Take a Seat for Tim Robinson’s The Chair Company Next Month

Nearly a year after getting a series order by HBO, Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin’s new comedy The Chair Company finally has a premiere date: Sunday, October 12, at 10 p.m. While the show’s logline — “After an embarrassing incident at work, a man (Robinson) finds himself investigating a far-reaching conspiracy” — doesn’t reveal many details, the series shares elements of the duo’s past projects: A narrative sitcom like the canceled-too-soon Detroiters, The Chair Company features a character trying to save face after intense humiliation, a frequent premise on I Think You Should Leave. But don’t ask Robinson and Kanin to explain what the show is or how they landed on its format. “None of this is thought out,” Robinson tells Vulture. “It’s not planned. It’s not on purpose.”

Aesthetically, the series shares some overlap with Friendship, the 2025 film directed by Andrew DeYoung and co-starring Robinson and Paul Rudd; DeYoung serves as an executive producer on The Chair Company and directed its pilot. Superficially, Robinson’s protagonist character, William Ronald Trosper, might remind some viewers of his Friendship character, Craig Waterman, but Robinson thinks his Chair Company character might be a little easier to stomach for cringe-averse viewers: “I actually don’t think Ron is as tough of a hang as Craig Waterman is,” he says. “I think Ron is a prideful man, and like a lot of characters that Zach and I have worked on, doesn’t like to be embarrassed … This time, maybe he found something he can actually do.”

Rounding out the cast of the eight-episode series are Lake Bell, Sophia Lillis, Will Price, Joseph Tudisco, Lou Diamond Phillips, and a bunch of other actors Kanin says “we haven’t seen a lot before” to lend the series an element of realism. Beyond that, he and Robinson don’t want to say too much; they’d rather not pollute potential surprising elements for viewers. “When I watch a show or a movie, I don’t want to know anything about it,” Kanin says. “I would want to just be surprised by everything.” Get a first look at the series below — unless you want to follow Kanin’s instructions and be surprised, in which case, look away immediately.