The Studio review: Seth Rogen torches Hollywood in must-watch satire

In 2024, HBO attempted to satirize the inner workings of Hollywood and big-budget superhero movies in the now-canceled series The Franchise. Too broad and seemingly uninterested in the very genre it was trying to critique, The Franchise simply never cut deep enough to offer any meaningful insight into the blockbuster machine. A shame, given the parade of massive egos and money-hungry execs the show could have drawn from.

So when Apple TV+ announced a Hollywood satire of its own with The Studio, I was skeptical. Would this just be another half-hearted attempt at poking fun at Hollywood? Or would it actually deliver a biting look into the studio system?

Thankfully, The Studio is everything The Franchise was not. Created by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, and Frida Perez, the series is as likely to take a fine scalpel to specific Hollywood issues as it is to bludgeon the studio system with a club. Both methods work — and elicit belly laughs galore — because The Studio's love of film shines through in every episode. It's as much an ode to movies as it is a frustrated scream about what the cinematic landscape has become, and that tension propels The Studio to full-on comedy gold.

What is The Studio about?

The Studio's love of movies starts with its main character, Matt Remick (Rogen), who's just been appointed head of the storied Continental Studios. A film geek who's devoted his entire life to movies, Matt sees this promotion as a chance to green-light prestige films. But he'll soon find that pressure from the higher-ups, including wild card CEO Griffin Mill (Bryan Cranston), will lead him in a different direction — towards money, towards IP-driven blockbusters, and more specifically, towards a Kool-Aid movie.

The ongoing production of the Kool-Aid movie is a major throughline for The Studio's 10-episode season, as Matt tries to make it "the next Barbie" in terms of financial and critical success. But the show also dips its toes into the rest of Continental's film slate, none of which are without issues. Tricky shots, too-explicit trailers, directors who won't take studio notes... The list goes on and on, with each episode honing in on a specific problem.

The Studio's satire is spot-on (and star-studded).

There's no shortage of things to send up in Hollywood, and somehow, The Studio manages to tackle so much of it without feeling like it's bitten off more than it can chew. Its "crisis of the week" format allows it to focus deeply on specific areas like awards shows or casting woes, mining as many laughs as it can from each before bounding to a new disaster the next episode.

The satire itself is razor-sharp, with elements like the Kool-Aid movie highlighting Hollywood's ever-precarious attempts to balance commerce and art. That Matt thinks he can wring art from Kool-Aid is funny enough in itself, but that it leads him to pursue Martin Scorsese as the director is the cherry on top — and proof that The Studio will always aim higher and better when it comes to landing the joke.

Scorsese is one of just many lauded Hollywood faces to make a cameo in The Studio, with Ron Howard, Sarah Polley, Olivia Wilde, and Zoë Kravitz as other standouts. The many cameos are a tactic reminiscent of the Stephen Merchant and Ricky Gervais sitcom Extras. However, since The Studio is told from the perspective of people in power in Hollywood, as opposed to movie extras, its cameos bristle with different power dynamics. The executives want to appease the talent but also ensure they put out the best (and most profitable) films they can. The directors and actors want to make their movies the way they want to, but they also need to keep on the studio's good side for future films. Fake smiles, ass-kissing, and niceties ensue, but these façades inevitably crack as The Studio dials up the heat each episode, resulting in delicious breakdowns from Hollywood A-listers.

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While you can expect several cameos per episode, The Studio spends most of its time with the storm of egos and insecurities at Continental Studios. On top of Rogen's Matt, the show's core cast includes Catherine O'Hara as longtime producer Patty, Ike Barinholtz as scummy exec Sal, Kathryn Hahn as brash marketing head Maya, and Chase Sui Wonders as eager (to a fault) creative executive Quinn. As these five trade biting jabs and constantly try to one-up each other, it's almost as if you're sitting in on an actual Hollywood meeting.

The Studio is a mesmerizing love letter to Hollywood.

Much of that feeling comes down to how The Studio is filmed. Rogen and Goldberg directed every episode and opted to use long tracking shots throughout. The effect is both frenzied and hypnotic, especially during the show's many heated arguments. The camera whips from person to person, circling like a shark before moving in in time with a punchline. You feel like a helpless Continental Studios intern trapped taking notes, trying to make sense of the chaos unfolding before you.

The long shots aren't the only cinematic trick The Studio has up its sleeve. Homages to film noir, nasty riffs on zombie movies, and more await, each proof of the show's love of the art form. That love makes each frustrated jab at the studio system feel that much more real, a reminder that The Studio comes from people who inhabit this world and know its problems inside and out.

The Studio can be horribly relatable, even if you don't work in Hollywood.

As much as The Studio thrives on its inside baseball jokes and specific film references, it also packs a punch with some more universal cringe comedy. And that's all thanks to Matt Remick.

Matt may be the head of a film studio, but he also desperately wants every actor and director he works with to think he's cool. Often, that prevents him from doing the hard parts of his job, or it causes him to be a nuisance. Take the show's second episode, in which Matt wants to be on set to witness Sarah Polley shoot an ambitious oner. (Fittingly, the episode is a oner itself.) He's so overwhelmed with his passion for movies that he can't see that no one wants him there, and that he's just making things worse. Warning: You may have to pause multiple times just to let the social embarrassment wash over you.

That's far from Matt's worst faux pas, though. From trying to convince doctors his work is just as important as theirs to attempting to wheedle his way into praise at the Golden Globes, he's on a constant search for validation. That can feel too real for anyone working in entertainment — an industry that runs on validation — but it's got universal appeal. Haven't we all wanted someone we admire to think we're cool? Haven't we all craved recognition for our work?

Really, the only thing stopping Matt from being an everyman is his flashy studio job, which is both a dream come true and a waking nightmare. (Not that that isn't relatable.) It's all he's ever wanted, and yet it's killing him. It's a battle he has to fight constantly: Is making one good movie really worth the screaming matches and ridicule? Can one moment of brilliance balance hours of mediocrity?

"I love movies," Matt worries to Patty. "But now I have this fear that my job is to ruin them."

"This job is a meat grinder," she responds. But what a beautiful, awful, chaotic meat grinder The Studio makes it out to be.

The Studio was reviewed out of its March 7 premiere at SXSW. It hits Apple TV+ March 26.

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