When asked to name their 'heroes', some people would list world leaders, athletes or actors, but for me there can be only one: Hugh M. Hefner, magazine editor, business mogul, entrepreneur and living personification of Playboy.
Recently, we have been allowed tantalising glimpses into the home life of this hard-working, well-mannered - if free-spirited - gentleman through the fly-on-the-wall documentary The Girls Next Door (re-edited in the UK and re-titled as The Girls of The Playboy Mansion) which follows the fortunes of his three - yes, count them - three gorgeous girlfriends; Holly, Bridget and Kendra.
The first season (there have so far been two) of the show has been collected in a DVD box set, which includes a host of deleted scenes, an unaired pilot for the series, interviews with the girls and commentaries on every episode by the blonde trio.
"We call it a fantasy. They call it home."
Holly is the number one (alpha) girlfriend, with dreams of marrying 80-year-old Hef, bearing him children and having him all to herself. Although she denies it, she gets very jealous - and sometimes a bit sulky - if any other women come near 'her man' and tends to sometimes, despite some candid moments of self-deprecation, take everything way too seriously.
Beauty and brains Bridget is a bubbly Californian girl who likes old horror movies, Halloween and 'themes' (a costume for every occasion). A bottomless well of enthusiasm, Bridget is Holly's best friend and the loving 'mother' of a very grumpy cat - Gizmo - and a bewildered dog - Wednesday. With a degree in broadcast journalism, she aspires to be a newsreader or reporter.
Kendra is the youngest of the gang and not the sharpest tool in the box. Good at basketball, she mistakes having a fit body for being a "jock", but doesn't let her well-documented lack of other sporting prowess shatter her self-belief. Kendra's main aspiration seems to be to appear in a rap video; a chance for her to really show off her "gangsta" roots - which are as solid as her sporting ones. However, for all her irritating qualities, Kendra is surprisingly level-headed and accepts that this life can't go on forever and just wants to enjoy it while she can.
This is a show - like the magazine - that can be enjoyed by men and women (although possibly for different reasons). Rachel loves it as much as I do, because it is interesting, funny and, in a way, like an episode of Friends, can serve as a dose of mental Prozac. No matter how bad a day you've had, half-an-hour in the bright, sunny company of "girls" will make everything seem beter.
For all the grandeur of their existence, the most noticeable aspect of the day-to-day lives of Hef and his girls is the normalcy - the excitement over birthdays, the trips home or visits from friends and relatives, moving furniture etc - and the slog that goes into producing and promoting the number one "gentleman's lifestyle" magazine on the planet. That's not to say I wouldn't change places with him in a heartbeat ...
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