‘A far-reaching conspiracy’: HBO teases Tim Robinson and ‘The Chair Company’

Hey, Popculturology friends. Welcome to the Friday edition of the newsletter.

There’s a ton of pop culture news to talk about this week — a first look at The Chair Company, Paramount Skydance possibly buying Warner Bros. Discovery, a great new trailer for Wake Up Dead Man — but did you all see the news that NASA’s Perseverance rover possibly ... maybe ... found “the clearest sign of life that we’ve ever found on Mars”?

That’s cool, right? Please tell me space is still cool ...

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If you’re not already subscribed to Snackology, now is a great time to add it to your The Omnicosm membership. (It’s free.) Where else are you going to read stellar snack coverage like my review of the Mountain Dew and Trolli collaboration?

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Here’s what I’ve been reading this week …

• Midnight in Chernobyl (Adam Higginbotham)

NEWS, NOTES & TRAILERS

Are you ready for Tim Robinson on HBO?

If you thought it was wild that A24 made Tim Robinson the star of an entire movie, are you ready for the Friendship star to get the HBO treatment?

HBO slightly pulled back the curtain on The Chair Company, the upcoming series from Robinson and his Detroiters and ITYSL co-creator Zach Kanin, dropping a few photos of Robinson, Lake Bell and other cast members this week.

The prestige network/streaming service has been tightlipped when it comes to revealing what Robinson fans can expect from The Chair Company, offering just the following longline: “After an embarrassing incident at work, a man (Robinson) finds himself investigating a far-reaching conspiracy.”

HBO also refers to the eight episodes that will begin premiering on Oct. 12 as a season, giving me hope that The Chair Company will continue beyond a first season instead of just being a limited series. (This feels like how HBO always treated Danny McBride’s shows, right?) (HBO)