After starring on the record-making ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy and as she wraps up her time on BBC’s Killing Eve, Sandra Oh has a new hit on her hands! Oh’s latest credit, The Chair, hit Netflix on Friday, Aug. 20, and it’s already making a massive impact on the streamer’s Top 10 lists.
Created by Amanda Peet and Annie Julia Wyman, the Netflix original series stars Oh as Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim, the first woman of color to become chair at the prestigious Pembroke University. As the first woman to chair the English department and as one of the few staff members of color at the university, Ji-Yoon is faced with a unique set of challenges as she tries to meet the dizzying demands and high expectations of a failing English department. Along with Oh, the comedy stars Jay Duplass, Holland Taylor, Bob Balaban, Nana Mensah, David Morse, and Everly Carganilla.
Prior to its debut, The Chair generated plenty of buzz online, and according to its current success on the streaming platform, that chatter was well-deserved. The Chair immediately debuted on Netflix’s streaming charts and currently ranks as No. 2 among all series on the platform. It falls just behind the recently canceled NBC drama Manifest, which has had a two-month streak on the streaming charts. Among series, it comes ahead of All American, Outer Banks, and Cocomelon, which round out the top five. The show also made its way to the Top 10 overall chart. Currently ranked as the No. 4 title on the platform, The Chair falls just behind Manifest, The Loud House Movie, and Sweet Girl, the Jason Momoa-starring film that debuted at No. 1.
If Netflix’s streaming charts alone aren’t enough to convince you to press “play” on The Chair just yet, a quick glimpse at some of the headlines about the series may be. The Atlantic dubbed The Chair “Netflix’s best drama series in years,” writing that “the near-perfect show elegantly skewers the subject of free speech on campus.” Slate Magazine said the series “nails the cultural conflicts of modern academia.”
BuzzFeed, meanwhile, compiled a 17-point list giving you more than enough reasons to tune in. Those reasons include the series doing “a great job of showing the futile efforts of trying to change an academic system that has been in place for years” and The Chair following “a perfectly bingeable format — with just six episodes, it’s easy to watch it all in one sitting.” BuzzFeed also shared plenty of praise for the cast, writing that Oh “leads a perfect ensemble” and her “ability to combine comedy and drama — with a hint of rom-com — is extraordinary.” Need even more reasons? Well, according to BuzzFeed, The Chair will “perfectly fill the Dead to Me–shaped hole in your heart.” The Chair is available for streaming on Netflix. Stay tuned to PopCulture for the latest streaming news!