Sandra Oh is back on the small screen, and this time she has a big seat to fill in The Chair.

Canada’s own Sandra Oh stars as the first woman of color to be named chair of the English department at an elite university in the delightful new Netflix series The Chair.

In the new six-episode dramedy (premiering Friday Aug 20th), Oh stars as Dr. Ji-Yoon Kim. She’s a professor who recently became the Chair of the English Department at the fictional Pembroke University, an elite university. She’s the first woman ever to take the position, and she must grapple with many challenges. Challenges that come with being one of the few people of color on the college’s overwhelmingly white male staff.

Co-created and written by Amanda Peet and Annie Julia Wyman, The Chair allows Oh to show off even more of her comedic chops, as her character Ji-Yoon navigates institutional racism and sexism, confronts a scandal involving her colleague and love interest (Jay Duplass), and tries to chart a path forward for the embattled school.

The cast includes Holland Taylor as veteran professor Joan Hambling and Bob Balaban as the insecure Professor Elliot Rentz. It includes Nana Mensah as Professor Yaz McKay, a young Black colleague who Ji-Yoon befriends. It also includes David Morse as the college dean Paul Larson, and Everly Carganilla as Ju-Hee “Ju Ju” Kim, Ji-Yoon’s young daughter.

Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Sandra Oh and series creator Amanda Peet. She also spoke with co- stars Jay Duplass, Bob Balaban and Nana Mensah about the series.

You can watch all of the interviews in the playlist below.