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The Chair Company started today, reteaming Andrew DeYoung and Tim Robinson. Aaron Schimberg will supposedly also be involved. Seems promising so far

I am so far loving The Chair Company. I was afraid Robinson's absurdist comedy and his Sandler-like tendencies wouldn't translate well to a scripted series, but I am happily being proven wrong, at least two episodes in. I'd all but given up on series not produced by Nathan Fielder and can't think of any that I've felt compelled to watch in the past few years outside of How To with John Wilson and the Rehearsal.

It's not far off from his feature Friendship, and feels like a companion piece in style and substance. The TV format though gives his brand of comedy more breathing room than that film did. I won't go into detail about the different gags, but there's a throw away scene at a clothing store that I've been quoting in my head since watching it Sunday.

Agreed. My wife also seems to like The Chair Company a lot more than any of his other work, enough to watch the second episode twice within 24 hours! The half hour dark comedy structure really works well for his brand. The second episode felt like Robinson transplanted himself into a noir plot only to pivot to horror at the end. They do a great job at gesturing at genre while keeping a strong tentpole in the center for Robinson's style

My fiancée observed that this is the first Tim Robinson character who’s aware that it’s bad to act like a Tim Robinson character, still falling into the screaming paranoia and ridiculous aggrievements but wanting to be better than that for his family (if less so his coworkers). Friendship made it so there’s no way of understanding how he succeeded being a family man or businessman prior to the movie starting, but this could be a reliable if sometimes too goofy dad who’s gotten pushed into the worst version of himself by an absurd conspiracy. I don’t think I’ve ever been touched by a Tim Robinson project until the last scene showing how much his kids love him before the turn into horror of not being able to escape the shadow self.

Also, it’s been great to see my favorite working cinematographer Ashley Connor get to show off while playing silliness totally seriously.

I'm not sure I have anything to say about it, but the absurdist chaos of that last episode of The Chair Company was incredible. Unsettling and at the same time deeply funny. The show is oddly sound on story-telling fundamentals. All these stupid details, and yet they end up moving the plot and characters forward or tie up loose ends. I'm continually impressed how the show turns random absurdity into crucial plot information when so many shows would make the randomness the point.

I think what works for this show is that unlike Friendship, where Robinson was the absurdist canker in a normal world, here Robinson is closer to the normal centre of an absurdist world. Closer, because obviously there's an unhealthy obsessiveness; but so often Robinson is the only person reacting normally in a given situation. So while he's not entirely the straight man, he is a normal guy plunged into a nightmare instead of being the sole creator of his own personal nightmare like the earlier movie. He feels shame and embarrassment; he knows he's taking risks with his behaviour. That's unique for a Robinson character.

I'm liking this show even more than Robinson's movie.

Mr Sausage wrote: Mon Nov 10, 2025 1:34 pmSo while he's not entirely the straight man, he is a normal guy plunged into a nightmare instead of being the sole creator of his own personal nightmare like the earlier movie.

My thoughts exactly, especially coming off of last night's episode (which felt right up there with Euphoria's "Stand Still Like the Hummingbird" in terms of set piece-hopping intensity) - I'm loving how Robinson and Kanin are creating all of these mini Tim Robinson-esque characters to embody his brand of comedy more than Robinson himself does - something that, with a bit of context, only dials up the paranoia further! Last night, Alberto Isaac might've issued the most laughs-per-second of the show yet, at the bar but completely in a vacuum before the consuming absurdity kicked in. The balance of tones is just getting better, to the point where I think episode five of The Chair Company could be the best thing Tim's done yet

I totally missed that it's Aimee Mann covering The Carpenters' song as the needledrop at the end of last week's ep!

Which was even funnier (for me) since the whole sequence had a Magnolia vibe despite the reveal of what that Christmas Carol adaptation actually was.

Mr Sausage wrote: Mon Nov 24, 2025 1:27 pm

Spoiler

The fact that there's a comprehensible, prosaic solution to this mystery is the most surprising thing about the show.

Spoiler

I'm skeptical of just how full the pat conclusion to that one mystery is - the guy calling him at the exact moment he's in the office, discovering the correct name, and the people involved walk in... I dunno. It certainly fits within the absurd nature of the show, but I expect there to be a twist. So far, almost everyone Ron has met from Tecca (Mike, the guy who had to work naked, the actor, etc.) hasn't had the truly knowledgable or fully-involved role that Ron suspected they did, or that they behaved as if they had, so this could be another red herring of sorts.

Spoiler

Yeah, I was expecting this to be a genuine conspiracy and probably not targeting Ron specifically, at least at the outset. What surprised me about the reveal was how humble it was, because that kind of local everyday corruption sits so weirdly next to everyone's actual behaviour. Such a humdrum conspiracy and yet it seems to drive all its bit players absolutely mental. But then bathos has been part of this show's wheelhouse since jump, so I shouldn't've been too surprised.

Happy to hear about season 2.