While TheChair is set in the ivory-tower realm of academia, Oh insists in a new Netflix video that the series is “really about the present moment… how to live right now with all the things that I think everyone is going through, and hopefully that everyone is more conscious about. Patriarchy, sexism, ageism, what it is to be a single mom, being stuck between two cultures, and it’s all a comedy.” That means it’s just about as far as you can get from Oh’s Eve alter ego, MI-5 agent Eve Polastri, and that’s by design: Oh has said that she was searching for a “friendlier” project after the darkness of Killing Eve (which is currently shooting its fourth and final season in London) and admits that her Chair character of Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim “is the closest character to myself that I’ve ever played.” Looking for a good crib sheet on this can’t-miss comedy, which—extra credit!—was created by actress AmandaPeet? Here is everything you need to know about Season 1 of The Chair:
When does The Chair premiere?
TheChair premieres on Friday, Aug. 20, so find yourself a chair and get ready to binge.
How to watch The Chair?
All episodes of TheChair will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix.
How many episodes of The Chair are in Season 1?
Season 1 is comprised of six half-hour episodes.
When will The Chair episodes be released?
All of The Chair’s six Season 1 episodes will drop simultaneously on Netflix on Friday, Aug. 20.
Who is in The Chair cast?
Oh stars as Professor Ji-Yoon Kim, the first woman of color to become chair of the English department at a New England liberal arts college. Her colleague, Professor Bill Dobson, whom she has romantic feelings for, is played by Jay Duplass. The actor has described his character, who gets filmed making a Nazi salute in class, as a “f***ing mess.” The Chair cast also includes Holland Taylor as Professor Joan Hambling, Bob Balaban as Professor Elliot Rentz, Nana Mensah as Professor Yaz McKay, David Morse as Dean Paul Larson, Ji Yong Lee as Habi, Everly Carganilla as Ju-Hee “Ju Ju” Kim. Perhaps most tantalizing, David Duchovny will guest star as a character that’s been described as “a fictionalized version of himself”—or, as Peet has put it, “a crazy Hollywood schmuck.” Peet’s also revealed that Duchovny’s first appearance in the series finds him emerging from a pool in nothing but a Speedo. “He’s able to take the piss out of himself on a fairly massive scale,” Peet told EntertainmentWeekly about Duchovny’s douche-y portrayal of himself. “He’s willing to come off as a jackass.” In an even greater example of art imitating life, Peet also noted that Duchovny “has these serious academic credentials.” (Before the 61-year-old actor got into showbiz, he earned English lit degrees from Princeton and Yale.)
Is there a trailer for The Chair?
In the series’ official trailer, Professor Ji-Yoon Kim’s department is admittedly in the midst of a “dire crisis.” As Oh’s character says in the preview, “I feel like someone handed me a ticking time bomb because they wanted to make sure a woman was holding it when it explodes.”
What is The Chair about?
The comedy follows Pembroke University’s new English department chair, Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim. Oh’s character is “faced with a unique set of challenges as the first woman to chair the department, and as one of the few staff members of color at the university. The older staff fear change, while new blood, like professor Yasmin McKay (Mensah), agitate for it,” per the series’ official synopsis. “Ji-Yoon tries to juggle her new administrative responsibilities—clashing with close co-workers who were confidants before she became the boss—with motherhood to her young daughter Ju Ju (Carginilla) and caretaking for her father Habi (Ji Yong Lee).” At the same time, Oh’s character “is struggling to discern if her platonic relationship with beloved English professor Bill Dobson (Duplass) is becoming something more and, if it even should. When Bill is captured on video making a controversial gesture the student body erupts into a call for accountability and Ji-Yoon’s ride gets even wilder.” Oh has said about the series, “Mostly what it is, is what it’s like to live right now with all the things that I think everyone is going through—questioning things, questioning patriarchy, questioning institutions, questioning the education system. And you basically just see this English department try and muddle their way through a controversial eve.” Showrunner Peet has also explained that she and Oh, who is another executive producer on the show, wanted to explore “how exhausting” it can be to “be a woman in a supervising role” as well as being a “person of color on top of that.” “You have to do your job, then you also have to navigate all of this subliminal shit that goes on because you represent a change in culture,” Peet said. “When you are a woman of color you’re constantly being put to the test in covert ways (and blatantly) — white men don’t experience this added pressure when they are ascending the ranks of their professions.”
Where was TheChair filmed?
Oh and co. left the glitz of Tinseltown far behind to film The Chair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania—specifically, in the city’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. The real-life Washington and Jefferson College in the Pittsburgh suburb of Washington stands in for the show’s Pembroke campus, while other Steel City locales like Pittsburgh International Airport and the tiny Pennsylvania town of Sewickley reportedly pop up as well. Next, Get Ready for Fall TV With Our 2021 Schedule, Including the Full FOX, ABC, CBS and NBC Lineup!
