All language subtitles for Curse.of.the.Chippendales.S01E01.Take.It.Off.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DD+2.0.H.264-LycanHD_track3_[eng]

[dramatic music playing]

[man 1 speaking]

[man 2 speaking]

[man 1 speaking]

[man 2 speaking]

[man 1 speaking]

-[man 2 speaking]
-[man 1 speaking]

In July of 1991,

an individual walked into
the FBI office in Las Vegas

and began to tell this tale

of how he had just flown
back in from London, England

where he was contracted
to kill two members

of a male exotic dance group.

[women cheering]

[Scott] He said that the plan

was to inject
a fatal dose of cyanide

into these two individuals.

The plot was
apparently to pay $25,000

for the death of each victim.

The story sounded
kind of far-fetched,

but as we dug into it
a little bit more,

you realize that this story
had a lot more layers to it.

[man 1] She was 20 years old
andPlayboy Magazine's
Playmate of the Year.

[man 2] The key witness may be

an alleged co-conspirator,
prosecutors...

And right in the middle
of this investigation

was this multi-million dollar

business known
as Chippendales.

[rock music playing]

[man] There's a lot of
chirping about Chippendales.

It's a nightclub
designed to delight women

featuring male performers.

[woman speaking]

[man speaking]

[laughter]

[Nancy] It felt like
we were in control,

that they were
there to serve us.

[Michael] There was something
about stepping out

on that stage
that made all my worries,

all my problems go away.

Here they are, the most
exciting guys in America,

The Chippendales.

[audience cheering]

[Scott] But then
all that changed.

It became more of a wild ride
in paranoia land.

Satan is the great deceiver

and he is the one
that is trying to deceive you

into believing it's
wonderful and good.

[Scott] It was just getting
darker and weirder.

[Michael] All of a sudden,

I started losing
the real person

and becoming
the stage person.

[woman] After a while,

I wanted to burn
the place down.

I hated it.
I hated it.

[broadcaster]
The explosive allegations
of murder-for-hire

now have investigators
digging into

an old unsolved case
back in New York.

[reporter] Were you in
the house when the bodies
were discovered?

-Yes.
-[reporter] You were?

-Yes.
-As we dug deeper and deeper

into this case,
what we uncovered was

one of the most
bizarre murder

and murder-for-hire plots

in the history of the FBI.

[dramatic music playing]

[man] Good evening, ladies.
Welcome to Chippendales.

-[woman 1]
Ooh, I'd take you home...
-[woman 2] Oh, my God.

[woman 3]
What did I tell you?

[woman 2] Look at all
these beautiful men.

[singer] ♪ Hmm, oh yeah ♪

♪ What a night ♪

♪ Oh, yes
It's ladies' night ♪

♪ And the feeling's right ♪

[women cheering]

[singer] ♪ Oh, yes
It's ladies' night ♪

♪ And the feeling's right ♪

♪ Oh, yes
It's ladies' night ♪

♪ Oh, what a night ♪

♪ Oh, what a night ♪

♪ Oh, yes
It's ladies' night ♪

♪ And the feeling's right ♪

[man]
You guys can leave now...

[singer] ♪ Oh, yes
It's ladies' night ♪

♪ Oh, what a night ♪

[Nancy]
Chippendales was our place.

You felt free, you felt free

to just be who you wanna be.

It was like living
in a fantasy for one night.

It made me feel like a star.

It made me feel like
I could do anything.

At Chippendales, you know,
I'm untamed, I'm wild.

I'm lustful.

I'm all the things
that I wanna be.

Chippendales was a place
where I could be onstage,

be myself, be a sex symbol.

And be a part of this
huge phenomenon.

I mean, men
strip in front of women.

Uh, I thought it was
the stupidest idea
I've ever heard.

But I had no conception
of what women want.

[singer]
♪ Oh, it's ladies' night ♪

♪ And the feeling's right ♪

[singers] ♪ Come on
Let's all celebrate ♪

[singer] ♪ Lady, lady, lady ♪

[tape stops]

[man] Okay. So tell me,

how did you first
get involved in Chippendales?

Okay. So, uh, let me go
back to 1975.

[tape rewinds]

[disco music playing]

[Roger]
The 70s were just wild years.

I had just turned 18,
I got a fake ID.

