Better Late Than Never: Welcome to Chippendale's

 

 

One of the problems with Peak TV has been, obviously, that there is far too much good stuff for any reasonable viewer to try and keep up with all of it. This very series was in fact established out of recognition of the fact that a lot of great television does slip under my radar and that it is usually only awards recognition that gets it back there in the first place.

Trying to play catch up with what would be some of the greatest TV in history is, to state the obvious, difficult. It’s easiest with comedy because so much of it is episodic. I was able to get involved with Parks and Recreation after nearly three full seasons and with Veep after two. (I still think the latter is vastly overrated.) The shortness of the seasons has helped many times in recent years: I was able to get fully caught up with Fleabag before its triumph at the Emmys in 2019 and similarly with Ramy and Dead to Me by the time of the 2020 Emmys. There have, however, been as many classic comedies I never did get caught up with, perhaps most regrettably Schitt’s Creek.

With dramas this is more difficult but not necessarily impossible. I missed the first seasons of Damages, Justified and The Americans but by the time all three series had aired their second seasons I was aware of what masterpieces they were and stuck with them to the end. Other dramas have not been as easy: I made a good faith effort to try to get involved with Westworld after seeing the first season finale but five episodes into Season 2 I threw up my hands and gave up. (I don’t regret that decision, for the record.) I do regret never following up after watching the first few episodes of Killing Eve and while I spent so much time raging against Succession, the final season has made it clear that was my largest error. I do not, however, regret never watching any of Game of Thrones or The Handmaid’s Tale even after they broke on to the scene.

But by far the hardest needle to thread has always been the limited series ever since it exploded in 2016. I did a very good job keeping up with almost every major nominee in 2016 and 2017, but its been a struggle all the way ever since and I have made my share of blunders. I never watched Godless which managed quite a few Emmys in 2018; I never got around to The Act even after Patricia Arquette managed to double dip, and I was very rigid in so many of my viewing choices in 2020, refusing to watch, among others, Normal People, Unorthodox or Hollywood even after the Emmy nominations came out. My major argument in the last two years was that in neither case were any of those series nominated for Best Limited Series, and I should focus my energy elsewhere.

The decision to watch series nominated for Best Series rather than those that receive acting and other directing nominees has been a decision of necessity even though I was almost intention leaving out more than my usual work. This is, of course, a flawed idea because many nominated dramas and comedies don’t get nominated for either in the first year, even though they will get acting and other nods. (I’ve learned from this flaw and am going to eventually start watching Bad Sisters, The Diplomat and Shrinking.) Limited Series has always been a more subjective decision and my own prejudices have impacted that fact: I refused on general principle to watch Inventing Anna last year and I don’t have any true desire to see Monster.

But sometimes other sources will intervene to make you realize your errors. FX has, in recent years, begun rerunning several of his shows that have aired on Hulu. Last year I finally got around to watching most of Under the Banner of Heaven and admit it was probably worth the attention. And I know for certain I would never have finished The Patient had FX not rerun over much of April and May. In both cases, I had to admit my errors.

This year has put up a different issue. There is far less correlation between the acting nominees and the nominated series. The biggest dissonance by far was with Welcome to Chippendales which was nominated for six Emmys, including four acting nominations but was not nominated for Best Limited Series. I figured at the very least I owed it to myself to watch the first couple of episodes to see if it merited so many of those nominations, particularly at the expense of those in The Patient and White House Plumbers.

Well, I’ve now seen the first two episodes and am prepared to say that not only were those actors worthy of the nominations but in my opinion, it deserved to be nominated over Fleishmann is in Trouble (though my opinion on the latter has improved after five episodes). It certainly succeeds where the latter didn’t, by telling a more compelling story and drawing you in with both its atmosphere and characters (something it took three episodes to do with Fleishmann).

At the center of the series is Steve Banerjee and I have to say after just ten minutes of the first episode, I fully agree the Emmys were right to nominate Kumail Nanjiani for Best Actor. We first meet Banerjee as a meticulous immigrant who has used his life savings to invest in a club. His modest idea is to create a backgammon club for sophisticates but it’s clear just from the idea it’s a failure. He would no doubt have quietly gone broke had his life not intersected with playmate Dorothy Stratton and her boyfriend Paul Schneider. Schneider, who is desperate for something, convinces Steve that he can get playmates in her but Banerjee quickly realizes his superficial nature. They engage in a series of quickly failing enterprises before they go to a gay bar and Banerjee realizes that there is a business opportunity in male strippers. Schneider thinks it’s a bad idea; Stratton sees the genius.

In a matter of weeks they have created Chippendale’s and it is clearly an immense success. However, at a critical moment, Banerjee’s life intersects with Nick De Nola. I’ll be honest I didn’t recognize Murray Bartlett even after I knew that he was playing De Nola, and I guarantee you those of you who, like me, first met him as Armond in The White Lotus will be just as astonished. It’s not just the flawless American accent, it’s that De Nola seems nothing like Armond.

