The Documentary

Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds is a traditional-style documentary from A&E Television Networks. The documentary focuses on Playboy's centerfold history and various female celebrities who have graced the magazine's cover. This includes famous faces from television, movies, music, sports, and fashion. What several of these women have in common is that Playboy was the fire behind their careers. After posing nude, they were able to continue have successful careers in the entertainment realm. The documentary originally aired on the A&E channel. This DVD version is unrated and contains brief nudity, whereas the original cable airing did not.

The documentary is divided in to ten chapters:
1. Introduction
2. The Photos, Not the Articles
3. Music Video Vixens
4. Fashion Stars
5. The History of the Bunny
6. Television Stars
7. Baywatch Babes
8. Movie Stars
9. Wide World of Sports
10. Role Models

"Introduction" features Hugh Hefner, Jenny McCarthy, Anna Nicole Smith, Brande Roderick, Deborah Gibson, Shannon Tweed, and Barbi Benton. They provide a brief interview montage of the coming documentary. "The Photos, Not the Articles" is about the process of posing as a Playboy centerfold. Adrianne Curry is interviewed while the make-up artist applies her face. Throughout the rest of the documentary, there are scatter clips continuing her pictorial adventure. "Music Video Vixens" features Debbie Gibson talking in length about her music career and how she ended up posing for Playboy. Next both Jamie Presley and Rachel Hunter's careers are discussed by the narrator with some pre-existing footage.

"Fashion Stars" starts with Shannon Tweed talking about her career, past, and posing for Playboy. Next Kim Basinger and Cindy Crawford and their careers are discussed by the narrator. Anna Nicole Smith finishes off the fashion stars portion with an interview. "The History of the Bunny" has Pamela Anderson, Hugh Hefner, Brande Roderick, Lisa Guerrero, Debbie Gibson, and Jenny McCarthy talking about Playboy history--the bunny, pinup girls, Marilyn Monroe, and Jayne Mansfield. "Television Stars" focuses on some of the big names from the 70s that graced the pages of Playboy. Pamela Anderson, Anna Nicole Smith, Brande Roderick, and Hugh Hefner talk bout Farrah Fawcett and Susanne Summers. Afterwards, the discussion moves to more current faces. There is a bit on Brooke Burke and Jenny McCarthy stars to talk about her career.

"Baywatch Babes" starts off with Pamela Anderson talking about the start of her career in Playboy and her role as C.J. on Baywatch. Carmen Electra is discussed afterwards. Wrapping it up is Brande Roderick in an interview. "Movie Stars" features Katarina Witt, Hugh Hefner, Pamela Anderson, Lisa Guerrero, Jenny McCarthy, Debbie Gibson, covering the history of Raquel Welch, Bo Derek, and Drew Barrymore. "Wide World of Sports" stars Katarina Witt in an interview. She was an ice skater from the 80s and she talks about her career in detail and how she decided to do something not so innocent (pose for Playboy). Next Angie Everhart's background is discussed in detail. Lastly, sports reporter Lisa Guerrero talks about her career and modeling for Playboy. "Role Models" is the final chapter and it has Pamela Anderson, Barbi Benton, Brande Roderick, Deborah Gibson, Lisa Guerrero, Jenny McCarthy, Katarina Witt, Shannon Tweed, and Anna Nicole Smith talking about posing in Playboy as a positive experience amongst other things.

Overall, Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds is an informative documentary about the celebrity centerfolds who have posed for Playboy. The individuals featured discuss their own personal lives, their careers, and posing for Playboy. They also cover other celebrities who posed in the buff. This documentary is good for viewers who are curious about the kind of famous people who have posed naked and the impact it has had on their personal lives and professional careers.

The DVD

Video:
The feature is presented in 1.33:1 ratio full screen color. The quality is pretty good with a clean picture and rich colors. However, there are portions with slight grain and noticeable ghosting.

Audio:
The audio is given in 2.0 Dolby digital stereo sound. The sound quality is good and spoken dialogue is audible throughout the feature.

Extras:
There are no extras included with this release.

Final Thoughts:
The A&E documentary Playboy: Celebrity Centerfolds features an informative look into various famous women in television, movies, music, fashion, and sports who have posed for Playboy. The documentary includes interviews with famous faces such as Pamela Anderson, Hugh Hefner, Katarina Witt, Brande Roderick, Debbie Gibson, Lisa Guerrero, Jenny McCarthy, Shannon Tweed, Anna Nicole Smith, and Barbi Benton. Viewers interested in learning more about these women (and others) and how their careers and lives were affected by posing in Playboy should check this DVD out. It is interesting enough for a single watch, but I could not imagine wanting to see it again.