Actress Illeana Douglas sets Web TV show at Ikea

‘Easy to Assemble' comedy features 10 episodes

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, October 1, 2008

LOS ANGELES - Ikea is the setting, and often the subject matter, of a new Web-based comedy show created by and starring movie and TV actress Illeana Douglas.

Actress Illeana Douglas works at an Ikea store in her new online series, “Easy to Assemble.”

"Easy to Assemble" appears on the CBS-owned Web site www.tv.com. Episodes are a few minutes long and follow Douglas as she quits show business to work at an Ikea store, according to a Reuters story on the project.

In a recent episode, Douglas and her friend, actress Justine Bateman, talk about their lives working retail jobs after careers in film and television. While Douglas has moved on to the Swedish home furnishings retailer, Bateman still works at a "supermarket to the stars" that was in an earlier Web series also made by Douglas, "Illeanarama."

Part of the show features an "Actors Anonymous" group of actors who are challenged by life outside their performing careers. The session takes place in an Ikea room setting.

According to Reuters, Ikea paid Douglas $50,000 to produce the 10-episode series, which features appearances by actors including Jeff Goldblum, Ed Begley Jr. and Tom Arnold.