Cast member Amber Heard speaks as co-stars Eddie Cibrian (L), David Krumholtz (L back), Leah Renee Cudmore and Naturi Naughton watch during the NBC Universal session for ''The Playboy Club'' at the 2011 Summer Television Critics Associ
Cast member Amber Heard speaks as co-stars Eddie Cibrian (L), David Krumholtz (L back), Leah Renee Cudmore and Naturi Naughton watch during the NBC Universal session for ''The Playboy Club'' at the 2011 Summer Television Critics Association Cable Press Tour in Beverly Hills, California August 1, 2011. Reuters

Controversial new drama The Playboy Club was axed Tuesday by NBC after just three episodes, marking one of the first cancellations of the new fall TV season.

NBC announced that its new, news magazine show Rock Center with Brian Williams, will take its place in the Monday evening slot, starting on October 31. New police drama Prime Suspect will fill the slot in the meantime.

The Playboy Club, set in the early 1960s in the legendary men's nightclub, centers around the lives of Playboy Bunnies and customers, drew controversy even before it aired.

Feminist Gloria Steinem told Reuters in August that she hoped viewers would boycott the TV series, calling the actual Playboy Clubs of the 1960s the tackiest place on earth. The Parents Television Council said the show glamorized the porn industry and called for its cancellation.

The show, starring Amber Heard and Eddie Cibrian, drew just 4.1 million viewers in its third outing Monday, according to ratings data.