September 23, 2022 | Arts / Entertainment

New series explores rise and fall of Chippendales

Most people are familiar with the Chippendales, the all-male exotic dance troupe, but few realize that behind those sexy studs is a story of greed, corruption and murder. But Hulu is about to reveal all in the limited series Welcome to Chippendales.

According to Hulu, the series is a "sprawling true-crime saga, [which] tells the outrageous story of Somen 'Steve' Banerjee (played by Kumail Nanjani), an Indian immigrant who became the unlikely founder of the world’s greatest male-stripping empire—and [lets] nothing stand in his way in the process.”

Not big on fictionalized accounts of true stories? You can also check out Prime's Curse of the Chippendales, a revealing documentary about the company.

Of course, the Chippendales were a cultural phenom in the 80s and 90s, popping up on daytime talk shows and in the movies. It was like Christmas coming early for every young gay guy.

Mathew Reed dancing from the 1985 film Perfect.

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In 1984, evening "magazine" TV show People Are Talking featured several dancers (and some very excited audience members).

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They even had their own exercise video, Muscle Motion.