I started going out,

dancing in various clubs
around town.

Mainly in Beverly Hills

when disco dancing
was at its peak.

[Sondra]
The 70s was very sexual.

The music, the dress,

peoples' attitudes.

Everybody was flirting
with everybody.

Everybody was
sleeping with everybody.

I don't know how anything
ever got done.

[laughs]

[Bruce] There was a lot
of drinking, lots of drugs.

The pill had been invented
just a few years earlier.

AIDS hadn't been
discovered yet.

It was the era
to express yourself sexually

and do whatever you want.

Years before that, women
weren't supposed to do that,

so it was a time to be wild.

I would go to these clubs,

just building the nerve up

to, you know...
Standing there,
standing there,

trying to pick out
the right girl,
who would say yes?

You know, I just wanted
someone to say yes.

[singer]
♪ Listen, everyone here ♪

[Roger] I was on the floor
all night long,

sweating my heart out.

And if you were
a hardcore dancer,

you would be going to
Destiny II.

The only club in town

that was open
until 4:00 in the morning.

[singer] ♪ I'm making it ♪

♪ I got the chance
I'm taking it ♪

[Bruce] I was living just
a few blocks from Destiny II,

so it became my main hangout.

I was 24 years old

and I was studying for
the bar exam in California.

Going to Destiny II
as often as I did,

I got to know
the club's owner,

Steve Banerjee.

Steve was a very
well-dressed man

who spoke with a stutter.

He seemed very friendly
and was personable,

a very accommodating host.

I later learned
he was from India.

[man speaking]

[man] Uh-huh.

Steve wasn't very
flamboyant or...

He was a quiet man.

Uh, he kept to himself.

But he was always
a businessman.

He had a vision

to make his club really big.

[man speaking]

[Bruce] Over time,
we developed a friendship.

So when I passed
the bar exam,

I became Steve's lawyer.

By 1978,

the club was very busy
on Wednesdays,

Fridays, and Saturdays.

But it was dead
the rest of the week.

So Steve was looking
for anything

that would draw people
to the club.

We stumbled on the idea

of having female
mud wrestling,

and it was very popular.

But we still hadn't found
that special something

that would make us
a destination place.

But in early 1979,

our lives changed forever.

Steve called me in
for a meeting at the club

and that's where I met
Paul Snider.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bruce] Paul was from Canada
and he was trying to

make a name for himself

as a promoter in LA.

But to me, he was a grifter,

coming up with one idea
or another con

to make money.

Paul just seemed
sleazy and oily,

the kind of guy
you'd need to take a shower

after you left him.

You're bringing up
my serious dislike of the guy.

Is it coming through? [laughs]

He pitched us the idea
of having a strip show,

because he'd gone to
a male strip club

in Canada somewhere.

It was a gay strip place.

But the show that
Paul presented

was to have men strip
for women,

and I didn't think
women wanted that.

One can say that I was
the smartest guy in the room,

but Paul insisted
it would make a lot of money.

He said he was going to
run the show,

and MC the show,
and get the guys.

And so, Steve said,

"Let's give it a try."

[disco music playing]

[Bruce] We had gotten
the word out.

And the crowd the first night
was about half-full.

There was no choreography,
there was no script,

but the women were there.

You know, it was all
experimental art.

And people kept coming back
week after week.

And the audience got bigger.

It was a total shock.

It was surreal.

[audience cheering]

We knew we had tapped
into something,

but we had to take it
in a new direction

to make this show work.

So first, we had to
refurbish the club

and change the name.

[man] You are invited
to a fashionable discotheque

in West Los Angeles.

It's called Chippendales.

[man speaking]

[man] I see.

[Bruce] At the time,
Paul's girlfriend,

Dorothy Stratten,
was trying to make it

as aPlayboy Playmate.

-[cameras snapping]
-[Bruce] She was very sweet.

Paul was her manager

and he was the one
that submitted Dorothy's

pictures to Playboy.

And they started hanging out

with Hugh Hefner
up at the Mansion.

[Sondra]
The first time I saw Dorothy,

it was from across the room.

And she was with Paul.

And she was just so happy
to be there.

She was just beaming.

She had a real
innocence about her,

but it was a very
sexy innocence.

Like a Marilyn type.

[camera clicks]

[Sondra] Very alluring.

