The latest in a wave of true-crime miniseries, Welcome To Chippendales reminds us that no empire is built without a little bloodshed—not even an empire of chiseled dancing men!
When you hear “Chippendales” you probably picture it right away: The man, the bowtie, the six-pack, the cufflinks. Founded in 1979, this all-male revue was created with female audiences in mind (but we know the gays turned up, too), titillating the looky-loos with erotic, crotch-forward dance routines.
Soon enough, the burlesque show was a smash hit, eventually expanding with performances across the globe, and was credited with helping legitimize stripping as a form of entertainment in the public eye. But, as always, the path to success is one that was paved with greed and splattered with blood.
From Pam & Tommy creator Robert Siegel, Hulu’s Welcome To Chippendales tells the shocking true story behind the revue’s rise and fall, with Indian immigrant and entrepreneur Somen “Steve” Banerjee as its doomed protagonist. The Big Sick‘s Kumail Nanjiani stars as Banerjee, depicting how this enterprising dreamer changed the burlesque world forever—all before it came crashing down.
Related: Here’s all of the queer, must-see movies and TV shows headed your way this fall
As with a real-life Chippendales show, the series promises plenty of eye candy, recreating the iconic routines of the dapper dancers. But, even if they keep their shirts on, the rest of the cast has us excited, too: Fresh off his White Lotus Emmy win, Murray Bartlett will play choreographer Nick de Noia, whose playboy attitude finds him butting heads with Banerjee.
Elsewhere in the cast is dashing Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens, theater legend Annaleigh Ashford, and icon Juliette Lewis, plus Queerty favorites Andrew Rannells and Robin de Jesús are set to appear in notable supporting roles.
Really, it’s an embarrassment of riches—and all the oiled up muscle men don’t hurt either. Welcome To Chippendales just shot to the top of our “must watch” list!
The series will premiere exclusively on Hulu on November 22. You can watch the first teaser trailer below:
abfab
Another crap movie not to see. Thank you Q for bringing us the best. Not!
bachy
No. Trust your uncle bachy on this one, abbie.
You’re gonna loooooove it!
Doug
…and there won’t be a dick in sight.
greekboy
Another pos hoping to ride hot bodies to success. Snore
CatholicXXX
I’ll look at the pictures and maybe read a quick summary but I wont be watching.
bachy
Dudes, no, no, no. With Robert Siegel (Pam & Tommy) at the helm and Kumail Nanjiani, Murray Bartlett, Dan Stevens and Juliette Lewis in the cast (not familiar with the other listed actors), this could be one wild ride.
I’m so there. And I’ll be wearing a bowtie and tearaway bikini briefs to celebrate.
JPB
Can I come over?
bachy
@JPB: ok!
Bring a stack and make it rain all night!
let’s wake up broke w/ a hangover!
SDR94103
time to get rid of the word “thirsty”. It’s used up.
Jeremiah
Yes. Amen!
abfab
And just plain stupid. Q needs to reinvent it self a little bit.
dbmcvey
Gays were not welcome at Chippendales, in fact, it could be a bit homophobic.
I will still be happy to give the movie a chance.
abfab
So they rejected your entry at the door……who could blame them.
DarkZephyr
Wasn’t there a movie about this same exact subject that was released in the early 2000s called “Just Can’t Get Enough”? I never saw it, I just remember reading about it and seeing the cover art and I kept wanting to watch it but I just never did.
OK, so I googled it and yeah, “Just Can’t Get Enough” was released in 2002. Also apparently in 2000 there an even earlier made for TV movie about the same subject called “The Chippendales Murder”.