Kumail Nanjiani
Little America’s Second Season Offers a Much-Needed Dose of Optimism: Review
The Pitch: It’s often very difficult to feel optimistic about the general state of things in this country. For people who have grown up and lived through crisis after crisis, the many who were thrust into unsteady job markets and a Sisyphean uphill battle of debt and financial instability, the elusive American Dream sounds like just that — a dream. For the particularly vulnerable, like people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community who face a rapid increase in life-threatening rhetoric, there’s an intersectionality to the frustration and fear that can accompany everyday life in the US. While film and television aren’t an immediate salve for wide-reaching systemic issues, stories do matter, as does representation. Little America, the Apple TV+ anthology series developed by Le...
Welcome to Chippendales: What’s Fact and Fiction In the New Hulu True Crime Series?
Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales is without a doubt one of the biggest surprises that TV has to offer this year. Following Chippendales founder Steve Banerjee (Kumail Nanjiani), the show starts out as an exciting underdog tale about an Indian emigrant who goes on to create one of the world’s most popular establishments. But then, as Chippendales becomes more and more of a success, the show metamorphoses into a stranger-than-fiction story of arson, racketeering, and murder – to just scratch the surface. Is this story actually stranger than fiction? Below, we investigate the contents of Chippendales, episode by episode, breaking down what actually happened, and what was fabricated — or completely made-up — for the series. We’ll update this post each week as each new episode debuts. [Edito...
Welcome to Chippendales Is True Crime at Its Most Compelling and Unexpected: Review
The Pitch: If you don’t live under a rock, chances are you’ve heard of Chippendales: the elegant, trailblazing first-ever all-male strip-tease troupe that has been bringing delightfully scandalous thrills to audiences since the 1970s. What you may not know, however, is that the burlesque’s history is brimming with conspiracy, racketeering, arson, and murder. Over the course of 10 episodes, Welcome to Chippendales, Robert Siegel’s limited series based on K. Scot Macdonald and Patrick MontesDeOca’s 2014 literary exposée Deadly Dance: The Chippendales Murders, shrewdly examines and unravels the club’s shocking, harrowing history. The show rigorously dissects the troupe’s inception, rise to fame, and subsequent descent into the deepest, most gruesome bowels of corruption. A Killer Strip Tease:...
Kumail Nanjiani Becomes a Seedy Strip Club Founder in Welcome to Chippendales Trailer: Watch
Before there was Magic Mike, there was Chippendales. Hulu has today shared its official trailer for Welcome to Chippendales, their upcoming series that tells the true-crime story behind the first all-male strip club, ahead of its November 22nd premiere. Welcome to Chippendales stars Kumail Nanjiani as Somen “Steve” Banerjee, an Indian immigrant known for establishing the first strip club catered to women. In the trailer, Banerjee is offered a promotion at his gas station job: “That was my dream when I got here,” he tells his boss as he declines the offer. “But my goals have changed. I have changed.” Clad in cuffs and collars, Chippendales takes off around the world — but things get dicey when Banerjee’s business partner Nick De Noia (Murray Bartlett) attempts to edge hi...
Murderville: How They Made Will Arnett’s Wild Improvised Cop Comedy for Netflix
The premise for Netflix’s new semi-unscripted comedy Murderville isn’t actually that hard to explain, on the surface: Each episode, shot in the style of a classic police procedural, features a new mystery being investigated by a tough mustachioed cop (Will Arnett) and his trainee partner. The catch is that said trainee is a celebrity, and they don’t have any idea what’s going on, because only Arnett and the other actors have the script. This leaves famous folks like Season 1 guest stars Conan O’Brien, Marshawn Lynch, Kumail Nanjiani, Annie Murphy, Sharon Stone, and Ken Jeong to improv their way towards solving the case — which they may or may not do correctly. If that sounds complicated to you, showrunner Krister Johnson (Medical Police) would agree. “I certainly had never figured this out...
