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I've been distracted by something, recently. Something really important. I'm talking, of course, about The Chair Company – the downright genius new show from I Think You Should Leave's Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin.
The comedy conspiracy thriller has just wrapped up its hilarious and terrifying first season with an episode that answers everything and nothing about the show's central mystery and which sets the stage for a second season that could go absolutely anywhere. And now, thanks to some detective work that would make Ron Trosper proud, I think I know when The Chair Company season 2 is coming out. Bear with me, as this will take a little explaining...
In the final episode, Ron gets a new dog, who he names Baby. In one of the weirder moments of the season – and that's saying something – he discovers that the dog actually belongs to somebody else, a man named Asher Barton, who may-or-may-not be some kind of demon. The dog's real name, it turns out, is Minnie Mouse. Ron asks Asher to take a picture of him with Baby/Minnie Mouse and tag him on Instagram, which he does.
When Ron looks at the comments, however, he sees a string of angry messages from various users, @noodlebattery1, @astro.crumbs, and particularly @ghosttoast_studios, who provides the episode with its title, commenting "Minnie Mouse coming back wasn't on my bingo card."
In the process of doing due diligence on my favorite show of the year, I added all of the accounts shown on screen to my personal Instagram. Some are straight up fakes: @plantpunk88, @noodlebattery1, @astro.crumbs. The other two, however, @ghosttoast_studios and @asher_barton76 are live accounts. @ghosttoast_studios hasn't posted yet, but Asher Barton's account has two posts. One is a picture of a Tecca chair with the caption "god i f***ing love these things". The other is more cryptic: a notes app post with the date 04/23/26 and a red circle.
That doesn't take much decoding. This seems like an ARG and that's the date April 23, 2026. The red circle – or rather ball – has been a recurrent image in the show. So what could it mean?
Well, we know that a second season has already been commissioned. Could this be the release date, then? If – and it's a strong if – that's a very fast turnaround for a streaming show. Then again, The Chair Company does not appear to be a particularly expensive or post-production-intensive show to make. It clearly doesn't need the dreaded three-years-per-season turnaround of a Stranger Things. If it is coming out next April then that might also make sense of the strange timing of the announcement of its renewal, two weeks before the first season finale.
Then again, given the labyrinthine and nonsensical nature of this show, it might not mean anything at all. Regardless, I'm going to be keeping an eye on that date and on the @teccachairs account – which is also live – as we anxiously wait for the show to come back.
The Chair Company is streaming in full on HBO Max now. For more great TV, check out our picks for the 25 best shows to watch on HBO Max right now.
