Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Telly addicts

Related: Film discussion forum.

Original poster

The Chair (Netflix)

70 replies

boatyardblues · 20/08/2021 20:10

Anyone else watching? I’m enjoying it. Sandra Oh is on her usual magnificent form. It’s sailing close to the wind in a few places too, which is no bad thing in this day and age.

OP posts:
boogiewithasuitcase · 26/08/2021 11:56

@Gherkingreen

I loved it. It's funny and subtle. Bill is a total frustration but very likeable. Sandra Oh is sublime and beautiful. The actor who plays Joan is brilliant, her character played perfectly. I now want to wear tank tops and cords and swan around looking like how I imagine all academics do. Hoping for more series'.
She is also excellent in the Netflix limited series 'Hollywood'.
Gherkingreen · 26/08/2021 12:35

@boogiewithasuitcase ah thanks, will take a look! Need some new recommendations to watch.

boogiewithasuitcase · 26/08/2021 12:48

[quote Gherkingreen]@boogiewithasuitcase ah thanks, will take a look! Need some new recommendations to watch.[/quote]
You are welcome!

theleafandnotthetree · 26/08/2021 13:11

I loved it, agree that it dealt with so many hot-button AND eternal issues but in a really light and clever/subtle way. I also liked that there are no bad guys as such, everyone is just muddling through in their own and butting up against one another but rarely with malicious intent. It's complex and funny and feels very true to the kind of (re)negotiating of social mores and organisational culture happening more generally today even if the setting is very specific and closed.

Serenissima21 · 26/08/2021 13:33

It was so frustrating that nobody pulled the students up on their twattish behaviour. They were just allowed to hold everyone to ransom.

theleafandnotthetree · 26/08/2021 13:38

@Serenissima21

It was so frustrating that nobody pulled the students up on their twattish behaviour. They were just allowed to hold everyone to ransom.
Frustrating but perhaps not far off the mark. Could some of the academics on the thread comment? You regularly hear of this kind of thing on US campuses but I'm not sure if it's similar in the UK, across Europe etc. While there was some merit in some of their pronouncements, they were also so smug and self-righteous.
MedSchoolRat · 26/08/2021 13:39

I was put off by the redbrick & paneling (Uni where I work is prefab and breezeblocks). 1st episode was funny, 2nd was ok. I don't warm to Sandra Oh but she's ok. Willing to try another.

Newgirls · 26/08/2021 14:05

Bill emerging from a hedge with artfully placed leaves annoyed me. I thought I would love this but it seems overblown? As if they didn’t quite trust the story to be entertaining enough so added silly bits.

boogiewithasuitcase · 26/08/2021 19:52

Theleaf AFIK it is only in the USA.

SunShinesBrightly · 26/08/2021 21:12

Thanks for this! Will add to my list!

Monestera · 26/08/2021 21:19

In my experience English university students are nothing like that political or motivated.

I enjoyed this programme, especially Ji-yoon’s family.

GCAcademic · 26/08/2021 21:28

@boogiewithasuitcase

Theleaf AFIK it is only in the USA.
It is not just in the USA. It started over there but it is picking up pace very quickly over here. Had similar experience (not quite as extreme) in my department not so long ago.
boogiewithasuitcase · 26/08/2021 21:51

Sorry to hear that GC. I thought the students in The Chair were very lucky to have lecturers who cared so much about teaching their subject.

xksismybestletter · 26/08/2021 21:55

Im watching this too as light entertainment. Its enjoyable

In what way is it sailing close to the wind? I didnt think the students were anything particular either.

I am wondering what I am missing!

GCAcademic · 26/08/2021 22:32

The RateMyProfessor website is a real thing, btw, and students do write the kind of thing that featured in Ep 3. There is a ranking you can give your professor to score how hot they are and how easy their class is. The site owners tried to set up a U.K. version, but it didn’t take off here.

irresistibleoverwhelm · 27/08/2021 00:10

Also agree that students here didn't tend to be like that until very recently but are getting much more so. It's been a real culture change in the last, maybe 3-5 years? They are increasingly political and demanding - sending open letters demanding lists of things from the university/department, making complaints etc.!

Netaporter · 27/08/2021 05:08

I enjoyed it. There was a really interesting article in the Times2 this week about the cancel culture in uni’s in the UK. Worth a read.

Agree the actor who played the little girl was fab. Casting in general was also really great. Will deffo watch the next series.

Monestera · 27/08/2021 06:05

Well, since the introduction of student fees, students are now the customer.

Crinkle77 · 27/08/2021 18:18

@Monestera

Well, since the introduction of student fees, students are now the customer.
Oh yes! I work in a university library and they trot that 'I pay 9k a year' line out all the time. I feel like saying you've paid fuck all yet and will probably never pay it all back. Retention is really important so everyone tiptoes round trying not to upset them.
Newgirls · 27/08/2021 22:12

My daughter has actually paid for half her tuition through working - and me the other half through working. They don’t all get loans so yes she is a customer?!

irresistibleoverwhelm · 27/08/2021 22:59

@Newgirls

My daughter has actually paid for half her tuition through working - and me the other half through working. They don’t all get loans so yes she is a customer?!
The fees normally don’t even remotely cover the actual cost of delivering the degree plus all the associated running costs of the university facilities. Most institutions have to cross-subsidise the real cost through other pots of research money and grants, conference income and other commercial rents and activities, and generally just through scrimping, underpaying staff and using increasing amounts of cheap freelance labour to teach rather than established lecturing staff. So it will cost a lot more to teach your daughter than the fees she pays. [In my institution (at the top end to be fair), it’s estimated that the degree actually costs the university more than £19k to provide overall, so students are actually paying less than half of that cost.]

This customer mentality is the result of the last ten years’ governments not making this clear to students and parents, and instead pretending that you can teach a whole university degree for £9k a year. Generally you can’t.

irresistibleoverwhelm · 27/08/2021 23:08

So if a student starts being rude to a lecturer who’s getting a rubbish hourly pay rate and no benefits or pension, or staff who are struggling financially and just about to have their pensions downgraded yet again (plus have seen massive increases in workload over the last few years, pay cuts and incredibly poor work-life balance), they should not expect the “I’m a customer” shiz to go down well. Many academics are working 70/80 hr+ weeks on pay that’s been suffering massive real terms cuts for years now. Students treating staff like they’re entitled to demand what they like because they pay fees does not endear them to anyone at a university.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 28/08/2021 00:25

Just finished. Surprisingly short.

Grumpasaurus · 28/08/2021 00:30

I thought it was okay- not amazing, not awful.

dreamingbohemian · 28/08/2021 00:48

I'm an academic and not enjoying the show

Love all the actors but the writing seems meh

Why is it always English departments in these types of shows? It's a bit boring by now