And if Hollywood loves something more than giving each other trophies, it’s making fun of themselves.
The Studio is probably the most divisive Apple series I’d seen so far. Divisive meaning I don’t think I’ve went back and forth this much in deciding whether or not I actually enjoyed watching a series. That’s kinda wild, especially since each episode (except the pilot) is half an hour long and I could end one having a good time and the other being back to square one skepticism.
(Also- I should TM “square one skepticism”- that sounds as cool as “old school Hollywood buffet”… watch episode 9 for additional context)
Unlike previous series I’d watched, I didn’t go into it because of one specific actor. I figured it was a series about making movies and I took a stab.
I’m not even a Seth Rogen fan. He did have some good moments but he had just as much cringeworthy moments that I don’t think my status as a fan had changed.
Catherine O’Hara is an over-the-top movie producer, sometimes too much, but it’s one of those roles she pulls off well.
Among studio head Matt Remick (Seth Rogen)’s employees are Sal Saperstein (Ike Barinholtz in another role tailor-made for him), a marketing person played by Kathryn Hahn and Quinn, a plucky young producer eager to make her mark in the movies.
Also Bryan Cranston as Matt Remick’s eccentric boss, Griffin Mill.
Not to mention the dozen or so cameos of celebrities playing themselves.
Aside from Seth Rogen’s shenanigans (more on that later), the one other aspect I didn’t enjoy about this show is Kathryn Hahn’s character. I’m not super familiar with her career so I’m not sure if it’s just this role or she’s like this all the time. She was just WAY too much. Her dialogue is either shotgun fast that I just want her to stop talking or she speaks like she’s pandering. Either politically correct BS or she’s trying to be “down with the kids." She talks like someone who’s gen Z and in real life, she’s older than Seth Rogen (I recently learned he's just 4 years older than me!). It just didn’t make sense and it irritated me.
As for Seth Rogen as Matt Remick, he’s the main character so of course I want to see him succeed.
When he got promoted to studio head, he talked about wanting to make the kinds of movies he wants to make. Not going for easy cash grabs and box office totals, he wanted to make art that would also be financially successful. That much was clear in the pilot where Griffin Mill wants to make a Kool-Aid movie (riding on Barbie’s hot pink coattails) and Matt tried so hard to make an artsy Kool-Aid movie with Sorcerses directing— which was less about Kool-Aid and more about a cult that brought “drinking the Kool-Aid” into the public lexicon.
Other storylines revolve around other movies (thankfully Kool-Aid wasn’t the only movie they were making) and the ups and downs coming with production. Some of which ran into snags because he was interfering or overzealous with making suggestions. But others weren’t.
One nice thing about having these be half an hour per episode is how it condenses everything down to a single event or movie. How much of it is tongue-in-cheek and how much are things people in Hollywood actually have concerns about- I’ll always be slightly curious. In a few interviews, Robert Downey Jr would say how he’d approach making movies by picturing himself as an audience member. Bearing in mind what people expect to see and making certain moments more impactful when it counts. I’m sure there was more to it- it’s been a while- but it’d be nice to think other actors feel the same way. Some of them are just as frustrated by certain things that’ve grown unnecessarily prevalent in the industry as we are.
My two favorite episodes or at least the most memorable for the right reasons were about a One-Shot sequence and the other involving an infamous “motel sequence”.
One-shot is an instance in movies where long sequences are shoot in one continuous long take with no cuts. 1917 was almost entirely shot this way as was the Alejandro Inarritu Oscar winning "Birdman." This was something I’d already heard of before going in so I was already ahead of the game.
But all the ways Matt Remick interferes with this shoot because he doesn’t have the sense to know when to shut up… all I can say is stick around for the end. He got on my nerves, but it ended with such a huge laugh that the prior frustrations could easily be forgiven.
As for the motel sequence movie, it’s a Ron Howard film "Alphabet City" starring Anthony Mackie. Matt Remick and crew are watching the final cut in a theater. They’re loving and enjoying it… until it winds up with a ridiculously long runtime. The final half hour is this bizarre, over the top, self-serving scene where nothing happens. It’s Anthony Mackie with (presumably) his son and they just stand together in silence staring at the moon.
Kathryn Hahn is especially angry about the runtime because after discussing with her people, she learns that theaters will only be able to show it twice a day and it’ll be a financial disaster as a result. The one time in the entire series I agreed she had a point.
Plus there’s been a lot of talk in recent years about movies being too damn long. I think someone published a stat prior to the 2025 Oscars that the average length of best picture nominees was long... looked it up, the average was 2hr29min.
