The Studio is a satire, a parody, or one could even call it a slap on the way Hollywood works, but it’s a slap that just makes you laugh till it hurts! Seth Rogen, as the director, the writer, and even the lead character of the show, finally decided to show off to the world that he could devour Hollywood and leave no crumb behind. The humor man! That was just so, how do I put it, brilliant! I planned to give one episode a shot, and ended up devouring all 10 of them in one shot. I guess that’s my quick review.
But now, let’s go a little deeper!
It’s All Chaos, Everywhere on the Screen
Most of the funny entertainment comes from chaos, and The Studio got that right. But it’s not the kind of chaos where someone slams into the door, or couldn’t see the wall made of glass. It’s all about how every movie made by big studios has a chaotic behind-the-scenes. Seth brought this insider secret, turned it into a humorous saga, and gave us probably one of the best sitcoms in existence.
And I am not saying it for the sake of its popularity, I am one of those tough ones you gotta try hard to make laugh, but this show had the potential from the very first episode.
Now I am gonna tell you, apart from the lead cast and Seth Rogen’s involvement, what made me stay!
The Plot is Fire!
Matt Remick, the newly appointed head of the Continental Studio, wants to make artistic movies. But the CEO, Griffin Mill, has plans to make a Kool-Aid movie franchise that would cash in $2 billion in revenue. Now, Matt obviously needed to keep that position held, so he had to turn himself from the guy loving artistic movies, into a guy thinking for the corporation.
That’s just the first episode, and it’s best that you experience the chaos of each episode and experience the screen presence of each star yourself. Going without knowing who comes on the screen when makes the show more fun. But if you’re still curious, I will tell you ahead which big names are joining the screen!
I Guess The Studio Had a Really Great Budget!
Apple loves to spend money on its shows. From The Morning Show with a budget of $17.5 million per episode to Severance’s $20 million per episode budget, these guys know how to use the cash, and that is how they manage to deliver.
But honestly, I couldn’t find how many bucks they spent on this one, but I was really curious, I still am. You know why? Because, bro, A MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, it had Martin Scorsese in the first episode.
At first, I thought maybe just a single cameo? And it felt like a cameo, but then near the end of the episode, we see him again. I mean, a guy as successful as him could spare a couple of free cameos, right? But guess what, there are more stars joining the screen.
ANOTHER MAJOR SPOILER ALERT!!!
There’s Zac Efron, Zoë Kravitz, Adam Scott, Greta Lee, Parker Finn, Dave Franco, Ron Howard, and tons of other major Hollywood faces. I don’t think all of them were there for cameos, so yeah, I am really curious to know about the budget that Apple spent on the show. Whatever it was, IT WAS SO WORTH IT!!!!
But it’s not just guest stars of The Studio I wanna talk about in my review!
The show was created by more people apart from Rogen, including Evan Goldberg (Superbad, Pineapple Express, This Is the End), Frida Perez (White Noise- Short), Peter Huyck (Veep, What Men Want, The Larry Sanders Show), and Alex Gregory (White House Plumbers, Late Show with David Letterman, Veep, The Larry Sanders Show).
Rogen and Goldberg were also involved in the writing part. Both frequent collaborators, previously worked together on films like Superbad, Pineapple Express, and This Is the End, blending their signature humor and storytelling.
Beyond the behind-the-scenes crew, and the big cameos, the constant cast that absolutely fueled life into the fun included Catherine O’Hara as Patty Leigh, Ike Barinholtz as Sal Saperstein (loved that due! 😂), Chase Sui Wonders as Quinn Hackett (My most favorite Creative Exec ngl!), and Kathryn Hahn as Maya Mason (The Stylish Marketing Genius and the Queen), along with Keyla Monterroso Mejia as Petra, Bryan Cranston as Griffin Mill (The CEO), and Trevor Tordjman as Daniel.
All these people came together and delivered something that’s going to satisfy your craving for a great sitcom you could just watch in a go.
Now, What Inspired The Studio? I Might Have a Scoop!
I gotta credit this info to Variety!
As per their review, The Studio is kind of based on what happened between Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and Sony.
Rogen and Goldberg had worked with Sony for years. But their partnership fell apart in a dramatic way in 2014, when their movie “The Interview” (a political satire) led to a massive email hack.
That hack exposed a lot of private and damaging information about how Hollywood works behind the scenes.
Here are their exact words,
“The project is loosely inspired by Rogen and his longtime creative partner Evan Goldberg’s experiences with Sony, a yearslong collaboration that imploded in spectacular fashion when their political satire “The Interview” triggered an email hack in 2014 that offered a revealing, often damaging peek into the industry’s inner workings.”
How do Critics’ Reviews Look for The Studio?
You might have guessed it already, but critics are loving it. Some of the top critics’ reviews are packed with praise.
- The hard-to-impress reporters at The Hollywood Reporter called it “a strong contender for the best new comedy of 2025”.
- Variety lauded its ability to nail “the absurdity and indignity of the modern movie business“.
- The Guardian also had a say, they called it “fast, furious and beautifully fun”.
Now, My Rating?
Now, I am not taking that half star away for no reason! These folks decided to make just 10 episodes and make us wait for a follow-up season, I deserve to penalize them for that. Even though a renewal has been confirmed for season 2, I still feel 10 episodes for a great sitcom aren’t enough.
So hope the new season comes soon. The moment it comes, you will find me among the frontrunners reviewing it. So, subscribe to CineCinnati and get reviews, info on new releases, and more fun content delivered straight to your inbox!
Now go, tune in to enjoy The Studio– it’s going to make you feel good!
