SQUAT! An animated workplace sitcom

About the show

SQUAT! takes place in a mid-sized fitness centre in the Boston suburbs. It follows Scott Carter, a former big-shot marketing executive who has been out of work for a few months and takes a job at Squat Spot Fitness out of desperation.

Scott quickly discovers that the place is run by Jack Pemberton, an ethically questionable lottery winner who bought the gym and doesn’t care about running it, and by an endearing but largely incompetent general manager who doesn’t know squat about running a fitness centre. With the help of a freakishly wise janitor and a bright fitness director, Scott manages to keep the gym open for at least a bit longer.

The cast embodies many of the social and political issues of the day. Rather than tackle them head-on, each episode hides its issue inside a seemingly petty argument among the staff, and part of the fun is working out what the episode is really about. A running thread sees Jack hand Scott a dubious task, and Scott try to get it done his own way without compromising his ethics.

The gym setting makes room for a big cast of recurring members and guests, from the 1980s guy in the overly revealing shorts to the mom always seen in the background doing some very strange exercise.