Everybody loved her.

People saw her and they knew,
"Okay, this girl has it."

Because I was
Hugh Hefner's girlfriend,

and I watched a lot of girls

coming in and out
of that mansion.

[indistinct] have
you met, uh, Dick?

-Hello.
-[Dick] Hi.
Who's your friend?

[Sondra] So I could tell that

if she played
her cards right,

she would be one of the girls

that would go
somewhere with this.

[Bruce] She was skyward bound.

Your... Playboy does
a wonderful job with their PR.

And at the time, they had
women in bunny costume.

And that's when Paul came up

with the idea of using
the cuffs and collars

with Chippendales.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bruce] We believed that
this would give us

some panache and class.

Paul was our original MC,

but he wasn't worth anything.

So we needed to have

someone that can
tie the acts together.

I received this phone call

from a producer friend
of mine, and he said,

"Richard, what are you
doing tonight?"

And I said,
"Nothing right now."

And he goes, "Well,
can you get down here?

I need you to come down
and MC at this nightclub."

And I said,
"Well, what is it?"

He goes, "Well,
I'll explain it to you

when you get here."

When I got into the club,

I was told,

"This is gonna be
a contest for women.

It's a strip contest."

And I said, "Oh, boy. Okay."

They said, "We need you
to get the girls to scream,

to get excited and...
Can you do that?"

I said, "Okay, you got it."

[women cheering]

[disco music playing]

So I went out there
and I said, uh,

"There are three magic words
we're gonna use tonight."

I'm gonna say, "What
do you want them to do?"

And they screamed
without me even telling them,

"Take it off." I went,
"Oh, my God."

Take it off! All of it!

Get ready
for the first dancer.

[women cheering]

[Richard]
Women were driving the show.

And that's when I realized,
"Boy, this has potential."

There's something here.

There's something here.

[women cheering]

[Richard]
That night was spectacular.

The show was going great.

But all of a sudden,

a police officer walks out
onto the stage,

and I'm looking over,
and going, "What?

What the heck's
going on here?"

And he comes up to me,
and he grabs the microphone
out of my hand,

and he says, "Everybody stay
right where you are.

This is an illegal
performance."

[police siren wailing]

[Bruce] It was about
10:00 at night.

I got a call
from Steve saying

the boys had been arrested.

The police
had raided the show.

He was as anxious as I'd ever
heard him that day,

stuttering
and talking too fast.

But the upshot was,

"Come down to
Venice Police Station

and fix this."

We were raided for nudity
and indecent exposure.

Because we allowed women
to touch men

and that wasn't permitted
where you serve alcohol.

We were so novice,

we didn't bother
looking into the law

to see what we could
or couldn't do.

So we bailed them out
and we hired

an alcohol beverage
commission lawyer

who understood the system
much better than I did.

[Richard]
So I had to write some rules.

Please don't touch
the dancers.

They'll dance to you
if you wave a tip,

but no putting it down
their G-string.

None of that.

But, uh, it gave me an idea.

Because during
the cop incident,

I saw the reaction
of the crowd,

I went, "Wow! That was
an amazing experience."

And I went "That's what
we're missing in this show.

We're gonna have a cop

and he's gonna bust
the show."

And I realized, "Boy I can
take this even further."

[upbeat music playing]

[Richard] I wanted to
introduce characters,

and more choreography,
and a beginning,

and a middle, and an end.

And that's when
I started designing it

from a dance contest
to a women's fantasy.

I told Steve Banerjee,
"You know what?

We're gonna call this
World Famous Chippendales."

And Steve looked at me
and said,

[stammering]
"We're not world famous?"

I said, "Steve, we will be."

[TV commentator] Seven nights
a week...

Chippendales,

just north of
Venice Boulevard

and Overland Avenue
in West LA.

[Sondra]
The very first time I went
was a bachelorette party.

This one girl
was getting married,

so this is what
she wanted to do.

And I'm like,
"Where are we going?

Where are we going?"

We were in the car.
We're checking our makeup.

We're excited.

-We pull up and...
-[women giggling]

...we're going past
all the ladies

who were waiting in line.

It's like, "Whoa.

Where in the world
would you ever find women

lined up to go
into anywhere?"

I mean, this must be
really fun.

The first thing
I thought was, "Oh.

