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The Studio - Series Premiere Discussion
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The Studio
Premise: Matt Remick (Seth Rogen), the new head of the struggling Continental Studios, deals with internal conflicts, demanding artists, and corporate demands in the comedy series co-written by Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory, Evan Goldberg, and Rogen.
Subreddit(s): Platform: Metacritic: Genre(s) r/TheStudioTVShow, r/TheStudioAppleTV Apple TV+ [80/100] (score guide) Comedy, DramaLinks:
- IMDb
- [Wikipedia]( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Studio_(TV_series))
- Trailer
Top Comment: Bryan cranston is just really great here Especially when he reacts to that Kool aid trailer Every time he does a comedic performance, I see a little of Hal from Malcolm
How is everyone liking “The Studio” ?
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I’m loving it, honestly. Even the long continuous take format, which I was very skeptical, works here giving it a manic energy.
Top Comment: ”You know A24, Past Lives, like no money!” First episode is excellent but the second might be my favorite tv episode of the year so far. Loved to see Sarah Polley and Marty is fantastic in his small part. Catherine O’Hara also excellent basically playing a disgruntled Amy Pascal. This and The Pitt are single-handedly making me excited for television again.
Anyone else have a hard time watching The Studio?
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Sorry if this has been posted before, but - given everything going on in the Biz the last 5 years, I had a hard time watching the The Studio. I get it's absurdist, but even studio people acknowledged it's grounded in some truth. Just the idea that the people who hold our collective fate in their hands are so....
you know. I kept thinking "we are so fucked".
Anyone else?
Top Comment: My friends at various LA studios all say the most unbelievable aspect of the show is that the characters have empathy.
The guys are right about The Studio. I was excited to watch it and despite there hate I tried it tonight…
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It’s honestly worse than their assessment.
it’s way too in your face and feels like a crutch after a while. Also the satire is too on the nose. The show feels like it wants to be Hail Ceaser in modern day without the Coens writing mixed with entourage, I just hated everyone so much, I had no one to root for, satire doesn’t mean just magnifying everyone’s flaws x100.
This is a perfect example of just because it might be true doesn’t mean it’s something anyone wants to watch.
I’m honestly shocked, I love movies about the dark side of Hollywood, I loved Babylon when everyone hated it, loved episodes, loved the player, the artist. There’s so many examples of this working.
And this just doesn’t. It feels like everyone involved is lost up their own ass. I don’t have a hard time believing all these people exist in Hollywood, I do have a hard time believing they exist to this degree and all in the same sphere. They threw out all balance and nuance.
I hate hate hate this.
Top Comment: I think its a pretty good show. Don’t get the hate at all.
The Studio | Season 1 - Episode 6 | Discussion Thread
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Top Comment: Matt had an extremely valid crash out. They were assholes.
I just finished watching ‘The Studio’
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Seth Rogen is so talented and this show might be one of the top shows for sure. Thoughts?
Top Comment: You couldn’t have done it without Sal Saperstein.
Review: The Studio
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Introductory Rant
How meta can we get? A show about making movies just for the money and publicity? Reviewing a show about money-making formulas? Yes. While laughing my ass off at The Studio, I wasn't sure if I should be. A lot of the comedy revolves around dipshit Hollywood executives making the dumbest decisions while trying to run franchises. All things my friends and I joke about weekly. While hysterical, I can see these being real conversations at some studios, especially given Hollywood’s current obsession with ringing franchises dry. It's okay though, it's satire!
Characters
If you're a fan of Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and their typical cast, you'll most likely enjoy The Studio. This new show on Apple TV keeps their style and humor while bringing in some of their typical cameos and some new ones. The cast is the main draw. While the comedy is funny, seeing all these actors mocking the industry and themselves is the real attraction. Seth Rogen takes the lead as the newly promoted head of the studio, Continental, well out of his echelon. As an executive, his goal was to help artists get their true filmmaker movies made. Matt quickly realizes that's no longer an option. His job is to make the studio as much money as possible, and nothing else.
As the audience, we're treated again to another amazing Catherine O'Hara performance. Fucking killing it as of late, her deadpan comedy as Patty Leigh steals the show! Watching The Studio just makes me want more of her. If anything, I hope her role is increased for the already announced season 2. Until then, I think I'll rewatch Schitt's Creek again.
While a relative newcomer, Chase Sui Wonders plays a young and new executive, Quinn Hackett. She hits the ground running, taking charge and making herself a valuable cast member quite quickly. I haven't seen any of Wonders' other work, but seeing her as such a front-and-center cast member, and being great at it, I’m excited to explore her portfolio. Her character’s writing is a little sloppy from episode to episode, but not the performance. She's often written as the typical millennial character that thinks they're owed something for doing nothing (because we fucking are). Sadly, a few moments take this too far. One scene in episode 5 sees her lord her gender over other characters while instigating an argument and stating the person can't do anything because they're an older man. I can't tell if the character is purposefully written like this as a joke, or if the plot just needed this archetype to proceed.
