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‘The Studio’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.

Arriving on Apple TV+ with its first two episodes on March 26th (a further eight arrive weekly), ‘The Studio’ represents Hollywood poking fun at itself and looking for ways to show how ridiculous the business of moviemaking can be.

It’s also the latest comedy from prolific duo Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who emerged from the Judd Apatow school of laughs to essentially build their own creative empire.

Related Article: Seth Rogen Developing a Comedy About United Nations Employees For CBS

Will ‘The Studio’ produce laughs for you?

Hooray for Hollywood! It’s a viper’s nest of giant egos, entitled talent, sweaty executives, million-dollar (and sometimes billion-dollar decisions), drugs, parties, glad-handing, disagreements about edits and a hundred tough decisions a day.

There’s a movie in danger of going over budget! A star who just wants their way! A corporation really hoping that its latest film is a hit with the sort of audiences who don’t really care what it’s about, just that they recognize the names!

If the scenario sounds familiar, it’s because it’s been seen in a swathe of movies and TV shows, most notably in the likes of 1992 Robert Altman effort ‘The Player’ and more recently with HBO’s ‘The Franchise,’ which tweaked the nose of the superhero film industrial complex (though couldn’t land all its punches and has been summarily cancelled after one season).

‘The Studio’ is essentially a blend of the two –– an old-school Hollywood farce but crossbred with current concerns such as exploiting IP.

Script and Direction

Created by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg alongside Alex Gregory, Peter Huyck and Frida Perez (Gregory and Huyck took the lead as showrunners since Rogen was starring and co-directing every episode with Goldberg), this initially comes across as Hollywood Satire 101. So many of the beats feel familiar, even down to Rogen’s Matt Remick, the movie-obsessed executive who thinks his knowledge of Hollywood history will help him succeed in his dream job, only to be hamstrung by corporate concerns and uncooperative above-the-line folk.

Trouble is, that carries over a lot into the rest of the series; while a couple of the characters are interesting and original, most are archetypes we’ve watched so many times before: the harried junior executive, the wacky PR person, the aggrieved former studio head.

And as one episode in particular later on (one of the better examples of the show having a viewpoint), it can be hard to care too much about people struggling to make movies at this sort of level; worried for their jobs they might be, but they’re still earning big bucks.

Even as Rogen and co. try to make their issues relatable, they can’t quite get there. The show does at least have a few solid laughs, and as the season goes on, the focus shifts slightly to other aspects of the job (as mentioned, a later episode has Rogen’s Matt trying to defend his position that his job is as stressful as, say, a doctor’s), and the characters start to bed down and work more smoothly.

Still, the final couple –– about which we won’t directly talk –– do fall back into old, predictable and somewhat tiresome patterns.

Rogen and Goldberg are experienced directors at this point, with several movies under their collective belt. With a hefty Apple TV+ budget to spend, they’re clearly happy to experiment to a limited degree, pulling off continuous tracking shots here and there and giving the show some visual panache.

Cast and Performances

As the heart of the series, Rogan is a variation on his relatively easygoing screen persona, albeit thrown into a tough new situation. He does sweaty, sweary desperation well, but is still overshadowed by some of his co-stars.

Ike Barinholtz is good value as Sal Saperstein. Matt’s friend and fellow executive jockeying for position. In true Barinholtz style, he’s more of a “bro,” all about the party lifestyle and social climbing, but with a quivering vein of vulnerability.

As ambitious young corporate ladder-climber Quinn Hackett, Chase Sui Wonders can be more of a sympathetic character, since she doesn’t hold so many of the cards. While her storyline is sometimes predictable, she’s fun in the role.

Kathryn Hahn naturally steals scenes as Maya, the hyperactive, foul-mouthed marketing guru at the studio. It’s the sort of supporting comedic role that Hahn shines in, and she makes the most of the character.

Catherine O’Hara falls into a similar category of reliable performer, and here she’s Patty Leigh, the one-time studio head forced out and now ploughing her own course as a powerhouse producer. O’Hara brings just the right level of bitterness and comic creation to the role.

Playing Griffin Mill, the boss of the studio even above Matt, Bryan Cranston is sadly saddled with the sort of blowhard corporate type we’ve seen so many of in the past. And naming the character after Tim Robbins’ role in ‘The Player’ just calls more attention to how this variation doesn’t quite work.

On the cameo front, at least the ones we can talk about, Nicholas Stoller offers solid entertainment value playing a slightly more eager-to-please version of himself, while Martin Scorsese is largely there because he’s a Hollywood titan and is good at being gruff when needed.

Final Thoughts

Assuming you’re not familiar with everything from ‘For Your Consideration’ to ‘State and Main,’ ‘Bowfinger’ or ‘Tropic Thunder,’ then ‘The Studio’ will likely read as a fresh take on the entertainment industry to you.

While it can’t compete with the best of those, when it switches focus slightly, it does offer more value. And if its comedic levels aren’t always the highest, it does have some solid gags and situations.

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What’s the plot of ‘The Studio’?

Matt Remick (Seth Rogen) is the newly appointed head of Continental Studios. He attempts to save the floundering company in an industry undergoing rapid social and economic changes.

Who is in the cast of ‘The Studio’?

• Catherine O’Hara as Amy
• Ike Barinholtz as Sal Seperstein
• Chase Sui Wonders as Quinn
• Kathryn Hahn as Maya
• Bryan Cranston as Griffin Mill
• Ron Howard as himself
• Martin Scorsese as himself
• Olivia Wilde as herself
• Steve Buscemi as himself
• Greta Lee as herself

Seth Rogen Movies and TV Shows:

• ‘Freaks and Geeks‘ (1999 – 2000)
• ‘Undeclared‘ (2001 – 2002)
• ‘Donnie Darko‘ (2001)
• ‘Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy‘ (2004)
• ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin‘ (2005)
• ‘You, Me and Dupree‘ (2006)
• ‘Shrek the Third‘ (2007)
• ‘Knocked Up‘ (2007)
• ‘Superbad‘ (2007)
• ‘Horton Hears a Who!‘ (2008)
• ‘Kung Fu Panda‘ (2008)
• ‘Pineapple Express‘ (2008)
• ‘Observe and Report‘ (2009)
• ‘Funny People‘ (2009)
• ‘The Green Hornet‘ (2011)
• ‘Kung Fu Panda 2‘ (2011)
• ‘Take This Waltz‘ (2012)
• ‘The Watch‘ (2012)
• ‘The Guilt Trip‘ (2012)
• ‘This Is the End‘ (2013)
• ‘Neighbors‘ (2014)
• ‘The Interview‘ (2014)
• ‘Steve Jobs‘ (2015)
• ‘The Night Before‘ (2015)
• ‘Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising‘ (2016)
• ‘Kung Fu Panda 3‘ (2016)
• ‘The Disaster Artist‘ (2017)
• ‘Long Shot‘ (2019)
• ‘The Lion King‘ (2019)
• ‘The Boys‘ (2019 – 2024)
• ‘An American Pickle‘ (2020)
• ‘Invincible‘ (2021 – 2025)
• ‘The Fabelmans‘ (2022)
• ‘Pam & Tommy‘ (2022)
• ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem‘ (2023)
• ‘The Super Mario Bros. Movie‘ (2023)
• ‘Platonic‘ (2023)
• ‘Dumb Money‘ (2023)
• ‘Kung Fu Panda 4‘ (2024)
• ‘Mufasa: The Lion King‘ (2024)
• ‘Sausage Party: Foodtopia‘ (2024)

Buy Seth Rogen Movies on Amazon

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