The Studio is an inventive Apple TV+ comedy co-created by Seth Rogen, who also stars as Matt Remick, the head of Hollywood’s Continental Studios.

Remick should be the ruthless studio executive calling the shots, but he acts like a major pussy instead. He craves more than anything to be liked by the movie talents he so admires. Think Michael Scott in the movie business. His need to be liked and respected makes it nearly impossible for him to run the studio effectively.

It was high time for a show that satirizes the current state of the film industry, and The Studio delivers brilliantly. The series offers a slightly exaggerated (but not by much) behind-the-scenes look at mainstream filmmaking – how creatives and executives talk, how egos collide, and how projects rise and fall.

Each episode revolves around a cinematic theme – the long shot, the director’s cut, the cash grab, the missing real – presenting Matt and his team with a new challenge to tackle. The show is packed with cameos from actors and directors playing obnoxious, often hilarious versions of themselves.

Take Ron Howard in Episode 3, “The Director’s Cut”: He’s made a new movie, Alphabet City, which Matt and his team adore, except for one terrible, overlong sequence that everyone hates and no one understands. It’s Matt’s job to tell Howard to cut it, but he lacks the guts. This results in pure comedy gold.

The joke density is relentlessly high, and at times, it’s even more cringe-inducing than The Office at its worst. In one painfully awkward scene, Matt tries to insert himself into Zoë Kravitz’s Golden Globes speech via teleprompter, desperate for a shoutout to feed his fragile ego – only to be bleeped out, while Netflix’s Ted Sarandos gets thanked constantly.

The supporting cast is outstanding, with Bryan Cranston totally killing it as Continental’s CEO, Griffin Mill. I’m eagerly awaiting the next season and the clever movies within the movie they’ll dream up next. Dumb Guys 3 anyone?

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