On May 21, the Apple TV+ service ended the screening of hit satirical comedy series «The Studio» by the long-established tandem of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, with Rogen in the lead role. In addition to the main cast, there were a lot of star appearances on the screen, sometimes quite unexpected. We’re ready to tell you more about who will delight the audience with their presence on the screen, what Rogen and company are making fun of, and how well they do it — in the review below.
Pluses:
an extremely witty, stylish and high-quality satirical comedy; a well-chosen cast; many bright cameos;
Minuses:
Sometimes the silly characters on the screen, Sarah Polley will not let you lie, can drive the viewer almost crazy; not all episodes will be equally interesting to some;
«The Studio»
Genre satirical comedy
Creators Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Haik, Alex Gregory, Frida Perez
Starring Seth Rogen, Catherine O’Gara, Ike Barinholtz, Chase Sue Wanders, Katherine Hahn, Bryan Cranston, David Krumholtz, Rebecca Hall
Premiere Apple TV+
Year of release 2025
Website IMDb, official website
The dream of a slightly twitchy movie buff Matt Remick has finally come true: the CEO of Continental Studios, Griffin Mill, whom Matt has served faithfully for many years, finally promotes him to the position of head. Now, all the most important decisions about launching certain projects fall on the shoulders of a romantic who is infinitely in love with art. The catch is that Mill has clearly hinted to Matt that no one here really cares about cinema as an art form — the fundamental thing in this difficult job is the result in the form of multi-million dollar box office receipts.
In particular, the newly minted boss will have to launch a blockbuster movie dedicated to the cartoon mascot of the flavored drink Kool-Aid. Well, did Greta Gerwig succeed with «Barbie» and competition with Nolan’s «Oppenheimer» turned into a mega-popular trend, so why shouldn’t the story of a cheerful anthropomorphic jug make its billionth at the box office? However, Matt’s mission to adapt the label on soda bottles is only the tip of the iceberg, as his workday soon turns into a nightmare.
The aptly named satire on superhero blockbuster filmmaking and the assembly-line production of superheroics as such is still fresh in my memory «The Franchise», which aired on HBO. The creators of the series, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, who started with the hooligan comedies of the 2000s «Superbad» (2007) and «Pineapple Express» (2008), go further and take on the task of ridiculing the entire gut of the soulless Hollywood machine. And they do it even better; apparently, mainstream cinema is now in a state where systematic mockery is indispensable.
In the very first episode, the authors use heavy artillery: Martin Scorsese himself will appear in the frame and, for a short time, Charlize Theron, with whom Rogen starred in «Long Shot» (2019). Moreover, the living classic exists not just for the sake of a symbolic cameo — it plays a key role in a local story that is both insanely funny and infinitely sad.
The series has a mostly vertical narrative structure, meaning that each episode is a separate story, but they are all connected by the adjacent storyline of Matt Remick and his slightly shaken-up team. The creators do not forget about pleasant formalist winks for those who are «in the» topic. For example, the episode about long-shot filming is hilarious, filmed as if without editing glues, and the episode with the detective line about the missing film is stylized as a classic noir.
Rogen and the company are aware of various industry factors and current movie trends.
Parker Finn doesn’t mind taking on the horror movie «Wink», which is essentially a clone of his own «Smile». Remick’s team is absurdly afraid of accusations of racism, completely forgetting about, let’s say, more recent pressing issues (related to the use of artificial intelligence in film production) that could reputationally damage the project. And such a disgusting thing zombie apocalypse you haven’t seen yet, but it can be used to create attractive related products.
Everyone is lying to everyone else, constantly in conflict, sycophantic for their benefit, trying to take as big a piece of the pie as possible and get their 15 minutes of fame. It seems that the business model of the studio system has virtually no room left for true creativity. Rogen and company expose the behind-the-scenes of the movie industry and play up its many nuances with such ease, unbridled energy, a vivid sense of humor and style, and most importantly, wit. It’s impossible not to be charmed by it. Especially if cinema is not an empty sound for you.
Mega popular Hollywood stars and filmmakers are not afraid to make themselves look bad, and sometimes even complete fools.
The actor Anthony Mackie appears in the frame as an absolute hypocrite — not so Cap has been promoted at Marvel all these years. Olivia Wilde is an obsessive perfectionist who is impossible to work with. Ron Howard — an egomaniac who makes the average viewer suffer (although in independent auteur cinema this approach is rather welcome).
In addition, Zack Snyder announces another the director’s version of his new movie, Infinity. The star «The Boys» Anthony Starr arrives at the award ceremony «Golden Globe» in a raincoat, which is a rather telling gesture. And Bryan Cranston and Zoe Kravitz’s character as herself under the mushrooms (how can you do without them in Rogen-Goldberg’s creation) — it’s something incredible.
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