I am attracted to men in suits, but not at all to the corporate world, the heterosexist trajectory of job, house, wife, kids that was pushed endlessly through my childhood. I want a world of art and beauty.
So at first I wasn't interested in The Chair Company on HBO MAX, starring Tim Robinson as Ron Trosper, a "job, house, wife, and kids" guy whose chair collapses during a Very Important Presentation, leading to more mishaps that threaten to destroy his Very Important Career.
Trying to track down the Chair Company responsible for the defective chair, he ends up at an empty warehouse. Later a guy assaults him, telling him to "Forget about the chair company."
He doesn't. He tracks down his assailant, Mike (Joseph Tudisco), a security guard at a local cafe. But Mike says "I was hired by a guy I'd never met. He didn't show his face."
Maybe they could work together to find him?
Wait -- why is Mike so interested in helping? There must be some gay-subtext buddy-bonding going on. I'm reviewing the next episode, 1.3: @BrownDerbyHistoricVids Little Bit of Hollywood? Okayyy.
Try putting that in the Works Cited section of your research paper.
Scene 1: Family Man Ron is at Game Night with his daughter, her fiancee, and her fiancee's parents. Hey, Daughter is gay. What a surprise -- I figured this show would be entirely heteronormative. Ulp, he gets a text: "No way out!", with a photo of him taken at that moment from the hall closet.
He pulls open the closet door, and a little person pushes him aside and runs out. Family Man Ron gives chase, but Partner Mike rushes up and explains "He's my guy, LT (Joe Apelian). I had him watching to make sure you weren't setting me up."
LT meant that there was "no way out" of his hiding place. He sent the text to the wrong guy.
Scene 2: The enraged Ron wants to end the partnership, but Mike has intel: he tracked down the guy who paid him to scare Ron, but that guy was hired by someone else, and paid $50,000 for the job. That's quite a lot -- usually scares go for $400.
LT interrupts, yelling that Partner Mike isn't his friend, he's no good. He begins kicking boxes.
Left: None of the three have beefcake photos online, so I'm posting 1990s heartthrob Lou Diamond Phillips, who plays the CEO of Family Man Ron's company.
Scene 3: That night, while asleep, Ron keeps imagining LT staring at him. He checks all the closets.
In the morning, he asks his wife if they can install a security system today. A reasonable plan, but he makes it sound crazy by imagining someone with a gun bursting in and forcing them to kill each other.
Scene 4: At work, Ron is discussing something about square footage with a client (Mike Britt). A literal bug crawls into Ron's phone. Now we're getting surreal.
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When he has a spare moment, he tries to find out who owns the empty warehouse -- ulp, you have to make your request in person. But before he can duck out, he is dragged into the atrium to watch his tv interview about a shopping mall the company is building: "The way you think about Canton, Ohio is about to change: you're about to step into a bit of Hollywood." Thus the title.
The whispering is about a Mistakes Party -- where you admit your mistakes-- that Ron isn't invited to, because he's the boss.
The guy being whispered to is Cal, played by Joshua Pangborn, who starred in Skeleton Crew (2015-22). It sounds like a drama: In every season, a bear couple and their straight friends host a Halloween party that goes terribly wrong. They have to deal with the tragedy and figure out how to go on with their lives. Every friggin' year? I'd stop hosting those parties. But there also seems to be ghosts, mad scientists, and time travel.
And frontal nudity. After the break. Caution: Explicit
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