Netflix Announces Semi-Improv Comedy Series Murderville Starring Will Arnett
This isn’t your mother’s murder mystery. Today, Netflix has announced Murderville, a six-episode comedy series starring Will Arnett as Terry Seattle, a senior homicide detective who enlists the help of some celebrity guests. The catch? The guest stars don’t have a script. Based on the BBC series Murder in Successville, the show will feature Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek), Conan O’Brien, Ken Jeong, Kumail Nanjiani, Marshawn Lynch (of NFL fame), and Sharon Stone. With virtually no preparation beforehand, these stars will have to rely solely on their improvisation skills (and perhaps some tips from their favorite true crime podcasts) to make their way through the episode and solve the week’s crime. Sometimes, the guests get lucky in figuring out the twisted whodunit — other times, not so much....
Disney Announces Cast for Obi-Wan Kenobi Series
Disney has been working on an original solo adventure for Star Wars’ Obi-Wan Kenobi for nearly five years now. Today, we know exactly who will be part of that story, as Disney+ has unveiled the cast for the spinoff Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series — and it’s even more stacked than expected. As previously announced, Ewan McGregor will return as the legendary Jedi Master for the show set 10 years after the end of Revenge of the Sith. Meanwhile, fan-favorite Hayden Christensen will also return as Darth Vader, giving him the chance to fully embody the iconic villain after playing Anakin Skywalker in the prequel trilogy. Joining them in the cast will be longtime Star Wars fan Kumail Nanjiani; Joel Edgerton and Bonnie Piesse, returning to play Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru from the p...
Black Mirror Creators Announce Netflix Comedy Special “Death to 2020”
If you’ve been laughing to keep from crying this hellish year, then the dystopian creators of Black Mirror have something right up your alley: a star-studded Netflix comedy special aptly titled “Death to 2020”. The TV special from Black Mirror masterminds Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones was announced early Monday, alongside its impressive guest list. Samuel L. Jackson, Hugh Grant, and Leslie Jones, Joe Keery, Lisa Kudrow, Kumail Nanjiani, Tracey Ulman, Cristin Milioti, and Diane Morgan are all set to appear in “Death to 2020” The Hollywood Reporter notes that the comedy special will be filmed “documentary-style”, and a synopsis from Netflix reads: “2020: A year so [insert adjective of choice here], even the creators of Black Mirror couldn’t make it up… but that doesn’t mea...
Nigerian doctor named one of TIME’s Most Influential People in the world
TIME named Nigerian physician Tunji Funsho to the 2020 TIME100, its annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world. The full list and related tributes are available now at time.com/time100, and Mr Funsho’s TIME100 profile is available here. The list, now in its seventeenth year, recognizes the activism, innovation and achievement of the world’s most influential individuals. Mr Funsho, a cardiologist based in Lagos, Nigeria, is the first Rotary member to receive this honour for the organisation’s work to eradicate polio, having played an essential role in ensuring Africa’s certification as wild polio-free in August of 2020. “I’m honored to be recognized by TIME for my part in ensuring that no child in Africa will ever again be paralyzed by wild polio, a disease that once disabl...
The Cast of Ghostbusters Reunite for Josh Gad’s YouTube Show: Watch
Since the start of lockdown, Josh Gad’s YouTube series Reunited Apart has digitally brought together casts of classic cinema like Goonies and Back to the Future. On the latest episode, the team behind Ghostbusters were the ones to answer the Zoom call. Besides the ever-resistant Rick Moranis, all the films’ surviving stars were present: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, and Annie Potts. Director Ivan Reitman was also present, as was his son, Jason Reitman, who is helming the upcoming sequel to the original franchise, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. There were also a number of surprise guests, including William Atherton (Walter Peck), and actors with bit parts like Steven Tash and Jennifer Runyon (the students Murray’s Peter Venk...
Netflix’s The Lovebirds Brings Out the Best in Kumail Nanjiani and Issa Rae: Review
The Pitch: Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae) are four years into a relationship that’s on the fritz. They snip at one another. They argue over the littlest things. They can’t even imagine themselves winning The Amazing Race. All of that drama is put on hold, however, when the two fading lovebirds fly right into a maddening murder mystery that takes them all across New Orleans. Even worse, they’re the prime suspects. Can they solve the crime before they’re taken in to do the time? That all depends on whether or not they can set aside their differences and find a way to be a team again. The Big Schtick: The Lovebirds reunites director Michael Showalter and Nanjiani, who both leveled up with 2017’s heartfelt and hilarious The Big Sick. It’s a strong collaboration and this latest...
