Secrets of Penthouse

This series explores, Bob Guccione's rise to fame and fortune and the complications that arose in his business and family.

This is an inside look as Bob Guccione develops Penthouse Magazine , and the fortunes he made, and the fortunes he lost by making bad business decisions.

It shows his greed and extravagant living, almost ridiculous at times. He had delusions of grandeur that affected the projects he chose to invest in. As Bob Guccione continues to do things his way, it eventually puts a strain not only on his finances, but his children as well. It's kind of a cautionary tale. Not all is what it seems. On the inside of this man's life , things were starting to come apart at the seams. This is a great example of how money does not buy happiness.

If you saw the documentary on Hugh Hefner and Playboy, it's déjà vu. It's strictly a different magazine with the same messages. The owners/publishers were emotionally and sexually abusive, and distant fathers. The difference with this one is there's more background from Guccione's children. Sadly, the son is stuck in the past and reminiscing about witnessing the hedonism first hand as a teenager. There's no real discussion of the mothers of his children; yet, only the "Iron Lady," his longtime partner, both personally and in business, is given background detail. Guccione ran his company into the ground more so than Hefner did, but that could also be due to the rise in access of more lascivious internet pornography.

If you want to get some sort of background of the magazine and its founder, it is adequately shared during the four episodes. Final take? Are Guccione and Hefner much different men? No... simply on opposite coasts. The only difference here is you'll get a little tidbit about Donald Trump.

It has been many years since I admired guys like Hef. I was young and dumb and bought into the Playboy propaganda. Any young male would love to have a harem of adoring female beauties catering to your every whim. They sold the fantasy, but the reality is always darker. I don't know anything Bob Guccione before this. He is very much the quintessential dirty pornographer. He's also a low-life conspiracy nut who hung out with Trump. The Trump part I understand. They were both rich entitled New Yorkers. The conspiracy nut is enlightening. Apparently, all rich entitled old men become conspiracy nuts. The business part is not that surprising except for Bob's unhinged spending. The internet took down plenty of old world businesses and Penthouse is not any different. This is informative but I need a shower afterwards. He is not a good man. Few of these guys are.