The Chair

The university's in trouble with low student enrollment and some of the elder professors are at the core of the problem. The younger more talented staff is not without their own problems as Sandra Oh's character takes the Chair position to address the problems while contemplating her own needs and desires. It is quirky as well written and engaging, well acted, and plenty of star power. Lots of laughs.

I am a department chair at a college, so I was thrilled to see Sandra Oh star in a show that about the (sometimes) thankless job of management. Ms. Oh delivers a terrific performance and provides enough comedy and vulnerability to hold the audience's attention.

The first episode is hilarious and showcases some of the ridiculous processes that are pervasive in higher ed. Yes, administration is worried about enrollment (true for most colleges today except for the very elite). Yes, there are old-fogey professors who refuse to change with the times and think student evals are a waste of time. Yes, there is pettiness among faculty who hold PhDs but cannot agree on a simple decision. And yes, this generation's college students are more apt to hold faculty and administration accountable for meeting their needs. The worst thing you can say about a professor is that they are . . . Boring.

The side characters are very colorful, especially scene-stealing Holland Taylor (who plays a hilariously bitter older professor), Everyly Carganilla (who plays Sandra Oh's adopted daughter), and Nanah Mensah (who plays a talented young professor seeking ever-elusive tenure).

Beyond the first episode, the series falls into rom-com, which is charming if unrealistic. There is some nice chemistry between Sandra Oh and Jay Duplass, but the relationship does not have much chance to develop in 6 episodes. So, it will be interesting to see if the series renews so it can be explored.

It's been awhile since a comedy about higher ed has been featured, so this is a welcome change.

Finally, a show that's not about cops, crime, zombies, etc.

I love Sandra Oh & the rest of the cast was great, too. It's wonderful seeing a show discussing race & class & privilege in the workplace. I also enjoyed seeing the older actors with interesting storylines & doing comedy, too. Finally, the adoption story was very engaging and something I hadn't seen before. I thought it wrapped up nicely while still leaving room for a second season.

Perhaps I'm the right sort of age for this - mid forties - but I found this pretty funny and of course Sandra Oh is always compelling to watch.

What I find hard to get my head around is that while the subject matter and in fact what the characters are often talking about is race, gender and inequality, the characterization does not live up to those ideals. The characterization of white men, women and people of color are very tired and old. The female chair is always scrambling and in a panic perpetuating the idea that women are less capable in leadership positions, the sole black teacher has no backstory and exists only in relation to the other characters. There is a very typical white male role - 'brilliant washed up professor' who behaves without responsibility but it's excused because he's 1. Brilliant and 2. Sad. So bored of that narrative. The only decent representation is Joan for being a badass but still relies on the old trope that older woman doesn't feel appealing so says what's on her mind because she's nothing to lose.

If you're going to make a series that talks explicitly about issues of gender, race and inequality then your work need to be above what you're critiquing. Otherwise you're not hitting the nail on the head so much as missing the mark entirely. Which is a shame because you can see they're trying.

Perhaps more diversity in the leadership roles and less from the types of people who brought us the death of Khaleesi.