Considering this is a Hollywood production about Hollywood productions, we get a ton of cameos. Too many to mention, but there are quite a few standouts. Keeping with the comedy, we get Bryan Cranston as a piece of shit studio head, Griffin Mills. Given Cranston’s dramatic roles as of late, it's hard to remember how talented he is as a comedian. This show revives that by making him the biggest piece of shit CEO in the funniest yet horrifying ways. "Our job isn't making 'films', it's making this company as much money as possible."
Dave Franco pops up, seemingly replacing his brother’s cameos in the Seth Rogen movies. I can't even be mad! Dave is fucking hilarious and super Hollywood over-the-top. Zoe Kravitz shows up to be serious... at first. Her role quickly devolves into chaos and comedy. Seeing her range from dead serious roles like Selina Kyle and Angela Childs, to making fun of herself in The Studio shows her off as not only a great actor but a fun person as well.
On top of all of this, we get amazing one-offs like Ice Cube and Ron Howard as themselves. Ron is known as one of the nicest directors in Hollywood, so why not have him play himself, only as a fucking asshole? The jokes never end and are the centerpiece of this show. If this isn't your type of humor, I can see it as being a huge drag. But, as I've said repeatedly, you like Seth, you'll like this.
Plot
The main plot revolves around a couple of films in development by Continental. All spoofs, both in reality and the show’s reality tread the line between ridiculous and funny. However, it might not be balancing that line too well. Everything is meant to be real and a joke, but damn, is the show being reductio ad absurdum or are these dumb fucking studio meetings actually going on right now? Kool-Aid is the first IP we're introduced to. Matt is trying to merge the IP with a Martin Scorsese movie about the Jonestown massacre as an attempt to get the backing of the studio heads and also make an artistic film. The concept and events are hysterical, of course. After Barbie, Tetris, and Jordans, all made money, you just know anything with a potential fucking $ in front of it is a game. While it's a big joke for the show, I can see some dumb shit like this actually coming to fruition.
This show has a plethora of cliché moments, all wrapped with jokes, making it... not cliché? The Studio has a brilliant way of following tropes while poking fun at them at the same time. Another franchise we see try to get kickstarted by Ike Barinholtz’s character is a Wink movie, ripping off Smile because "the formula works." "We don't make films, we make movies. We're not artists, we're executives". Ike Barinholtz’s character explains to new executive Quinn Hackett, played by Chase Sui Wonders. Reading lines akin to this makes the show seem very mean-spirited and unfunny; however, the performances were able to draw a laugh from me nearly every time.
Technical Aspects
The show is shot for Apple TV with a decent budget. Everything looks great, if not a little annoying that every character has a brand-new iPhone and Mac to show off to the viewers. The show does heavily rely on constant long single takes for absolutely pointless situations and shots. Stitched together with post-processing, that becomes pretty apparent. Especially after the episode in which a 1-take has to be shot over and over because things keep ruining the shots.
There's also a lot of gimbal-less shaky shots that become rather annoying. I can feel the cameraman’s every step as the shots go on. I understand Apple's need to have that "shot on iPhone" banner at the end, but the influencer in The Golden Globes episode uses a better gimbal than the one used to shoot this show. Towards the end of the show, the studio is rumored to be sold to Amazon. Since this is an Apple-produced show, this is the absolute worst-case scenario with Amazon being portrayed as the greediest and dumbest corporation ever. As if Apple didn't spend the show’s entire runtime promoting every single Apple product in existence. Hey, I own many Apple devices myself, but I even found their promotions a bit over-the-top.
Going back to the great parts, the sets are fantastic. Between the over-the-top studio offices, typical Hollywood production lots, and the myriad of iconic LA filming locations, audiences will get that classic Hollywood vibe. If you're a lover of film, you will get even more out of this production.
Wrap-Up
The Studio is an honest and satirical take on Hollywood while also giving insight as to why the industry is moving out of California. The show itself is an amazing comedy with fantastic jokes and great writing, for the most part. The great locations and high budget are noticeable in every shot. Talent is the main draw. I don't want to spoil every cameo, but there's something here for everyone. If you're into the Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg type of humor, you will enjoy this satirical take on a Hollywood studio that's probably more real than it lets on.
As an enthusiast of the industry, it's disgusting. However, as a comedy, it's fucking hilarious. Maybe media like this will help revise the horrors of Hollywood. I seriously question how friends & I and random interviews on TikTok have better plans for movies and IP than studio heads getting paid tens of millions to think about this kind of shit.
Comedy is complicated and subjective. Some might find this show mean-spirited and hate it. I grappled with that feeling while watching some episodes. However, the performances bring a general levity to the show. The Studio is also a great showcase for seeing your favorite actor in a completely different light, and I believe that’s one of its greatest strengths. But who the fuck am I? You've probably decided on watching it or not. So what are you waiting for?
Top Comment: You are a bla ck, Jewish queen. You are Zoe Kravitz. I was dying. Movies. Movies. Movies. Movies
The Studio - 1x10 - “The Presentation” - Episode Discussion
Main Post:
The Studio
Season 1 Episode 10: The Presentation
Directed by: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg
Written by: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg & Peter Huyck & Alex Gregory & Frida Perez
Top Comment: "So all of Continental will become a branch of a tech company?!?" - Patty, The Studio, on Apple TV+, watched on my MacBook. Love the meta backhand.