You know, this is not gross.

This is... This is nice."

It was intimate

and you had your waiters

that were like bunnies
in the Playboy Club.

They were beautiful.

They were absolutely
beautiful. [laughs]

Good evening and welcome to
World Famous Chippendales.

[women cheering]

Well, there have been many,
many great lovers

-throughout the...
-It was incredibly
intoxicating.

[Richard speaking]

[Sondra] With the dancers,
they cater to

every woman's fantasy,

what would be her favorite.

[Richard speaking]

[women cheering]

[Roger] I was very pleased
with idea of Zorro coming out

all in black, the cape,
the black spandex,

the boots, the mask,

where I can actually peel off

one piece of clothing
at a time,

and dance, and tease.

[Spanish guitar playing]

[women cheering]

[Richard speaking Spanish]

[Sondra]
He was a beautiful man.

But Zorro just didn't
do it for me, you know.

[laughs] I ended up inviting
the cop home.

[laughs]

[upbeat music playing]

[women cheering]

[Sondra]
When the shows at its peak,
it's a frenzy in there.

I think that
they could've lit

the whole City of Los Angeles

with the energy it generated.

It was exhilarating.

[women cheering]

[Nancy] It was just amazing

how accessible
they were to you.

They talked to you.

They came up to you,
they kissed you.

They made you feel beautiful.

I think every girl
felt special in there.

No matter what
she looked like.

That was part of
what made Chippendales
a great place

to make women
feel good about themselves.

It just kind of felt like
we were in control

and they were there
to serve us.

Now, the roles were reversed,

and it just opened up
a whole new world for women.

That was it.
Me and my best friend
went every single weekend.

We became
Chippendale groupies.

[Richard speaking]

[Dan] The job of a host
was basically
to talk to the women.

I probably talked to
200 women a night.

And growing up
in a small town,

women were moms, right?

They were housewives.

But the first night
I walked in,

there were two or three
birthday parties

of women over 90

that came to Chippendales
with their gang.

That was definitely something
I had never seen before.

It's almost Thanksgiving.
We're thankful.

[laughter]

-[woman] For what?
-For those men,

and those bodies.

Every night you got hit on.

There were women
that would walk up to you

and propose going back
to their hotel.

And I remember somebody who
wanted my sperm for a baby,

they offered me $20,000.
That was one of those things
that you're like,

"This isn't happening to me."

[woman] I wanna know,
would you like to go home

-with any of these guys?
-Uh, yeah. Yeah.

Every night was different.

I didn't know what to expect.

I have to say I wasn't,
uh, a priest.

I had a weakness
for beautiful women.

[Sondra]
I thought it was fun.

So I started doing it
as my girls' night out.

I went there often. [chuckles]

[Richard] Watching
the reactions of the women,
it was thrilling.

I mean, your baby is working

and everybody's
loving your baby.

One night, Paul Snider
came up to me

and he said,
"Hey, great show."

And I met Dorothy

and she was just
absolutely terrific

and a sweetheart.

And I was so thrilled

to be part of this.

[Bruce] Richard took
Paul Snider's idea

and turned it into something

none of us
dreamed was possible.

Something that was tight,
fun.

We had tapped into
something big.

And it was just
the beginning.

[indistinct chatter]

Chippendales is not
a private club.

You don't have to have
a membership card to get in.

They supposedly serve
the general public.

And yet, a number of nights
during the week,

they tell males that
they may not enter.

I frankly don't think
that's right.

Steve decided early on

not to let men into the club
to watch the show.

The show is designed
for women-only audience

and that is what made
the show so famous.

Uh, and that is the only way
we can create an atmosphere

that where ladies
can have a wonderful time.

It's common practice
to have ladies' nights

and the like,
but it is illegal

and we got sued.

We love to perform
for women only.

If men were here, the women
will not react the same.

They will not yell,
and scream, and tip,

and do all kind of...

Kinds of crazy things
that they would normally do.

We've had people
having sexual relations

on the lawn, AC, DC,
and what have you.

They use it
for a public bathroom.

And we resent these things.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bruce] My job as Steve's
lawyer was to clean up

Chippendales' mess
in the morning.

There'd be tons
of neighbor complaints.

There'd be liquor bottles,
and, um, abandoned condoms,

and needles.

