the man seems sexually overwhelmed. The legendary Hef seems more at home eating celery hearts and hard boiled eggs than romping with these three bodacious babes. Maybe that’s why they love him so much. He seems pretty low maintenance.
Season three shows the girls more comfortable in front of the camera – and more comfortable with their polygamous on-camera relationships. Holly remains the alpha dog, often physically putting herself between Hef and the other girls. Fortunately, though, in this season, she’s laying off the marriage nag. That’s probably because Hef’s distracting her with an apprenticeship at the magazine.
Bridget remains my favorite, probably because she’s the most natural of the three. Kendra’s grown on me a bit, when I can get past her ghetto wannabe attitude. While Holly still holds out for the ‘til death do us part moment with Hef, Kendra and Bridget just seem happy and grateful they’ve found their way into this situation.
If you liked the first and second seasons, you’ll get more of the same in this one. They’re planning for parties, taking trips, reuniting with former Playmates and even entering into more mature ventures (like Kendra’s foray into real estate investment).
In fact, if you are at all interested in the show, the way to see it is on DVD. Why deal with bleeps and blurs on E! when you can hear Kendra’s foul mouth and watch all the Playboy bunnies in their uncensored, naked glory? Like those magazines I found in my dad’s bookcase, this is the closest to porn you can get and still be respectable.
The DVD comes with a bonus episode that serves as an hour-long retrospective on the show with Hef and the girls. There’s also commentary on all episodes with Holly, Bridget and Kendra, but I just can’t stand listening to them talk for that long to suffer through it.