De Nola is clearly a hanger on who can inspire confidence and ability without actually having any. When he walks into Chippendales he admonishes everything about the dancing and says that he can bring class to it. He convinces Banerjee that he is an Emmy winning choreographer even though the show he won his Emmys for – Unicorn Tales – is so obscure that everyone has to be told what it was. (I consider myself a TV afficionado and I’d never heard of it.) But Banerjee has heard the magic word – class – and because he wants acceptance as much De Nola does, he hires him as a choreographer.

The new Chippendale’s becomes an instant success after the first week, and there is no sign that this might have been anything other than a temporary gig for either, except on that night Schneider kills Stratton and then himself. This is clearly an omen telling Banerjee that from the start his success will be bathed in blood.

De Nola, who has just divorced his wife and is very much in the closet, is desperate when Banerjee comes back to him asking for help. Again De Nola runs a bluff and manages to persuade Banerjee to hire him full-time. It’s also clear that De Nola is punching above his weight even then: the only thing he can contribute to Chippendale’s is the choreography and he is very possessive of the dancers.

During this period Banerjee, who clearly wants success but is not comfortable with the ostentatious of this is drinking a soft drink at a bar when he meets a shy woman. They each confess to the other this isn’t real their scene. The woman tells Steve that he is losing money by the serving of drinks and when she runs the math in her head, they come to the figure at the same time. This is how Steve meets Irene, played by Annaleigh Ashford. For Ashford, this is a revelatory performance. In her most famous roles in Masters of Sex and B Positive, Ashford has played women who are boisterous and unfettered in every aspect of their appearance. Irene is a complete introvert, which makes a perfect match for Steve: for the two of them, math is the ultimate aphrodisiac.

Their courtship is actually one of the sweetest things in the second episode. Steve takes Irene to an Indian restaurant and the two of them shyly discuss their humble origins. Steve came from four generations of printers: Irene from three generations of aluminum siding. When she became an accountant her greatest ambition was to work for Hollywood and she landed a job at Warner Brothers. The comic highlight of their date is when both of them express their awe at how Irene helped Lynda Carter find the bathroom. Irene becomes the accountant at Chippendale’s and its pretty clear her guidance is one of the things the business needs.

Nick, who is completely jealous of anything usurping his authority, spends much of the second episode stewing. It is not until a woman who has been coming to the bar on several occasions finally talks to him about expanding the business that he actually listens to her: she spent several previous occasions trying to get near. This is Denise (Juliette Lewis). Denise is clearly ambitious when it comes to expanding the brand but its clear that Nick does not take her seriously. It is only when she shows him her breakthrough idea – breakaway pants – that he takes her up to see Steve. Even then, its clear that he’s using this solely to try and increase his own negotiating place at Chippendale’s and has no respect for Denise as a human being. Irene manages to talk Steve into hiring Denise, both as an economic decision and as to get another girl around. It’s telling that when they start celebrating Denise embraces Steve and Irene but basically ignores Nick. It is a clear precursor of the storms to come.

In hindsight the decision of the Emmys to nominate all four leads for acting awards is one of their better ones of this year. In two episodes, all four actors show great range and talent that, with the exception of Lewis, is much against type. By far the most arresting performance is that of Nanjiani. I have admired his ability over the years, particularly in such work as Silicon Valley and The Big Sick but his work as Banerjee is a revelation. Banerjee spends most of the series in a three-piece suit, utterly stiff and uncomfortable, determined to find a place in the world, looking upon Hugh Hefner as the idea of class. He is clearly a brilliant business man and an outsider who wants in. But even in the first two episodes, we can sense a certain coldness in him. We see in the premiere when he realizes Schneider is all talk and cuts his percentage in the club; we see it when he talks in favor of De Nola over Schneider, and we see it when an African-American dancer is hired and his first reaction to De Nola is “he’s black?”  It’s clear Banerjee has a lack of confidence which he makes up for by being cold.

Bartlett was the only actor who received nominations for this from other awards show and its clear why. De Nola is pure ego with nothing to back it up, and as Irene wins more of Steve’s ear, he clearly begins to stumble. We know even in the early episodes that this will become a battle between them. Of the two women, I am not entirely sold yet on Lewis’ deserving the nomination but it’s early and I have little doubt in her ability.

I don’t know the story behind Welcome to Chippendales any more than I did The Dropout, but I know enough from the reviews that there’s a far deeper tragedy on the horizon; no doubt one that is just as horrible as the one that started the series. I can understand why Nanjiani, who helped co-produce the story with his wife Emily V. Gordon (the two received several awards for writing The Big Sick) would be drawn to the project for more reasons than a great role for him: he no doubt saw the struggle Banerjee had to overcome and having worked in Hollywood, he knows how easily you can fall. In the first two episodes, Banerjee is drinking nothing but soda; trailers for future ones show him snorting cocaine off his desk, and we know by that point, he has fundamentally begun his downfall.

And I also know that the Emmys made a huge mistake when they chose not to nominate Chippendales for Best Drama but nominated Obi- Wan Kenobi instead. I’m also more inclined to think that it is the better Hulu project than Fleishman, and certainly tells a far more compelling and intriguing story with characters who grab you from the moment you see them. It’s also a big sign that I have made misjudgment with the kind of limited series I watch based on their nominations. Hopefully, I’ll get to Tiny Beautiful Things too.

My score: 4.5 stars.