That was a daily occurrence.

God bless people,

they all have
their propensities.

My legal bill
run in excess of...

Close to a million dollars
a year.

[Bruce] We were on the map.

Bad boys were exciting.

And Chippendales
was the bad boy.

[women cheering]

Anything that was taboo
that attracted

Hef's attention.

He wanted to see
what this is all about.

And he said,
"Men aren't allowed

in the club for the show."

But Steve was beside himself.

There was no other answer,
but, "Of course, Mr. Hefner."

He was honored.
He was like,

"I must have made it
if Hugh Hefner

wants to come down
and check out my club.

[singer]
♪ I believe in miracles ♪

[Sondra] Hef thought
it was adorable.

He just thought
it was a great idea.

He didn't seem bothered
at all by the fact

that they were wearing
the Playboy cufflinks

and the bowtie.

He seemed
kind of tickled by it.

Like, it was flattering.

And then he left,
and then we continued

to come back by ourselves,
and it was a lot

more fun that way.

[upbeat music playing]

Within six months, Steve
had a five nights a week

club featuring male dancers.

[Dan] Every single night
was packed.

There was no daylight.

You couldn't see the floor,
you couldn't see anything.

That's how many people
were in there.

I gotta say
that the only good thing

about those spandex pants
is that when you had

to get from one side
to the other,

you could slide your way
right through

all the way to the other side.

Intentional disregard
of the law.

Um, basically,
the worst overcrowding series

of events we've ever had
in Los Angeles.

It's unacceptable.

[Roger] There was a sign
on the wall, capacity 299.

But Steve managed to pack 500
to 600 women a night,

and he was fined
by the fire marshal.

But he didn't care.

He made so much money.

[Dan] Steve stood in the
shadows and he just smiled.

He was making tons of money
hand over fist.

And I really think
that he was in shock

every time I looked at him,
just smiling at the crowd,

amazed at how many people
showed up, every single night.

This is a person that comes
from a different country

that's trying to succeed
in the American Dream,

who fell into something
that was big.

Not... it didn't grow
year after, year after year.

It started, and within a year

it was pretty sizable.

It was obvious,
at that point,

that he had goals

of growing it bigger,
and bigger, and bigger.

[indistinct chatter on TV]

And now, your 1980 Playmate
of the Year,

Dorothy Stratten.

Dorothy, you want
to come up here?

[cheers and applause]

[Bruce] Paul Snider married
Dorothy Stratten

just before her career
started taking off.

But their marriage
wasn't a happy marriage.

[crowd applauding]

[Bruce] Paul saw himself
as being instrumental

in Dorothy's career.

It's when Hugh Hefner
took over the mentoring

and shaping of Dorothy,
Paul felt left out.

Um, I would like
to thank my other half,

my photographer,
Mario Caselli,

who I practically
had under contract

for the last year and a half.

[crowd applauding]

And to Hef who has made me
probably the happiest girl

in the world today.
Thank you.

[Sondra] Hef considered
himself to be the one

that discovered her,
because it was his magazine

and that's just
the way he rolled.

I mean, it was his girl,
it was his Playmate.

And he was not gonna have
Paul ruining this for him.

Hef made sure Dorothy
was not going to be seen

with Paul and they really
tried to keep the cameras off

the two of them,
and he was not going

to be sitting
at that table with her.

But he kept...
Just reaching for her.

He just had to have
a piece of her.

[dramatic music playing]

[Sondra] The whole time,
though, she had to save face

and keep smiling.

He became such a nuisance
and such a hindrance.

They tried everything
to get rid of him.

I don't know if anybody
can move that fast,

because I've been
following the movie industry

for many years.

Playboy really misjudged Paul.

They did not know
how far he could go.

[Bruce]
Soon Paul became intolerable.

He was loud, he was arrogant.

He was drinking,
doing too many drugs,

and really thought
that he was Chippendales.

And his ego
became too much for Steve,

and Steve told him to leave.

Uh, he was done,
not to come back.

But it was not the last time
we'd hear of Paul Snider.

[ominous music playing]

[Michael] The whole idea
of building muscle

was important to me.

You know, it was the one thing
that I wanted.

Well, let me be...
Let me be honest here.

It was in a close tie with
the second thing I wanted,

and that was women.

