Tim Robinson’s next project is a go, and it’s coming from a supergroup of former Saturday Night Live minds.
On Tuesday, HBO confirmed that it has ordered a new half-hour comedy series from Robinson, who first rose to prominence as an SNL cast member in 2012 . Titled The Chair Company, the series follows a man named William Ronald Trosper (Robinson), who “after an embarrassing incident at work… finds himself investigating a far-reaching conspiracy.”
While that’s all that is known about the project at the moment, it sounds very much like Robinson and the odd character pieces he stages on his critically acclaimed Netflix sketch show, I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson.
In addition to starring in the series, Robinson will also write and executive produce the project alongside former SNL writer Zach Kanin. Adam McKay, another alum of SNL‘s writers’ room, will executive produce through his HyperObject Industries banner (which also produced Succession, Painting With John, and Winning Time for HBO).
Kanin has collaborated with Robinson on all of the comedian’s key projects since their days at Saturday Night Live, including I Think You Should Leave, Detroiters, and Robinson’s episode of the Netflix series The Characters.
However, it will be the first time either of them team up with McKay, who was a writer on Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 2001, including three years as a head writer. While at SNL, McKay created the recurring Celebrity Jeopardy sketch and the show’s first Digital Shorts. He went on to become a frequent collaborator of Will Ferrell on movies like Anchorman, Step Brothers, and Talladega Nights.
Robinson joined the SNL cast as a featured player in 2012. After one season, he moved to the writers’ room, where he remained for another three years. Kanin served as a writer from 2011 to 2016.
“With an imprint only Tim and Zach can have on a character, William Ronald Trosper follows in the strong tradition of HBO comedy leads,” said Amy Gravitt, EVP of HBO & Max Comedy Programming. “I couldn’t be happier to announce the pickup of this wildly enjoyable show.”
