Hugh Hefner has been dead since 2017. I should know. I wrote his obituary in this paper. I referred to him in that story as “influential and controversial, admired and vilified” and that was certainly true. Few Chicagoans had as complex and colorful a life as did Hefner and it is captured with intelligence and thoughtfulness in “The Making of Playboy,” premiering Oct. 18 and kicking off the second half of the surprisingly substantial current season of WTTW-Ch. 11’s “Chicago Stories.” It is difficult in these relatively freewheeling times to realize or appreciate what a transformational guy Hefner and his Playboy magazine were. He was a struggling advertising copywriter when he came up with the idea for a lifestyle magazine for men, one embellished by photos of women in various stages of undress. The first 1953 issue sold 50,000-some copies and as circulation grew to a stunning 7 million it helped fuel the creation of a network of Playboy clubs and casinos, a noted jazz festival and all manner of ventures. You’ll see clips from the old TV show Hefner hosted, “Playboy’s Penthouse” and “Playboy After Dark.” You’ll go inside the party-palace mansions he owned in Chicago and Los Angeles; see him as a lightning rod for feminist rage, and watch him deal with the tragic death of Bobbie Arnstein, a trusted aide and friend, who was entrapped in a drug deal, subsequently sentenced to 15 years in prison and died by suicide. Much more too, all produced and written by Peter Marks, who has chosen the documentary’s interview subjects wisely. You’ll hear from such former magazine staffers as Laurence Gonzales and Barbara Nellis; Gloria Johnson, the first Black Playboy Bunny; and local columnist Candace Jordan, who has nothing but good memories of her time as a Playmate. Christie Hefner is the only one of Hefner’s four children interviewed. The eldest, she was chairman and CEO of the company from 1988 to 2009 and her commentary is smart, sensitive and enlightening. Next up, in chilling historical contrast, is “When the West Side Burned” (on Oct. 25). If the many ways that Hefner was fighting for racial justice are to be admired, and they are, keep in mind that this was a city of terrible racial inequities and dangerous tensions. The “burning” came in the wake of the April 4, 1968, assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., shot dead in Memphis, with the news of the tragedy causing explosions in cities across the country. The fuse was lit long before, as people became increasingly frustrated and angry, trying unsuccessfully through legitimate ways to have their grievances heard. The old video and photos are vivid visits to the chaos and desperation and we hear from people who were there. Over two days, Chicagoans on the city’s West Side endured arson, looting, violence and widespread blackouts. Mayor Richard J. Daley’s words echo, that infamous order to “shoot to kill” arsonists and “shoot to maim” looters as the city deployed 2,500 police officers and 2,000 firefighters at the height of the mayhem. And then came the National Guard and federal troops. In the end, more than 200 buildings had to be demolished, hundreds of thousands of people eventually displaced, and the city altered for keeps. Produced by Daniel Andries and co-written by John Owens, the program reminds us of King’s tortured relationship with Chicago, his having moved here in 1966 to protest housing segregation in the city. Marching through Marquette Park, he was greeted by such an angry mob (one of whom threw a rock that hit him in the head) that he would say, “I have never seen — even in Mississippi and Alabama — mobs as hostile and as hate-filled as I’ve seen here in Chicago.” Chicago Tribune historical photoA woman crosses the street near Century Furniture and Clothing, at the northwest corner of Western Avenue and Madison Street, which was set on fire in an outbreak of violence on April 5, 1968.Don Casper / Chicago TribuneChicago policemen holding guns crouch behind a squad car as they scan the windows in a housing project at 454 W. Division St. for signs of a sniper on April 5, 1968.Cy Wolf / Chicago TribuneAn aerial view of fires on the West Side of Chicago on April 5, 1968.William Kelly / Chicago TribuneA young person points at members of the Illinois National Guard on duty in the area of Albany Avenue, south of Madison Street, on April 6, 1968.Cy Wolf / Chicago TribuneAn aerial view of the West Side shows smoke rising from several fires ignited by rioters along Madison and Leavitt streets, west to Spaulding Avenue, on April 5, 1968.Michael Budrys / Chicago TribuneFiremen fight one of the blazes at the corner of Western Avenue and Madison Street on April 5, 1968. More than 1,000 firemen were called to battle fires in city during the rioting.William Yates / Chicago TribuneFour firemen use a firetruck for protection as policemen aim rifles at suspected snipers at Clybourn Avenue and Division Street on April 6, 1968.William Bender / Chicago TribuneChicago police Officer Erwin Karol answers telephone complaints by candlelight in the Fillmore Street police station during rioting April 5, 1968.John Austad / Chicago TribuneThe crumbling shell of a building destroyed in the West Side rioting is silhouetted against the sky as some semblance of order returns for a short period to the area toward the southeast corner of Spaulding Avenue and Madison Street on April 6, 1968.Don Casper / Chicago TribuneMen are arrested with guns in the back of a building at 815 W. 69th St. by policemen on April 7, 1968, during the rioting.James O'Leary / Chicago TribuneAn aerial view of fires in the 400 block of West 63rd Street on April 6, 1968.William Yates / Chicago