The Chair (2021 TV Series)

''The Chair'' is an American comedy drama streaming television series. The series was released on Netflix on August 20, 2021. It is set at the fictional Pembroke University, "in what seems like New England".

Plot

Professor Ji-Yoon Kim is the newly appointed chair of the English department at Pembroke University. The first woman chosen for the position, she attempts to ensure the tenure of a young black colleague, negotiate her relationship with her crush, friend, and well-known colleague Bill Dobson, and parent her strong-willed adopted daughter.

Cast and characters

Main

* Sandra Oh as Ji-Yoon Kim, the new English department chair at Pembroke University
* Jay Duplass as Bill Dobson, Kim's friend and colleague who is a mess after his wife died and his daughter left for college
* Bob Balaban as Elliot Rentz, a senior faculty member of the English department
* Nana Mensah as Yaz McKay, a young faculty member of English department who is up for tenure
* Everly Carganilla as Ju-Hee "Ju Ju" Kim, Ji-Yoon's adopted daughter
* David Morse as Paul Larson, a dean at Pembroke University who oversees the English department
* Holland Taylor as Joan Hambling, a senior faculty member of the English department

Recurring

* Ji Lee as Habi, Ji-Yoon's father
* Ron Crawford as Professor McHale, a senior faculty member of the English department
* Ella Rubin as Dafna Eisenstadt, an English student
* Mallory Low as Lila, Dobson's teaching assistant
* Jordan Tyson as Capri
* Simone Joy Jones as Joy
* Marcia Debonis as Laurie, the English department chair's assistant
* Bob Stephenson as IT Support technician
* Cliff Chamberlain as Ronny

Guest

* David Duchovny as Himself (in "The Last Bus in Town")

Episodes

Production

''The Chair'' was created by Amanda Peet and Annie Julia Wyman. Peet also served as an executive producer, alongside David Benioff, D. B. Weiss, Bernie Caulfield, Daniel Gray Longino, and Sandra Oh. Peet and Annie Julia Wyman co-wrote the pilot episode. Washington & Jefferson College in Washington, Pennsylvania, and the Shadyside campus of Chatham University in Pittsburgh were used to represent Pembroke University, with the Shadyside neighborhood standing in for the town of Pembroke.

Reception

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 86 percent approval rating with an average rating of 6.9 out of 10, based on 69 critic reviews. The critics consensus reads, "''The Chair'' is too short to achieve all of its ambitions, but spot-on observations about academia and a sturdy ensemble led by an empathetic—and hilarious—performance from Sandra Oh ensure it's never less than watchable." Metacritic gave the series a weighted average score of 73 out of 100 based on 33 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".

Reviewing the series for ''USA Today'', Kelly Lawler gave the series a rating of three out of four stars and said, "Like most college students, ''The Chair'' is incredibly ambitious at what it will achieve in its short time and occasionally falls flat, but overall the series beats the metaphorical curve."

Ben Travers of ''IndieWire'' gave the series a B and wrote, "If ''The Chair'' were just a collegiate-level romantic-comedy, it would be a delight, boosted further by its brevity, but the show's eagerness to cover more ground is both exciting and a bit much."

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chair, The (2021 TV series)
2020s American college television series
2020s American workplace comedy television series
2020s American workplace drama television series
2020s American comedy-drama television series
2021 American television series debuts
English-language Netflix original programming
Television shows filmed in Pennsylvania
Television shows filmed in Pittsburgh
Television series about educators
Works about academia