Tim Robinson's The Chair Company manufactures release date and first look

The Chair Company gave us doubles today. Almost exactly a year after it was ordered by HBO, the upcoming Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin series has both a premiere date and a first look. Make sure you claim the comfiest chair in your living room this fall, because The Chair Company will officially arrive on both HBO and HBO Max October 12. We still don’t know much about the actual plot of the show, apart from its logline: “After an embarrassing incident at work, a man (Robinson) finds himself investigating a far-reaching conspiracy.” We’ve certainly seen Robinson’s characters embarrass themselves before (in dozens of increasingly ridiculous ways), so that description could really mean anything. Despite lots of experience in the trenches with both Detroiters (R.I.P.) and I Think You Should Leave, Robinson and Kanin claim they don’t really know what they’re doing either. “None of this is thought out,” Robinson recently told Vulture. “It’s not planned. It’s not on purpose.”

We do know that Robinson stars as a man named William Ronald Trosper. He leads a cast that also includes Lake Bell (Barb Trosper), Sophia Lillis (Natalie Trosper), Will Price (Seth Trosper), Joseph Tudisco (Mike Santini), and Lou Diamond Phillips (Jeff Levjman). Andrew DeYoung, who directed the recent Robinson and Paul Rudd-led Friendship, also directed the pilot and serves as executive producer. But while even the most tolerant Robinson fans may be psyching themselves up to stomach yet another cringeworthy character, the actor suggests that Ron won’t be as “tough of a hang as (his Friendship character) Craig Waterman is.” That’s an extremely low bar, but may be reassuring for queasy viewers nonetheless. “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,” Robinson continued. “This time, maybe he found something he can actually do.”

You can check out the first look images below, although Kanin encourages fans not to. “When I watch a show or a movie, I don’t want to know anything about it,” he said. “I would want to just be surprised by everything.” Regardless of whether or not you take his advice, we’re sure The Chair Company will have more surprises in store come October.