Screaming drunk secretaries, gyrating hunks in G-strings and mountains of cocaine populate "Welcome to Chippendales," Hulu's wonderfully lurid drama about the rise of "the world's greatest male-stripping empire" and the deadly rivalry that took it down. Skeezy 1980s Hollywood comes alive in this eight-part series, where an immigrant's dreams of wealth and success lead to one of the weirdest true-crime stories of the era.
Created by Robert Siegel and inspired by the book "Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders," the series, which premiered Tuesday, is a multifaceted and highly entertaining look at the unlikely story of Chippendales' founder — and the tragedy of his success. Somen "Steve" Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani) was an Indian immigrant with brilliant business ideas and zero social skills, yet he connected with a who's who of seedy L.A. to build his dream.
Among the cast of colorful, real-life characters is oily self-promoter Paul Snider (played by the chameleonic Dan Stevens), who would become infamous for killing his wife, Playboy playmate Dorothy Stratten (Nicola Peltz), before turning the gun on himself. Here he's an early partner in Chippendales, helping Banerjee come up with gimmicks to get his club off the ground.