You know, I wanted
the girls to want me.

I wanted the girls
to notice me,

because I was not a...
Or let me just say this,

I did not feel noticed.

[dramatic music playing]

[Michael] I grew up
in East Los Angeles,

it was predominantly Mexican.

So, uh, a lot of Spanish
being spoken everywhere.

I have a German last name
and I have green eyes,

so I kind of stuck out like
a sore thumb.

[dramatic music playing]

[Michael] We didn't come
from a lot of money,
so we didn't have much.

But it was a great place
to grow up.

While I was going to school,

I was so shy and intimidated,

it just felt like I was less
then, because I had dyslexia.

And I was just barely passing
in every grade,

in every class.

When I went into a room,
I was looking for the place

where I can hide the best.

But when I went
to high school,

I got introduced
to a weight room.

And for the first time,

I got to lift weights.

And that, to this day,
was, you know,

the lightning bolt

that came down, that said,
"This is where I belong."

I had this place to go
to where I was somebody.

[dramatic music playing]

I'm reading
the newspaper one day,

and I'm reading about
this club called Chippendales

that was closed down
for being overcrowded.

And these were male dancers
dancing for women.

I was like,
"Well, Chippendales sounded

like an exciting place."

Because the reason
why I'd worked so hard putting

my body together
was so I could meet girls.

So I thought this place
was made for me.

So I got dressed
and I'm going down

the Pomona freeway.

This is way back
before there's GPS,

so, you know,
you have to mark out

where you're going.

You're looking at the paper,
you get off

on Overland Boulevard,
you make a left.

[upbeat music playing]

So I drive in,
I go down Overland,

and there it is,
you know, Chippendales.

So I go inside and there's...

Who I would find out later,
is Steve Banerjee.

And he's sitting
behind this desk

and he just got stacks
of money in front of him.

And all of a sudden,
he just looks up,

and he goes, "Oh, okay.
Start tomorrow."

And goes right back
to whatever he was doing

on his desk.

So I get in my car,

[exhales] you know, now,

now, I'm feeling...
I just did it.

I did it.

You know, I got a job
at Chippendales.

So, my first night...

Steve tells me
that my job is a host.

And the worst thing
that you could have

possibly told me,
he tells me,

"Your job is to talk
to the women."

Now, I may be confident
with my body,

but I cannot
start a conversation.

And then he said,
right before the show starts,

"You're gonna be introduced,
so make sure

that women applaud for you.

Because we can hire
whoever we want,

but the final say
in who stays are the women."

I'm very, very nervous,
because as I looked out

into the audience,
these are none of the women

that I'd see
in my neighborhood.

These women were dressed nice,
these women, you know,

they live in big homes,
they're probably smarter.

If I could just get
a little bit of applause,

you know, I could maybe
just get in there.

[cheers and applause]

Our next gentleman,
this guy...

[Richard] I talked to Michael
before he went out as a host.

I don't know why
he was nervous. I mean...

Well, maybe because you got
500 women screaming at you.

That can make you
a little nervous.

I said, "What do you do?
What are you into?"

He says, "Well, I'm really
into health, and exercise,

and all that stuff."
"Oh, okay."

Please, we can get
arrested for that.

[Michael] So I'm waiting
for my turn, you know,

wait in line, everybody's
getting introduced.

And all of a sudden,
I hear Rich and,

"So the next guy right here
is a nutritionist."

[Richard] And last
but not the least,

our next gentleman,
this guy is studying to be

a nutritionist.

Bam. That... I just...
Now, I know I'm up.

[exhales] So...

This is Michael.
Michael...

[Michael] I walked out
and the place erupted.

[cheers and applause]

[Michael] And it's for me.

I'm thinking, "Oh, this is...
uh, this is good."

You know?

[Richard] The crowd
went nuts for him.

He was a star.
He was a star.

[Roger] I asked myself,
"Maybe this guy

could be trouble.

He could take some attention
away from me."

Having that feeling of being
in the back of the class,

you know, not raising my hand,
trying to, you know,

stay under the radar,
it was like an adrenaline shot

to the heart,
because now I'm in line

with all some of the best guys
in Los Angeles.

And I held my own.

You know,
this kid from East LA

came in and held his own.

You know, as the weeks
and months went on,

I became Chippendales.