Oppenheimer and Christopher Nolan movies have gotten this criticism for years but I think the Adrien Brody movie “the brutalist” ran over 3 and an half hours. (Looked it up, it's 215 minutes, which apparently includes a 15-minute intermission... WTF! and you thought his Oscar speech was long...)
The only problem left was who would be the one to tell Ron Howard… not only do we learn the motel sequence was a tribute to a cousin who’d died young but Matt is especially hesitant to be honest because he once gave Ron Howard painfully bad advice.
It all works out in the end but just the amount of craziness that culminates, it was a blast.
Some low points… I’d said how Matt Remick can’t shut up when it’s in his best interest to do so… he's smart on occasion but his ego is so fragile, you'd have to barely breathe on it and it would shatter instantly.
The most memorable is being a plus one at a doctors' charity event and going on a rant about how his job is just as important as doctors saving cancer patients.
Sure, all hospital rooms have a TV and people need entertainment to lighten the mood when they’re already not feeling well. But his blatant disregard for the medical profession, thinking working in movies is even on the same level, if not better… if anyone got through this episode without screaming at him or wanting to strangle him, I’d give them a dollar all while questioning their judgment.
Then we have an entire episode essentially dedicated to Hollywood’s obsession with diversity and political correctness.
Casting the Kool-Aid movie and wondering if it’d be racist to cast Ice Cube as the lead. Then it accelerates until they're left wondering whether it's possible to go too far when you make the entire cast black?
Personally, I’m a little curious if people in Hollywood are actually having these kinds of conversations. Seems like no matter what they do, some group (marginalized or not) will take issue with it.
This all culminates in a massive convention announcement and now the burning question is whether AI is going to put all the writers out of work. All important conversations to have, but omg, what a mess.
Also- since when has Kool-Aid been a product affiliated with the black community? I’ve literally never heard this. I'm white and grew up drinking Kool-Aid in the 90's so I thought at most it was a middle class thing.
Another sort of low point for Seth Rogen— obsessing over whether Zoe Kravitz is going to thank him in her acceptance speech. He just takes this whole thing way too far and I wouldn't have been surprised if all that effort was wasted.
Probably the best part was someone else getting thanked and name dropped over a couple speeches. I’m sure this piggybacked off Oscar winners in recent years thanking their publicists and all the winners afterwards doing the same.
A lot of the guest star actors playing themselves were great sports at poking fun of themselves. Although regarding the episode revolving around a missing reel of Olivia Wilde’s movie, I wonder how much was true to her as a person or they deliberately made her out to be a perfectionist. And not just a perfectionist but David Fincher “doing 50 takes of someone opening a door” crazy perfectionist. (Him and Stanely Kubrick apparently pull this stunt in all their movies).
Olivia had also gotten some heat recently on the set of “Don’t Worry, Darling." (Looked it up... these rumors apparently were unfounded so I guess the "Missing Reel" episode was making light of those rumors)
The final episodes were a two parter where all the actors spent half of it tripping on shrooms (Zoe Kravitz was a riot in this storyline!) and the other half trying to get everything together and tracking down a wayward Griffin Mill so Continental Studios can pull off a killer presentation at CinemaCon.
It ends on an odd note but man, the journey leading up to it, you just have to see for yourself. It’s insane.
One final highlight actually didn’t involve Matt Remick much at all. Rather, it was a tit for tat rivalry between Sal Saperstein and Quinn. Each of them has a horror movie they want to get made and they’re willing to pull out all the stops to make that happen. Again, it’s crazy over-the-top ridiculous so you’re better off just enjoying the ride cuz, oh boy, it’s a doozy.
I just really appreciated the issue this was addressing. I don’t like watching horror movies in general but I’m especially not a fan of the same concepts getting used to death and dragged out over a dozen sequels. Plus, “Smile” is a recent success story that has since spawned exactly one sequel and the fact Sal is backing a film called “Wink” that rips off that concept and has the same person directing it… I’m definitely on Team Quinn for this one.
I get that Hollywood is a business and businesses revolve around making money but c‘mon!! To rephrase a quote from Herman Melville, I’d rather them fail at something original than to continue succeeding with the same old stuff they’ve done a billion times over.
Whether you enjoy series about making movies, gratuitous cameos from actors playing themselves, or making fun of the whole institution, I’m sure this series has something for everyone to enjoy. Some points do require a little more patience than others and I’d highly recommend sticking it out to the end before you form an opinion on "The Studio" as a whole.
