Your gaming chair may recline. It may have RGB. It may even have a lumbar pillow that pretends to help. Toyota has decided that it is cute. Toyota Boshoku has developed the “CROWN SEAT” Desk Chair, a made-to-order chair based on the front seat used in the Toyota Crown. This luxurious car seat turned gaming chair will set you back nearly $3,500, more than twice the amount I spent on my most recent desktop setup.
A Crown seat for your spreadsheet kingdom
The idea is exactly as strange as it sounds. Toyota took the front seat from its Crown lineup, put it on an office-chair base, and turned it into something meant for a desk instead of a driveway.
The official catalog shows a chair that still very much looks like it belongs in a car, with the kind of cushioning and support you would expect from a premium vehicle seat. Toyota Boshoku says the goal is to bring the Crown’s comfort into offices and living spaces, which is exactly the sort of sentence that sounds strange until you remember how many hours people spend sitting at a desk.
Toyota Boshoku
Toyota Boshoku also worked with Japanese office furniture company ITOKI on the chair structure, so it can function like an actual desk chair. It also carries over several comfort features from the Crown, including powered reclining, powered seat adjustment, lumbar support, and front tilt control.
The comfort features are where the chair starts sounding more tempting than it should. There is a seat heater for cold mornings and overactive office AC. There is also seat ventilation, with built-in fans that help pull heat away from the backrest and cushion. Long workdays, gaming sessions, or late-night spreadsheet marathons should be a little kinder to your back.
The seat belt buckle charges your phone now
The best detail is sitting right where the seat belt buckle would normally be. Toyota has turned that area into a USB-C charging port, so your phone can plug into the chair itself.
A portable rechargeable battery powers the electric adjustments, heater, and ventilation, giving the whole thing the behavior of a powered car seat in office-chair form.
At around $3,500, the Crown Seat Desk Chair costs more than plenty of gaming rigs. Only 70 units are reportedly planned for Japan, which could make it difficult for customers to get their hands on one. If you want something that’s easier to get your hands on, our list of the best gaming chairs you can buy right now is worth checking out.
Serials have become the backbone of the streaming era, especially on Netflix. Serialized television is when a show’s plot unfolds in sequential order over the course of a season. It’s long-form storytelling that typically works best with dramas—Stranger Things, The Crown, etc. Watching the episodes in release order matters. Often, these shows are binged because the complex character arcs and cliffhangers encourage streaming multiple episodes at once.
Serial shows can feel like homework, especially when you fall behind on an episode and need to catch up. That always happens to me, and it leads to anxiety I didn’t want. Thankfully, Netflix offers shows where viewers can jump at any time and not feel lost. These episodic series are perfect for jumping around and picking the episodes you want to watch. One of the most famous comedies ever fits the criteria of an episodic sitcom. Anthology shows, including a Netflix sci-fi classic, are also ideal for watching episodes out of order.
Black Mirror
Welcome to your worst nightmare
Black Mirrorwants to scare you. Charlie Brooker’s sci-fi anthology series has been warning humanity about the dangers of technology since 2011. It seems like ages ago that Rory Kinnear had sexual intercourse with a pig in the first episode. Apologies for the spoiler, but the media’s role in the spread of misinformation has never been more relevant.
Black Mirror features self-contained episodes with a beginning, middle, and an end. There has only been one direct sequel: USS Callister: Into Infinity, a season 7 episode that continues the events of season 4’s USS Callister. Otherwise, feel free to jump around and check out the best episodes of each season. Since most episodes feature bleak endings, I’ll leave you with one that ends on an upbeat note: San Junipero.
Seinfeld
Greatest comedy ever?
Comedies are the perfect vehicle for episodic storytelling. While having an overarching plot throughout a season helps attract viewers, many comedy fans are just looking for a few laughs. Write a self-contained story with numerous jokes over 20 to 30 minutes, and you’re ready to go. Seinfeld, aka the show about nothing, is the ideal escape from serialized dramas.
Seinfeld stars Jerry Seinfeld as a fictionalized version of himself as he navigates the comedic scene in New York City. The show revolves around Jerry’s interactions with his friends George (Jason Alexander), Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), and Kramer (Michael Richards). The gang faces a problem, hilarity ensues, and the episode ends. That’s really all you need to know. Enjoy the laughs.
I hate referring to episodes of television as “mini-movies.” However, that’s how I would describe the eight episodes of Cabinet of Curiosities. Each director puts their own signature style on a story and brings audiences into their terrifying creation. Del Toro wrote two of the episodes, including one about a demon being summoned. Some are scarier than others, but horror fans will feel right at home with this series.
Beat Bobby Flay
Bobby brings the heat
As I’ve gotten older, the Food Network has become one of my favorite channels. I mean, who doesn’t love food? I love eating my (average) home-cooked meal while watching contestants duke it out in the kitchen onmy favorite show, Beat Bobby Flay. The competition breaks down into two rounds. In the first round, two chefs have 20 minutes to construct a meal using a secret ingredient. The winner advances to the main event, where they face off against Bobby Flay.
The challenger gets to pick the dish for the final round, so Bobby has a disadvantage. However, Bobby is an award-winning chef with a few tricks up his sleeves. He can handle making a version of your grandmother’s lasagna. With episodes available on Netflix, be prepared to learn why Bobby always throws chiles into his dishes.
S.W.A.T.
Broadcast TV still knows how to make entertaining programs
The procedural is a genre best produced on broadcast television. Name a cop, doctor, or law drama—chances are it’s a procedural on broadcast TV. While the way we watch television has changed, people still love these types of shows on CBS, NBC, Fox, and ABC. Law & Order, NCIS, and Criminal Minds are procedurals that gained a bigger following thanks to streaming.
S.W.A.T. is cut from the same cloth as Chicago P.D. and CSI. Sergeant Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson (Shemar Moore) is tasked with leading a new S.W.A.T. unit in the LAPD. This action-packed show utilizes a “case of the week” formula in which the team must solve a dangerous situation, such as active shooters and hostage situations. You’re in and out in 44 minutes. What’s better than that?
Netflix has more content coming your way
After you’re done watching these shows, stay on Netflix for more top-notch content. Netflix has an entire section dedicated to thrillers, and this week, The Guilty and El Camino are two of the section’s best. Keep an eye out for new movies, like Alan Ritchson’s War Machine, which is currently in the streamer’s top 10.
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