Hulu/Disney+ miniseries, Welcome to Chippendales is a semi-biographical drama about the origin of Chippendales, and its founder, Somen “Steve” Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani). The series starts in the 1970s where Indian immigrant Banerjee aspires to become a successful businessman and idolises people like Hugh Hefner. He tries various club ideas and meets Club Promoter Paul Snider (Dan Stevens) and his partner, Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten (Nicola Peltz). They grow the business and eventually settle on a male strip joint. Banerjee hires Nick De Noia (Murray Bartlett), who becomes his new business partner, and eventual enemy. When De Noia began choreographing the dance routines, Chippendales took off and became the Chippendales we know today. However, the club’s success eventually devolves, and one of the business partners is murdered.
I am an avid consumer of true crime documentaries, so I knew the history of Chippendales and the various murders associated with the male strip club. I watched this series for two reasons: the murders and Kumail Nanjiani. I did not watch this series for the muscleheads dancing around in thongs; it’s not my thing. If that happens to be something you enjoy watching, this series has plenty of it.
It’s always a bummer when I am expecting one thing out of a series and getting something completely different. It was just a complete drag. Hulu/Disney shows commonly have the same issues, and this show was no exception. The series is almost always eight episodes. They start with good first and second episodes, then events are painfully dragged out, and the last episode and a half are pretty good. There were about two too many episodes, and I wanted to turn it off in the middle. However, I am a glutton for punishment, and my mom didn’t raise a quitter, so I persevered.
The cast was all right; as I mentioned before, Kumail Nanjiani was one of the reasons I watched the series. He was most compelling and made the series a little more watchable than it would have been without him. The rest of the cast was neither here nor there. I watched the series about a week ago, and none left a long-lasting impression. Also, my mind was blown today, because I had no idea that Dan Stevens was in the series as Paul Snider.
Was this series worth my time? Probably not. The multiple documentaries I’ve seen in the past were vastly more interesting than this show. Unless you like watching stuff like Magic Mike, I wouldn’t recommend spending the time with this series. Initially, my rating was one-and-a-half stars, but I rounded it up for the soundtrack.
Where to Watch
I’m a Data Analyst, from the land of Matthew McConaughey. I’m an avid movie-goer and love seeing films in theaters. My most recent favorite films are Good Time, Only Lovers Left Alive, TENET, and England is Mine. When I’m not at the movies, I’m either reading or watching obscene amount of true crime and historical documentaries.
