#REVIEW: “THE STUDIO”

Review by David Baldwin for Mr. Will Wong

Matt Remick (Seth Rogen) is a top executive working for the fictional Continental Studios. He is a lover of blockbuster cinema but likes to champion smaller prestige pictures – which is going to be a massive challenge now that he has been promoted to being the head of the studio and has been tasked with developing a new franchise revolving around the Kool-Aid Man.

This is the pitch that gets the ball rolling on THE STUDIO, the 10-episode Satire co-created by Rogen and his partner-in-crime, Evan Goldberg (the two share directing, executive producing and co-writing credits on every episode) that skewers and celebrates the current Hollywood filmmaking system. There are loving odes to various films and genres sprinkled throughout each episode, and many, many instances of Insider Baseball type discussions that only those within the industry and sideliners who are very dialed into it will truly appreciate. The breathless, chaotic style of each episode – many of which feature brilliantly-shot and conceived one-take walk-and-talks or “Oners” as they are more casually referred to – make watching the series alternatively hilarious and downright stressful.

And since this is Rogen and Goldberg we are talking about, fans can rest assured that the humour is still just as profane and outrageous as you expect from these two legendary Canadians.

The main Cast are terrific in their roles, with Rogen commanding the screen at every turn. Though I disliked how sympathetic his character was in some instances (are we really supposed to feel sorry for someone in the same position as David Zaslav?), I did appreciate the screwball, exasperated timing he brought to every scene. Ike Barinholtz is a blast as Matt’s fellow top exec Sal Saperstein and you too will want to thank him for everything by the end. Kathryn Hahn and Her Highness Catherine O’Hara are hysterical and somehow manage to make each one of their scenes funnier than the last. Chase Sui Wonders, while not nearly as well known as her Co-Stars, gets many of the series’ best moments and might even be the season’s MVP. And despite not being in every episode, Bryan Cranston delivers some of the finest work of his career here as Continental Studios’ CEO Griffin Mill. There is a bit with him and a lobster that is easily an all-timer.

Having binge-watched the whole Series, I can say that the highwire balancing act set-up in the first two episodes does not dissipate at all, though the series does sag a bit in the middle section. That said, I loved almost everything about THE STUDIO and am still in awe at some of the wild things these characters discuss in each episode. I am not over the sheer shock of some of the cameos Rogen and Goldberg were able to pull off either. The online hyperbole and hype are very well warranted, even if it does feel catered to appeal to a very specific niche group of people and might alienate others that are not so well versed on the intricacies of film production.

Fingers crossed we get a Season 2!

The first two episodes of THE STUDIO stream on Apple TV+ starting Wednesday, March 26, 2025, with new episodes streaming every Wednesday.