I mean,
it was all I thought about.

When I went to the gym,
when I did anything,

it was to look better
for the next night.

I'd been working for the
club just for a few months

and I had been seeing
this gorgeous girl

coming to the club, you know.

And she's tipping,
you know, and...

Not just tipping the dancers,
she's got, like,

the craziest ways
to tip the dancers,

and everybody knows her.

I had never seen a girl
like this where I come from.

Michael came across
as very mysterious and quiet.

I would see him looking at me,
but he never came up to me

and talked to me like
the other ones.

So I became intrigued by him.

[singer]
♪ To an unknown destination ♪

[Michael] I thought
she was way out of my league.

But at the end
of the show one night,

she comes up,
and asked me to dance,

and it was a slow song.

So I said, "Okay."
I put my tray down.

[singer] ♪ I've been arrested
By you, take me in ♪

[Nancy] Michael had that way
of only looking at you.

He's looking into your eyes,
and only your eyes

and everybody else
around you disappeared.

[singer] ♪ I've been arrested
By you... ♪

There was just a connection
with us that night.

And then
that was the beginning.

I was totally taken.

I was totally,
right from the get-go,

I was in love.

[singer] ♪ Take me in ♪

[camera shutter clicking]

[man] You may kiss your bride.

[Nancy] It was like
the whole package.

He was beautiful
on the outside,

but he had
a beautiful soul, too.

I hadn't felt
like that kind of love ever.

[singer] ♪ I don't know
Who I am ♪

♪ But my dilemma's
Where to start ♪

[Nancy] And I became
Nancy Rapp.

[singer] ♪ Something's
Happening in my heart ♪

When you fall in love
like that,

you think it's forever,
you know, good and bad,

and whatever comes our way.

[siren wailing]

[TV reporter] ...at the urging
of her husband,

Paul Snider, she was chosen
the Playmate of the Year.

Friends said the couple
separated two months ago,

and then Paul Snider
no longer liked the idea

of his wife
posing for Playboy magazine.

One day
I was at the club early,

because we were gonna do
some rehearsals

and I was gonna have lunch
with Steve,

and some detectives
came to the club.

And they said,
"Can you tell us

where Steve Banerjee is,
the owner of Chippendales?"

And I said, "Yes, his office
is right over there."

And, uh, I heard them talking
and that's when I heard

Steve say he knew nothing
about it, knew nothing.

And then the detectives
came up to me and said,

"What can you tell us
about Paul Snider?"

[man] Okay, get you up.

Which camera?

[Dorothy] Okay.
Who am I posing for?

As Dorothy got more
and more popular,

Paul got more
and more desperate.

He was not gonna let go of
Dorothy for anything.

That was his meal ticket.

[laughs] Oh, thank you.

Please welcome
Dorothy Stratten.

[cheers and applause]

[Sondra] She was
the perfect package.

She oozed sexual energy,
but yet she was this girl

next door, innocent, perfect,
and sweet.

[man] You really
are a lovely young lady.

Thank you.

[Sondra] All of a sudden,
she was rising

to stardom by herself.

And he saw her slipping away.

She was driven to become
an actress and become a star.

And she recognized
that Paul was not the one

that was going to go
that distance with her.

And so she made a decision
to leave Paul.

[dramatic music playing]

Playboy Magazine's

1980 Playmate of the Year
has been found shot to death,

killed apparently by
her estranged husband,

who then killed himself.

[TV news broadcaster]
Early today, the bodies

of the Playmate
of the Year

and her estranged husband
were found in his house.

Our evidence leads us
to believe,

at this time,
that it was a murder-suicide,

that the husband
shot his wife,

and subsequently
turned the weapon on himself,

and killed himself.

[Sondra] She went there
to ask him to let her free,

to let her go.

She just needed to be able
to walk away.

He tied her up and he tortured
her for several hours.

And then he shot her face off,
which was...

Taking away
what really brought her there.

He didn't want anybody
to have her anymore.

[woman] Were you in the house
when the bodies
were discovered?

-Yes.
-[woman] You were?

Yes.

[woman] Were you in the house
when the shooting occurred?

No.

-[woman] You were not?
-No.

The illusion ofPlayboy
was that we lived

in a perfect world and
nothing bad seemed to happen.

Not in our world.