TribuneA bloodied CTA bus driver, right, walks with a policeman after his bus was halted by a mob that broke windows and beat the driver at 2739 W. Madison St. on April 5, 1968.William Kelly / Chicago TribuneMembers of the Illinois National Guard are on duty while firefighters try to put out a blaze in the 3200 block of West Madison Street on April 6, 1968.Luigi Mendicino / Chicago TribuneOn the 3000 block of West Madison Street, the aftermath of rioting over the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. is seen on April 6, 1968.Walter Neal / Chicago TribunePolice search suspects along 63rd Street during rioting April 6, 1968.Don Casper / Chicago TribuneChicago's skyline is a background for U.S. Army troops stationed in the Loop at Monroe Street and Columbus Drive on April 9, 1968. The troops were in town to keep the peace during rioting caused by the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.Chicago Tribune historical photoAn aerial view on April 6, 1968, of the 3300 block of Madison Street in the heart of Chicago's riot-torn West Side after the looting and burning rampage that occurred in response to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.Kenneth Lovett / Chicago TribunePolice hold a woman suspect on the street in the riot-torn West Side on April 6, 1968.Luigi Mendicino / Chicago TribuneA city bulldozer in the 3300 block of West Madison Street clears rubble of riot-torn buildings on April 7, 1968. It was in this block that the worst damage occurred during the nearly 48 hours of virtually uncontrolled rioting and looting that raged in the glare of burning buildings.William Yates / Chicago TribuneTroops deployed along 63rd Street, from about Cottage Grove to Stony Island avenues, walk in groups as they patrol the area near businesses on April 8, 1968.John Austad / Chicago TribunePeople look over riot damage on April 6, 1968, including protective window coverings that were ripped by looters from a store in the 3000 block of West Madison Street.Ray Foster / Chicago TribuneTwo girls carry a carton of soft drinks and other merchandise from Del Farm Store at Hobbie and Larrabee streets on the Near North Side on April 6, 1968, in Chicago.Michael Budrys / Chicago TribuneU.S. Army troops, in battle gear with bayonets, line the sidewalk along 63rd Street near Ellis Avenue on April 7, 1968.William Kelly / Chicago TribuneLooters carry merchandise out of a liquor store at 3825 W. Roosevelt Road on April 6, 1968.William Kelly / Chicago TribuneLooters search the debris and rubble of a burned-out liquor store for anything left in the 3200 block of West Madison Street on April 6, 1968.James OLeary / Chicago TribuneAn employee of a jewelry store at 27 W. Madison St. sweeps up glass broken by rioters who smashed a window and looted the display during a rampage through downtown Chicago and the surrounding area on April 5, 1968.Show CaptionChicago Tribune historical photo1 of 26A woman crosses the street near Century Furniture and Clothing, at the northwest corner of Western Avenue and Madison Street, which was set on fire in an outbreak of violence on April 5, 1968.Expand Residents of the West Side knew that and to hear from them now — including longtime U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, then a school teacher — is to understand why the West Side burned but more depressingly, why it has failed all these decades later to revive, why what was once so vibrant is now a “wasteland of vacant lots.” The next program, “Al Capone’s Bloody Business” (on Nov. 1), begs the question “Haven’t we learned all there is to know about this joker?” The answer, of course, is that old mobsters never die. They won’t even fade away. They show up in movies and in books, tucked firmly in our consciousness. This is especially, perhaps even uniquely, true of Chicago, a hotbed of gangsters, where many people today could tell you more about Capone than they could about the candidates running for president. Produced and written by Heidi Zersen, the show is packed with information, told in compelling fashion and wisely giving us historians John Binder and Paul Durica and the very knowledgeable author Jonathan Eig, whose 2011 book “Get Capone: The Secret Plot That Captured America’s Most Wanted Gangster” should be on your bookshelf, along with some of his others, especially 2017’s “Ali: A Life” and his “King: A Life,” winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2024. The final offering of this “Chicago Stories” season is “House Music: A Cultural Revolution” (on Nov. 8), a video celebration of sorts and a fascinating and uplifting hour. Claire Greenway/Getty ImagesDJ Frankie Knuckles plays at the Def Mix 20th Anniversary Weekender at Turnmills nightclub on May 6, 2007, in London, England. (Claire Greenway/Getty Images) Don’t be shy. If, like me, you were never a disco fan and have only a modest understanding of the meaning of “house music,” this show will illuminate and entertain. Produced and co-edited by Barbara Allen and written by Gail Baker, it features the voices of many, especially the late DJ Frankie Knuckles, the creator of the genre who came here from New York City and held forth at the revered Warehouse at 206 S. Jefferson, and Joe Shanahan, the owner of Metro, Smartbar and GMan Tavern, polished DJ and open-minded musical man. They articulate “house” and along with impassioned others give you a sense of the raucous history of the musical form but also of its profound importance and inclusive spirit. I could have lived without another visit, quick as it is, to “Disco Demolition,” but this is otherwise a fitting and worthy end to this “Chicago Stories” season. [email protected]