Streaming on: Apple TV+
Episodes viewed: 10 of 10
As the old adage goes, in Hollywood nobody knows anything. That seems to be even more the case in our hyper-caffeinated, multi-platform, AI-injected modern times: the Dream Factory out in LA seems more chaotic than ever. It’s ripe timing, then, for Seth Rogen to impishly chuck a spanner into the cogs of that factory, spoofing the inherent daftness of the movie business with a witty, knowing and cameo-jammed ten-episode satire.
Rogen’s Matt Remick may seem like an unlikely studio boss, riddled with insecurities and about as intimidating as a wet latte. But he turns out to be our perfect guide through this lunatic labyrinth, as he sets out repeatedly to create great art yet ends up, through both his own weaknesses and the pressures imposed on him, producing absolute crap. Episode 1 sets out the show’s stall in rousing fashion, with Matt charged by his terrifying boss (an on-fire Bryan Cranston) with recreating the success of Barbie — “If Warner Bros. can make a billion fucking dollars off the plastic tits of a pussyless doll, we should be able to make two billion dollars off the legacy brand of Kool-Aid” — and managing to piss off a number of A-list players in the doing. By the time Martin Scorsese is sobbing in the arms of Charlize Theron, The Studio will likely have sucked you in.
It feels like The Studio could run and run.
Over the following episodes, Matt manages to derail a flashy one-shot masterminded by Sarah Polley, cross swords with Ron Howard, and receive a sub-zero dressing-down from Ice Cube. The show is at its best when it’s targeting a topic that has a ring of painful truth: one hilarious storyline sees the hero and his inner circle of nitwits (Ike Barinholtz’s smarmy suit, Chase Sui Wonders’ ambitious young exec, Kathryn Hahn’s walking-energy-drink marketing maven) tie themselves in knots over the racial make-up of one of their casts. There are a couple of episodes in the middle that feel like they’re somewhat treading water, and only a throwaway mention of AI (surely bounteous plot-fodder for a show like this), but for the most part it’s consistently funny and smart. And pleasingly, it all builds to a crescendo as Continental Studios takes its blighted slate to Las Vegas’ Cinema-Con for a two-episode finale, featuring powerful narcotics, real-life entertainment journalist Matthew Belloni, and extremely game guest appearances from Zoë Kravitz and Dave Franco.
Entourage meets Curb Your Enthusiasm (funnily enough, Scorsese also played himself in both of those), it feels like The Studio could run and run. Rogen certainly has the contacts book to pull from. And given he manages to somehow wrangle a cameo from Netflix boss Ted Sarandos — for an Apple TV+ show! — there appear to be few limits constraining his mischief.