And it did,
he shattered our world.

[Bruce]
We were all very upset.

At the time, I had no idea
that this was only

the beginning of a series
of tragic misfortunes

that would come
into our lives.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bruce] The success in LA
gave us money to expand.

And Steve wanted New York,
because you're nobody

if you don't have
a club in New York.

LA was second-string
to the famous clubs,

the Studio 54s
and the other clubs

that you'd read
about in history.

So New York became
very important to us.

But first, we needed to find
a partner in New York.

[upbeat music playing]

Pinocchio is a story
of a puppet who wished

he were a real boy.

[Bruce] Nick De Noia
was a producer from New York

who did
children's television,

something called
Unicorn Tales

for which he won an Emmy.

He went on many adventures,
and learned a lot

that a real boy should know,
and finally,

his wish was granted.

He was darn charismatic
and he certainly convinced

Steve that he can put
a deal together in New York.

One day
I get to Chippendales,

I knock on the door
to Steve's office,

and there's someone else
in the room.

And Steve says, "Uh, Richard,
this is Nick De Noia.

He's a producer,
choreographer.

He's won some awards

and he's gonna be
producing the show."

"Producing the show?
It's already a show.

I mean, what is he gonna do?"

"Nick won awards
for a show about unicorns."

"Uh, what does unicorns
have to do anything

with what we're doing?"

Fairy tales are marvelous,
wonderful stories

that was supposed to have
happened a long time ago.

Here is a story...

[Richard] He promised
the world to everybody,

great success, great money
to the dancers, to everybody.

I felt, uh... "Steve, he...

This guy is taking you
for a ride, man."

Because Steve
had a tendency to believe

a lot of people who told him
all sorts of stories

of what they could do
for him.

When we heard that there
was gonna be a new director,

I was excited about it,
because I wanted

to become a dancer.

So Nick, to me,
was the future

and that's what
I was gonna be a part of.

I was gonna be part
of the future.

[Richard] I gave him
the benefit of the doubt

and I was gonna work
with him.

But Nick never showed me
any respect

about what I had created.

He said, "Richard,
you better do it my way,

because I'm the man in charge.

This is my show now."

I kept explaining to him,
"Hey, it's my show."

"No, no, no,
we're changing it."

And Nick basically
stopped talking to me.

He stopped asking me
to do anything.

He was trying to change
things around,

so when he took it
to New York,

he could do his own thing.

When I told Steve,
"Let's just continue do

the show the way
we used to do."

There was nothing
I could do to change his mind.

I... He was sold that Nick
was gonna make this bigger

and better, and more exciting,
and take it all over,

and then we're gonna make
a fortune.

I think I went home
and I was emotional

when I got home.

I'm emotional now,
because I knew

there was no coming back.

There was no coming back.

Once Nick got in there,
that was it.

I was out.

[sniffs]

Yeah.

I was shocked when I learned

that Richard was fired,
but Steve wasn't the kind

of person
that would allow anyone

to stand in his way
of making a lot of money.

You know,
it wasn't the first time

someone betrayed me
and took advantage of me.

I'm a believer in karma.

And Nick and Steve both paid
the big price

for letting themselves
get away with thinking

they could rip somebody off
or hurt somebody

and steal something.

They paid in the long run.

[lights buzzing]

[upbeat music playing]

[Dan] One night
after the show, Steve, and I,

and Nick went to the diner
down the street,

which I went with Steve
probably a couple times

a week.

But this time,
this was different.

Nick talked about
putting together a show

that he could bring
to New York.

They talked
about different acts.

They talked about the music
and Steve

was excited about it.

And then Nick says
that if I create

this wonderful show,
taking it to New York,

he goes, "That's gonna take
Chippendales

to another level.

I wanna be able
to take it on the road,

because I created the show
and it's gonna help you."

Nick started
writing on a napkin,

and it was, like,
three or four lines,

it basically said,
"Steve Banerjee,

owner of Chippendales gives
Nick De Noia the right

to take the show Chippendales
on the road in perpetuity."

Steve signed it.

And that was it.

We ate, talked
more about the show.

Later, I found out
that Steve didn't know

what the word
perpetuity meant.

So I don't think Steve
had any idea

on where this was leading.

That little napkin
changed Chippendales forever.

[rock music playing]