edgepedia

Arts and culture / Screen and stage / Film and television / Series and fictional screen worlds / Unscripted, reality, and web-native series / Web-native and streaming-original series / Early English-language web series (1997–mid 2010s)

General · Edgepedia6 min read

The Booth at the End

The Booth at the End is an American-Canadian psychological thriller web series created and written by Christopher Kubasik, in which a mysterious figure known only as The Man (Xander Berkeley) sits in the last booth of a diner and grants visitors their desires in exchange for completing a task he assigns them. It was produced by Vuguru, the new-media studio founded by former Disney chief executive Michael Eisner, and first released in 2010 as 62 two-minute webisodes before being re-edited into five 22-minute episodes per season.1 • 2

Key factDetail
Format62 two-minute webisodes re-cut into 5 episodes of about 22 minutes per season; two seasons, 10 episodes total2
First releaseOnline through Citytv.com's "Shorts in the City" in 2010; broadcast on Citytv from August 27, 20103
U.S. premiereExclusively on Hulu from July 11, 2011, with a new episode each Monday4
LeadXander Berkeley as The Man, the only character to appear in every episode5
DirectorsJessica Landaw (season 1), Adam Arkin (season 2)5
AdaptationThe Italian feature film The Place (2017), scripted by Paolo Genovese6

Spoilers

Premise

The Man receives visits from strangers seeking desires of theirs: a parent whose child is ill, a woman hoping to become more attractive, and a nun hoping to hear God once more.3 He consults a large leather-bound ledger, known as The Book, and assigns each person a task; if the task is completed, the wish is fulfilled automatically.7

The series never explains who or what he is, and creator Kubasik deliberately declined to tie The Book to any specific faith, saying only that there is "something religious about it, something spiritual about it, something mystical about it".7 The framing question, used in the show's own promotion, is "How far would you go to get what you want?"3

Seasons

Season 1 (2010–2011). Directed by Jessica Landaw, the season is set in the diner Cadillac Jack's, where The Man is waited on by Doris. Its five episodes, titled "Start. See What Happens", "What One Begins, One Must Finish", "How You Do It Is Up To You", "I Have My Reasons", and "Our Deal Here Is Done", introduce clients whose deals challenge their ideas of right and wrong.13Season 2 (2012). Directed by Adam Arkin, who also served as co-producer, the season moves to a different diner, filmed in the Barclay Hotel at 365 South Main Street in Los Angeles. It reveals more about The Man's nature, about The Book as the source of the tasks, and about the character of Doris, and ends on a cliffhanger. No third season was made, and the series is listed as ended.14

Production and design

Kubasik described designing the series "from the outside in" around a set of rules: it would depend on actors rather than cinematic language, use a single location, and consist only of dialogue between two seated people, making it cheaper to produce than a conventionally shot drama. The series has no special-effects budget; its magical and science-fiction elements emerge entirely from dialogue and situational suspense.8

The Book drives the plot mechanics: The Man reads the tasks from it and takes notes as clients report back, which gives the series its continuing storylines. As the episodes progress, the visitors' stories begin to overlap, and The Man develops a quiet flirtation with the diner waitress Doris (Jenni Blong), a character added at the suggestion of development executive Josh Rimes to give someone who could "push against" The Man.8 • 7

Release and distribution

Vuguru sold international distribution rights to Fireworks International, which launched the series at MIPTV in April 2010.1 In October 2010, Fox International Channels (FIC) acquired exclusive broadcast, mobile, and download-to-own rights to all versions of the series, which was distributed across FIC's international pay-TV and online networks from early 2011 under a two-year deal.9

In Canada, Rogers Media aired the show on Citytv beginning August 27, 2010 at midnight, a move the company described as a first in bringing a digital series to Canadian television; it had first appeared online through "Shorts in the City", a Citytv.com initiative in partnership with Nissan Canada.3 The U.S. premiere followed on Hulu on July 11, 2011, with new 22-minute episodes released weekly on Hulu and Hulu Plus.4 The second season aired exclusively on Citytv.com, its mobile app, and Rogers Anyplace TV from August 6 to September 3, 2012, and reruns of season 1 ran on FX Canada.10 Both seasons were later released as a two-disc DVD set by Simply Media in the United Kingdom on July 11, 2016, and the series has since circulated on free ad-supported streaming services.11 • 12

Cast

Xander Berkeley heads the cast as The Man, appearing in all 10 episodes.5 The ensemble includes Jennifer Del Rosario as Melody, the only other character to appear in both seasons; Jenni Blong as Doris; Matt Boren as Willem; Sarah Clarke as Sister Carmel; Jack Conley as Allen; Kate Maberly as Jenny; Noel Fisher as Dillon; Michelle Dunker as Cheryl; Matt Nolan as James; Danny Nucci as Henry; and Dayton Callie as Jack.5 • 15

Reception and legacy

Critics responded to the format's compression. In The Guardian, Lucy Mangan called Berkeley's performance "so brilliant it should be used as an acting masterclass" and described each two-minute segment as "a miracle of compression".2 Season 1 holds a 97% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes, based on two reviews.13 Commentators have noted the show's stage-play qualities, its moral-dilemma structure, and its low production cost, and a small fanbase has campaigned for its revival.16

The premise was adapted for Italian cinema as The Place (2017), written by Paolo Genovese and starring a different, entirely Italian cast.6 • 17 A fan-made continuation, The Booth at the End: Fan Continuation, was produced in 2016 by Hohenheim Productions.17

References

  1. Fireworks to Rep New Vuguru Property, World Screen (April 12, 2010)
  2. Cable girl: The Booth at the End, The Guardian (April 12, 2011)
  3. Digital Show Comes to TV: A First in Canada, Rogers Media (August 25, 2010)
  4. Vuguru Announces U.S. Premiere of The Booth at the End, PR Newswire (July 11, 2011)
  5. The Booth at the End (TV Series 2011–2012) Full cast & crew, IMDb
  6. Leone Film Group initiation document (May 2017)
  7. An Interview with The Booth At the End's Christopher Kubasik, The Morton Report (August 11, 2011)
  8. Byte-Sized TV: Writing the Web Series (core.ac.uk)
  9. Fireworks Sells Vuguru Thriller to FIC, World Screen (October 4, 2010)
  10. Digital series 'The Booth at the End' returns for 2nd season, CityNews Toronto (August 7, 2012)
  11. The Booth at the End (2010–2012), John Llewellyn Probert's House of Mortal Cinema (July 2016)
  12. The Booth at the End, Tubi
  13. The Booth at the End: Season 1, Rotten Tomatoes
  14. The Booth at the End, TVmaze
  15. The Booth at the End, Fanboy News Network (September 29, 2012)
  16. The Booth at the End reviews, Criticless
  17. The Booth at the End: Fan Continuation, IMDb

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Early English-language web series (1997–mid 2010s)

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

© 2026 Biostate AI. Free to use with credit under the Edgepedia Community License. Embed a reference card.

Report an error

The Booth at the End

Pick at least one reason.